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Red All Over: Utah fans, relax. It’s OK to go all-in on hoops right now

Utes will face USC on Thursday night in a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak looks on in the final seconds of the loss as Utah hosts Oregon State, NCAA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 3, 2021.

I’m going to say some things.

You’re not going to like all of it, but I’m trying to help you improve your Utah fandom ahead of a Pac-12 tournament quarterfinal tonight vs. USC.

Please, stop trying to turn wins into losses.

Yeah, I’m all over social media, and I check in on message boards semi-regularly to see what the chatter is. You know who you are, I’m talking to you, you, and you.

Utah scored 98 points Wednesday night in a first-round win over Washington. Great offensive showing. Six players in double-figures, 14 3-pointers as a team, Alfonso Plummer hit a handful of bombs. Yes, the Huskies showed a deplorable lack of defense for much of the night, but all that means to me is Utah took advantage.

I won’t say most of the postgame chatter focused on the other side, but a lot of postgame chatter focused on the fact Utah gave up 95 points. Washington scored 60 second-half points, the Huskies dropped 50 points in the paint, Utah turned the ball over 16 times, six of them belonged to Plummer, etc., etc., etc.

Doesn’t matter, and do you know why? Utah won on Wednesday night. Do you know why else it doesn’t matter? Because they advanced in the conference tournament, they play again tonight, and by the time the ball goes up at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Wednesday night’s game is going to be a memory.

So, relax. Stop finding things to be mad about after a win. Instead, go all-in. It’s conference tournament time, it’s supposed to be exciting, not angering.

And, well, yeah, Utah should probably play some more defense tonight, because it’s not going to score 98 on USC’s defense.

*Ducks, runs for cover*

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