Utah has bigger problems on its hands than just another road loss in the Pac-12. Now, it might be without one of its best players.
Guard Deivon Smith left the game in a 79-57 loss to Washington State. It is an ankle injury, and head coach Craig Smith is unsure if he’ll play on Saturday against Washington.
“I don’t know,” Smith said. “All [athletic trainer] Trevor [Jameson] said was, ‘Hey, it’s an ankle. There is no way he is coming back tonight.’
“... I’m guessing this is going to come down to a game-time decision on Saturday night.”
Smith would be the third starter to go out for Utah if he does miss time.
Lawson Lovering and Rollie Worster have not played since Jan. 11 against UCLA. Since then, Utah is 2-2 with two road losses to Stanford and WSU.
Smith is averaging 10 points and five assists per game.
“I told the team afterwards, it is what it is. It’s sports,” the coach said. “Obviously we have three really good players out. Four counting Will [Exacte Jr.]. But that is part of the deal.”
Deivon Smith’s injury only exacerbates Utah’s current issues. The Utes are 0-4 in road games in the Pac-12. Beyond that, they are showing flaws that Smith is heavily concerned with.
Against WSU, Utah shot seven free throws and made three. Washington State shot 24.
“They are making 2.5 as many free throws as we’re attempting,” Smith said. “And that’s just never been the trademark of teams I’ve been a head coach of. We are a team that owns the paint and owns the foul line. And this team isn’t great at that. And that’s a bit concerning to me. I don’t like that at all, especially when you are playing on the road.”
Utah also gave up 14 offensive rebounds. It led to 21 second-chance points.
“If you are allowing a team to get 46% of their missed shots, I don’t care if you are home, away, in Cancun or in Paris, France, you are not going to have much of a chance to win that game,” the coach said.
The final 10 minutes, Utah fell apart defensively, too. It prompted Smith to note that Utah gets, “all over the map on the defensive end. We just do.”
Without Smith, Utah will likely have to dip into a rotation of players who don’t have much experience. Freshman Jayden Teat played nine minutes on the road. Hunter Erickson, in his first season at Utah, played 27 minutes. Luka Tarlac played 11.
“We got to figure it out [without Smith] and I thought we did a pretty good job of that until about the 10-minute mark,” Smith said. “We probably over-extended a few of these guys and we are relying on guys that haven’t played a whole lot of college basketball at this level. And it showed a little bit tonight.”
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