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Wichita, Kan. • In several key factors in Utah's game at Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita State brought more to the court: More composure. More accuracy. More energy.
Those contributed to one of the few things Utah had more of on Saturday afternoon: turnovers.
The Shockers defended their home court with prejudice, and No. 25 Utah was smothered in a 67-50 defeat in which they coughed up a season-high 19 turnovers. In their first true road game, the Utes were left with troubling questions about their offense and their ability to play away from Huntsman Center — not the kind of reflection a team wants to have one week prior to a game against No. 8 Duke.
"Individually guys are going to have to look at how they can make improvements with their skill sets," Larry Krystkowiak said. "I think it's going to be challenging for me to come up with some new offense, because obviously what we had going wasn't real productive."
While the Utes (7-2) said afterward they spent days working on facing Wichita's pressure defense, they looked unprepared for it. The Shockers clogged passing lanes, put bodies on Utah's taller post men and took advantage of almost every mistake.
The 19-3 turnover differential led to 25 points for Wichita State, and the Shockers ended up with 25 more shot attempts than Utah in the game — disadvantages any team would find near impossible to overcome. Added to Wichita State's strong afternoon behind the 3-point line (10 for 25) and a raucous chorus of 15,004 fans, the Utes didn't stand much of a chance once the turnovers began.
"I think they sped us up and we weren't able to execute our plays," said Brandon Taylor, who had a team-high 6 turnovers. "Our execution was not our best. It wasn't our best at all."
Utah's 0.833 points per possession was a season-low. Jakob Poeltl had 11 points on only five shots and 4 turnovers, and no other Ute scored in double figures.
There was a run in the second half which Utah closed the 13-point halftime gap. The Utes managed to find Poeltl for early scores, then Jordan Loveridge got to the line where he made five straight to bring Utah within four points with 14:26 to go.
The window slammed shut as Shaquille Morris responded quickly with a slam dunk, then Markis McDuffie nailed a 3-pointer and was fouled to bring the lead back to double-digits. Wichita State followed up the flurry with stiff defense: Between the 12:34 and 6:39 marks, Utah didn't score a field goal as the deficit swelled to 15.
"We quit scoring, that was the one thing," Krystkowiak said. "We only had about an 8-minute stretch where I was pleased with our offense."
The get-go promised another exciting game — last year's was a 69-68 overtime thriller in Salt Lake City — as the teams swapped baskets: Taylor drilled a 3-pointer, then Fred VanVleet hit one. After Zach Brown hit a layup, so did Poeltl.
But from there, the game slanted in the Shockers' favor, as Evan Wessel led an 8-0 run fueled by Utah turnovers. For the rest of the half, Wichita State kept hitting 3s, and Utah kept giving the ball away.
The Utes coughed up the ball 12 times in the first half, helping Wichita have twice as many shot attempts as their visitors. Utah fumbled against the Shockers' pressure with slip-ups, fouls and off-target passes, and the pick-and-roll was a no-go as Wichita State seemed to get a hand in every passing lane.
While the Utes are 5-0 at home, their two losses away from Huntsman Center have both come by double digits. The Utes have a midweek game at home against Savannah State before taking on the Blue Devils in a Sweet 16 rematch at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Storylines
R Utah commits 19 turnovers to Wichita State's 3
• Wichita State gets a 25-0 advantage in points off turnovers
• Jakob Poeltl has 11 points and nine rebounds to lead Utah.