7. Utah Utes (11-10, 5-4 Pac-12) LW: 4
After a 5-2 start to the conference season for coach Larry Krystkowiak and Utah Utes, it seemed that the surprise team in the Pac-12 may be located in Salt Lake City.
However, the Utes showed they might not be as good as their early conference record indicated after being swept at home by Oregon and Oregon State.
Regardless of the back-to-back losses, senior guard Sedrick Barefield continued to improve on his magnificent final year at Utah. On a night where most Utes struggled getting their shots to fall against the Ducks, Barefield still found a way to score, leading with 16 points despite only shooting 25 percent from the field. Then against the Beavers, he finished the night with 19 points on 46 percent shooting.
It turned out that the storyline against OSU was the breakout game from freshman forward Timmy Allen. Coming into the matchup against the Beavers, Allen was only averaging 10.8 points per game, but he caught fire and finished the contest with a career-high 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting with six rebounds and two steals to go along with it.
While there wasn’t much to boast about on the offensive side of the ball, the defense didn’t do them any favors, either, as they allowed four different Ducks to score in double-digits. Three different Beavers did the same, one of them being Tres Tinkle, who ate them up for 31 points.
The Utes will be on the road this week as they try to right the ship against the USC Trojans on Wednesday and the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.
– Wilkinson