Utah Needs Players ‘Who Are Ready To Produce’ Against USC
Feb 22, 2020, 6:39 PM
Rylan Jones #15 of the Utah Utes passes the ball around Onyeka Okongwu #21 of the USC Trojans at Galen Center on January 30, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After suffering their third straight loss on Thursday night against UCLA, the Utah men’s basketball needs to get back on track against the USC Trojans on Sunday.
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Utah is currently 14-12 overall and have a 5-9 record in the Pac-12. They are in ninth place in the conference standings and are a half of a game behind California for eighth and one and a half games behind Stanford for seventh.
USC is 19-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference. They are sitting in sixth place in the Pac-12 standings, one game behind Oregon for the fifth spot. The Trojans lost their last game against Colorado on Thursday night by four points.
The Utes lead the all-time series against the Trojans, 21-18. Since joining the Pac-12, Utah is 10-5 against USC, including a 6-2 record at the Huntsman Center.
These two teams met in Los Angeles on January 30. USC pulled off the 56-52 comeback win over the Utes.
Utes Need Players To Step Up
Alfonso Plummer led the Utes in the loss to UCLA on Thursday night with 16 points and was a much-needed spark off the bench, hitting 3-6 from the three-point line in 17 minutes on the floor. Entering the season, Utah relied on Timmy Allen, Both Gach and Riley Battin to help the team grow. After the recent stretch of games, Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak isn’t worried about hurting anyone’s feelings anymore and called out his team after the UCLA loss to step up and produce.
“I discussed that with our team tonight,” Krystkowiak said. “I love all of our guys and I think everyone is in it for the right reason. We have a lot of high character guys and this isn’t the point of the season to worry about anybody’s feelings. We need to put guys on the floor that are ready to produce and commit to it. So yeah, at this point it might be time to shake a few things up and see if guys are better coming off the bench. I really liked the way some guys competed tonight, I think Alfonso showed me something and Mickey showed me something and we just need to get a little dirty and nasty from time to time. Everybody needs to stay connected and I trust that there’ll be some changes, it’s not a threat, but something that needs to be evaluated.”
Tomorrow👀
Senior Day for @UTAHWBB at 12pm vs ASU!
We tip-off at 4pm vs USC! #GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/z7eSExrdyL
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 22, 2020
In the last seven games, Utah has won just twice. During that stretch, Allen is averaging 12.7 points, 6 rebounds and 3.8 assists but is shooting just 33 percent from the floor. Battin is posting 7.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 34 percent field goal shooting and 33 percent from beyond the arc.
Both Gach has played in the last three games after missing four games to a knee injury. In the last three games, Gach is averaging 5.6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists but is shooting just 28 percent from the field and is 0-9 from downtown.
If Utah wants to finish the regular season strong and go to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament with momentum, they will need their sophomore trio to step up and produce.
USC Led By True Freshman
The Trojans have had a great season due to the play of true freshman big man Onyeka Okongwu. He is averaging a team-best 16.6 points along with 8.8 rebounds and the second-most blocks per game average in the Pac-12 with 2.9.
Nick Rakocevic is contributing 11.3 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per contest. Jonah Matthews is scoring 13 points per game.
When USC beat Utah back in January, Rakocevic led the way with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Okongwu added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Those two combined for 26 of their team’s 34 rebounds.
“Every win is important.”
The next one needs to come tomorrow. #BeatTheUtes pic.twitter.com/sKcFQE6IlP
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) February 22, 2020
NET Rankings
Part of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee process is the information compiled from five major metrics, the NET rankings, the three metrics from ESPN, including Strength of Record, BPI and RPI. The final two metrics that are used are the rankings from KenPom and Sagarin.
Utah is ranked No. 92 in the NET ranking after their loss to UCLA. USC is No. 44 in the NET rankings. The Utes are the 10th highest ranked team in the Pac-12 according to the NET rankings, while UCLA is sixth.
Here is where the other metrics have the Utes this week:
- RPI – 73
- SOR – 79
- BPI – 125
- KenPom – 122
- Sagarin – 95
For USC, here is where the other metrics have them ranked:
- RPI – 38
- SOR – 38
- BPI – 59
- KenPom – 56
- Sagarin – 58
Also, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the Quadrant system where they put the opponent in a quadrant depending on their five ratings in their major metrics. Entering the game against UCLA, Utah is 2-8 against Quadrant 1 opponents. Their eight losses came against San Diego State, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon (twice), USC, Arizona State and Oregon State, while their two wins were against BYU and Kentucky in Las Vegas.
The Utes are 5-1 against Quadrant 2 teams with wins over Nevada, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon State and Stanford, with their only loss against UCLA. In Quadrant 3, Utah is 3-3 with losses coming against Tulane and Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Invitational along with their home loss to UCLA. Their three wins were against Ohio, California and Washington State. The Utes are 4-0 in Quadrant 4 with wins over UC Davis, Weber State, Central Arkansas and Mississippi Valley State.
USC has a 2-7 record in Quadrant 1, beating LSU and Oregon State while losing to Arizona, Colorado twice, Oregon, Marquette, Arizona State and Washington. They are 6-0 in Quadrant 2, with wins over Stanford, Nevada, UCLA, TCU, Washington and Washington State. The Trojans have a 6-1 record in Quadrant 3 with victories over Utah, Harvard, Washington State, South Dakota State, Pepperdine and California with their lone loss to Harvard. USC is 5-0 in Quadrant 4 with wins over Portland, Fairfield, Long Beach State, Florida A&M and Florida Gulf Coast.
The Utes and Trojans will tip-off at 4 p.m. on Sunday with the game being televised on ESPNU.
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