Utes’ depth could come into play this week with Barefield and Johnson’s status still uncertain

Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak declined to offer any update on the status of sophomore center Jayce Johnson or junior guard Sedrick Barfield during his weekly news conference on Tuesday.

“No injury discussions,” Krystkowiak said. “I don’t have anything for you.”

The Utes (17-9, 9-6 Pac-12) will host the two teams directly above them in the Pac-12 standings this week in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. UCLA (19-8, 10-5) visits on Thursday night followed by USC (19-9, 10-5) on Saturday afternoon. This week will be a determining factor in whether or not the Utes earn a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.

Johnson (foot injury) did not play in Saturday’s game at Washington State, while Barefield played briefly after feeling discomfort in his ribs during pregame warmups.

Johnson, who has averaged 17.8 minutes per game while almost exclusively coming off the bench, ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.9 per game) and blocked shots (23). He has averaged 6.1 points per game. Barefield, the team’s third-leading scorer (11.2 ppg), has played the third-most minutes on the team this season behind seniors Justin Bibbins and Tyler Rawson.

Pace of play

UCLA ranks first in the conference in scoring offense (82.3 points per game) during Pac-12 games, and they made better than 50 percent of their shots in an 83-64 win over the Utes on Jan. 11. However, that doesn’t mean that the Utes will try to take the air completely out of the ball on Thursday night.

“A lot of times you’re talking about their offensive pace, [which] has a lot to do with how our offense is,” Krystkowiak said. “We can dictate. If we want to take bad shots, ill-advised shots, then that starts that pace. We’ve got to be a lot smarter with playing a better style of team basketball, willing to make one more pass and maybe to pass up an average shot for a good shot. …

“Having said that, we’re in pretty good shape — our team is — in terms of conditioning. We’re playing at elevation, and as we all know this mountain trip is not easy. At least that’s what our opponents talk about. So time and score and pace — it’s not like we’re planning on walking the ball up the floor.”

Searching for momentum

The Utah women’s team, coming off of a weekend sweep at home against Washington State on Friday and in Sunday’s senior day game against Washington, will wrap up its regular season this weekend with a pair of games in Southern California against USC on Thursday night and 10th-ranked UCLA on Saturday afternoon before going to Seattle for the Pac-12 Conference tournament next week (March 1-4).

The Utes (17-10, 8-8) enter the final week of the regular season able to finish no higher than fifth in the conference standings and no lower than eighth. Utes coach Lynn Roberts said the team’s mentality going into postseason will be the most important factor looking ahead to next week.

“I thought last year we went into the NIT just kind of flat and dead in the water,” she said. “It didn’t matter what we were running or not running. We were just kind of — the mentality was not the right one. I think this year, the team has a different vibe. I think our mentality is good. I think we’re hungry to do things we haven’t done in this league yet as a program.”