For Craig Smith, Utah Basketball, Ezra Ausar Is ‘Starting To Put It Together’
Jan 13, 2025, 2:49 PM
Jan 7, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Utah Utes forward Ezra Ausar (2) shoots against the Iowa State Cyclones during the second half at James H. Hilton Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images
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SALT LAKE CITY—In Utah’s 83-62 win over Oklahoma State, Ezra Ausar enjoyed one of the better outings of the season and his career.
He finished the game with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line.
He set a new season-high, and he surpassed the 20-point threshold for just the sixth time in his career.
Given Utah’s struggles to start Big 12 play, particularly on offense, Ausar’s production was much needed.
More importantly, Ausar’s outing is a valuable checkpoint in his own development and growth as a basketball player.
Ezra Ausar making good progress
Ausar’s performance against Oklahoma State shouldn’t be seen as a new benchmark he needs to meet every night. Nevertheless, it serves as a valuable milestone in his growth and reflects the effort he’s dedicating to his development.
“He’s really becoming a student of the game, and he’s seeing the game through a different lens than he’s ever seen it before,” head coach Craig Smith said of Ausar. “He’s not only learning how to execute at a high level, and that part of things, he’s also learning how hard and physical you have to practice to be good at this level.”
RELATED: Takeaways From Utah’s 83-62 Win Over Oklahoma State
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward is a talented player, but he did not grow up playing the game like many others typically do.
“This is a guy that started playing basketball, I believe, as a 10th or 11th grader, so he’s still kind of new to the game,” Smith explained. “He’s done so much based off of sheer athleticism, talent, and physical dominance, that he hasn’t learned the game.”
But Smith has seen Ausar gaining a deeper understanding of the game and an appreciation for the work it requires to be truly good.
“He’s playing with more purpose and understanding, like he’s really starting to grasp at a different level what we’re trying to do.” Smith said. “He’s not a finished product by any means, but man, he’s starting to kind of put it together, and it’s exciting.”
His production was vital to Utah’s success Saturday night and will be key to its future success. Although his production will continue to ebb and flow, as long as he continues to work hard, these productive outings will become more consistent.
RELATED: Ezra Ausar Leads Utah To 82-62 Win Over Oklahoma State
Getting to know the TCU Horned Frogs
Utah will travel to Fort Worth, TX, for a Wednesday night contest against TCU. The Horned Frogs are 9-6 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play, which includes wins over BYU and Kansas State.
“Jamie Dixon’s been at this thing a long time and been very successful, his teams are always really good defensively,” coach Smith said. “Just really difficult to score on these guys, they just don’t make many mistakes defensively.”
RELATED: Utah Football Coaches Have Hit The Road During Recruiting Contact Period
The Horned Frogs are giving up just 65.7 points per game through 15 contests. However, they’ve allowed 71.0 points per game through four Big 12 contests. Similarly, TCU has gone from allowing 42.3% shooting on the season to 47.6% shooting in league play.
Through four conference games, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Noah Reynolds is leading the Big 12 in scoring. He is averaging 20.5 points on 52% shooting and 37% from 3-point range.
“Noah Reynolds is leading the Big 12 in scoring, and he can really get it going,” Smith said. “He plays at his pace, he just keeps you off balance, he’s got every shot in the book and is just a really crafty guy.”
Utah will be plenty familiar with guard Frankie Collins. The former Arizona State Sun Devil transferred to TCU this past offseason and is currently averaging 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
Former Ute Brendan Wenzel has landed at TCU after a couple of seasons with the Wyoming Cowboys. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward is averaging 8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting a career-high 45.5% from 3-point range.
RELATED: Takeaways From Utah’s 82-59 Loss To Iowa State
Utah vs TCU, How To Watch, Listen
Date: Saturday, January 15, 2025
Tip-Off: 6:00 pm (MST)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Radio: ESPN 700 AM
Utah will get an extra day of prep as it heads down to the heart of Texas for a midweek match-up against TCU next Wednesday, Jan. 15. Lowell Galindo will once again guide fans through the action on ESPN+ alongside Brandon Johnson starting at 6 p.m. (MST) as the two former conference foes once again duke it out – this time as members of the Big 12 Conference.
