Utes Caught In Pac-12 Standings Mess With Two Games To Play
Mar 6, 2019, 5:21 PM
Utah Utes center Jayce Johnson (34) celebrates a Ute basket in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. (Jeff Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeff Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Pac-12 basketball standings are a mess right and the Utah Utes are right in the middle of it. A lot will depend on how the rest of the season plays out for the team.
Going into the final week before the conference tournament in Las Vegas, the Utes are currently in a three way tie for third place with Oregon State and UCLA. All three schools have a conference record of 9-7.
It’s difficult to forecast how it may all shake up, there are so many possibilities. There’s also a log jam further down the standings. Oregon and USC are tied up at 8-8 while Arizona and Stanford and knotted up at 8-9.
We take on USC on Thursday night at 8pm! 💪#UteNation we need U to wear red🔴, be loud & be #UteProud, as the Utes will battle to be a Top 4 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. #GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/wEr5tjMbTb
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) March 5, 2019
Best case scenario, the Utes finish third in the standings and get a valuable bye in the first round of the conference tournament. Worst case scenario, they fall all the way to ninth, where things would get considerably tougher.
According to head coach Larry Krystkowiak, the Utes just need to focus on what they can control and play their best basketball.
“At the end of the day, this is the time of year to be thinking an awful lot about what we need to do,” said Krystkowiak.
Up Next This Week
First things first, Utah will face USC at home on Thursday at 8 p.m. The game will be shown on Fox Sports 1.
The Utes previously defeated the Trojans 77-70 on Feb. 6.
After that, the Utes will host UCLA on Saturday at 5 p.m. That game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
🏀SENIOR NIGHT🏀#UteNation help us honor our 4️⃣ Seniors: Sed, PVD, Novak & Beau on Saturday, March 9th vs UCLA at 5pm MST!🙏
🎟https://t.co/YXoYc8MGbg #GoUtes #ThankUSeniors pic.twitter.com/Fm9aqVH55f
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 26, 2019
Utah beat UCLA 93-93 in thrilling fashion on Feb. 9, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Parker Van Dyke.
The Pac-12 Conference tournament will tip off from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 13.
