facebook-pixel

What Utah men’s basketball needs more and less of to beat Iowa in NIT

Utah plays Iowa at home on Sunday night.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes center Branden Carlson (35) shoots in the first round of the NIT tournament between the Utah Utes and the UC Irvine Anteaters, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.

  | March 22, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

Utah men’s basketball coach Craig Smith has talked about how strong the NIT field is this year. Teams like Villanova, Butler and LSU — programs with so much NCAA Tournament experience in their histories — are competing in the 32-team field this year.

The Runnin’ Utes have the potentially tall task of knocking off one of those historically successful teams in Iowa, a team that has made the tournament each of the last three seasons. They play the Hawkeyes on Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center in the second round of the NIT.

In the first round, the Runnin’ Utes dispatched UC Irvine behind efficient shooting and the strong interior defense led by Branden Carlson’s five blocks. But against the Hawkeyes, they’ll need more — and less.

Smith said the team needs more of how it shared the ball against UC Irvine.

“I just think for us, it’s always about connectivity,” Smith said after Tuesday’s win over UC Irvine. “With the 23 assists tonight, really proud of that. To be able to do that I think just says a lot about where we’re at mentally.”

Smith was disappointed that his team wasn’t quick enough to shots that had long rebounds, and they’ll need to give up less of those.

“You have to be able to come up with those balls,” Smith said. “That’s always been a staple of our teams is to be able to end possessions on the defensive end.”

Smith also said Utah needs “more consistency” considering they built a 13-point lead by getting multiple defensive stops in a row and scored in transition as a result. But the Anteaters were able to tie the game in the first half before two 3-pointers from Gabe Madsen gave the Runnin’ Utes momentum heading into halftime.

Deivon Smith said the Runnin’ Utes got off to a slow start against UC Irvine and that, in his opinion, they had “slippage” and didn’t play a complete game.

“I just feel like we could have stretched that game out, stretched that lead out somewhat,” Deivon Smith said. “I think if we put together a full game, start off strong, I really feel our team can’t be dismissed if we put together a full game and everybody’s locked in and bought in on the scout and just the game plan and prep.”