Week 11 TV Schedule

Date	Time MST	Game	Channel	Comcast Salt Lake	Dish
Jan. 15th	8:00	Washington State at Stanford	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 15th	9:00	Washington at California	ESPNU	755 (HD)	141
Jan. 16th	6:00	UCLA at Colorado	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 16th	7:00	Arizona State at Arizona	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 16th	8:00	USC at Utah	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 18th	12:00	USC at Colorado	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 18th	2:00	UCLA at Utah	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 18th	2:00	Washington State at California	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 18th	9:00	Washington at Stanford	ESPNU	755 (HD)	141
Jan. 19th	6:00	Oregon at Oregon State	ESPNU	755 (HD)	141

December 27, 1957 - Utah vs. Washington

In 1957 we were 7-0 and ranked #9 in the nation heading into our first road trip of the season. We traveled to Corvallis, Oregon, to play in the Far West Classic. I can still remember my starting five at the time: Pearl Pollard, Gary Hale, DeLyle Condie, Dick Shores and Milt Kane. We loved to run and beat teams with our speed off the fast break.

L-R: Pollard, Hale, Condie, Shores and Kane

Our first opponent in Corvallis was the Washington Huskies. They were without their star center, Bruno Boin, that season and had played one of the toughest schedules in the country. So they relied heavily on their 6'7" center, Doug Smart, and his marvelous hook shot. Smart was famous for going toe-to-toe against Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas in a two-game series the year before. So I was worried about Smart and thought this Washington team was a sleeping giant.

Our game plan was thus: run on offense and make Smart try to beat us by himself. But Smart and his long hook shot were unstoppable. When he had the ball, we would sometimes double- or triple-team him -- but it was no use. Everyone in Gill Coliseum knew Smart would slide over and hoist up a hook shot. It's exactly what he did and it nearly always went in. There was simply nothing we could do except lock down the other Husky players and try to out-run them.

We trailed at halftime and through most of the second half, but managed to keep it close. Then with 2:20 left in the game, DeLyle Condie scored to give us the lead and we switched into slow-down mode for the first time. Milt Kane stole the ball away on Washington's next possession and we were able to freeze the ball for nearly two minutes. When the Huskies finally got the ball back with :35 seconds left, we played intense defense again and forced them to take a last-gasp shot at the buzzer -- which was no good.

Doug Smart was brilliant that night. He set a new career high in scoring with 30 points and added 15 rebounds as well. But we escaped victorious behind Pollard's 16, Kane's 14 and Condie's 13.

Weekly Postseason Tracker

Conference RPI: #4

NCAAs:

	Arizona (15-0, 2-0) | RPI: #10 | SOS: #59 Top-100 Wins (5): at San Diego State (18) | vs. Duke (36) | New Mexico State (50) | at Michigan (59) | vs. Drexel (71) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	Colorado (13-2, 2-0) | RPI: #8 | SOS: #4 Top-100 Wins (4): Kansas (2) | Oregon (9) | Harvard (28) | UC Santa Barbara (35) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	Oregon (13-1, 1-1) | RPI: #9 | SOS: #27 Top-100 Wins (5): vs. Illinois (17) | BYU (39) | vs. Georgetown (46) | Pacific (64) | at Ole Miss (78) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	UCLA (12-2, 1-0) | RPI: #40 | SOS: #122 Top-100 Wins (3): UC Santa Barbara (35) | Drexel (71) | USC (82) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	California (10-4, 1-0) | RPI: #52 | SOS: #58 Top-100 Wins (2): vs. Arkansas (76) | at Stanford (86) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	Arizona State (12-3, 1-1) | RPI: #69 | SOS: #148 Top-100 Wins (0): None. Sub-100 Losses (2): vs. Miami (Fla.) (111) | Washington (126)

NIT:

	Stanford (9-4, 0-1) | RPI: #86 | SOS: #90 Top-100 Wins (1): at Connecticut (38) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.
	Washington (9-6, 1-1) | RPI: #126 | SOS: #131 Top-100 Wins (1): at Arizona State (69) Sub-100 Losses (2): UC Irvine (130) | vs. Boston College (159)
	Utah (12-2, 1-1) | RPI: #146 | SOS: #325 Top-100 Wins (1): BYU (39) Sub-100 Losses (0): None.

CBI:

USC (9-5, 0-1) | RPI: #82 | SOS: #87 Top-100 Wins (2): vs. Xavier (25) | at Dayton (34) Sub-100 Losses (1): at Long Beach State (101)

OUT:

	Oregon State (8-6, 0-2) | RPI: #122 | SOS: #139 Top-100 Wins (1): at Maryland (100) Sub-100 Losses (3): vs. Akron (117) | at DePaul (124) | at Utah (146)
	Washington State (7-7, 0-2) | RPI: #127 | SOS: #57 Top-100 Wins (0): None. Sub-100 Losses (2): UTEP (137) | TCU (187)

Week 10 TV Schedule

Date	Time MST	Game	Channel	Comcast Salt Lake	Dish
Jan. 8th	7:00	Colorado at Washington State	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 8th	9:00	Utah at Washington	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 9th	7:00	Arizona at UCLA	ESPN	668 (HD)	140
Jan. 9th	8:00	Arizona State at USC	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 9th	8:00	Stanford at Oregon State	Pac-12 OR		5454
Jan. 9th	9:00	California at Oregon	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 11th	6:00	California at Oregon State	ESPNU	755 (HD)	141
Jan. 12th	1:00	Colorado at Washington	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 12th	3:00	Stanford at Oregon	FoxSports1	691 (HD)	150
Jan. 12th	5:00	Utah at Washington State	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 12th	7:00	Arizona at USC	Pac-12 Net	757 (HD)	413
Jan. 12th	8:00	Arizona State at UCLA	ESPNU	755 (HD)	141

The Oregon Schools -- Heartbreak and Brandon Taylor

Utah opened conference play at home against the Oregon schools.

Oregon 70 Utah 68 (overtime)

Before discussing the gut-wrenching way Utah lost this game, I commend Oregon for winning a tough game in a tough environment. Oregon played very well, especially on the defensive end. Utah only shot 16% on three point attempts. While Utah missed some shots it normally makes, Oregon's quickness had a lot to do with that. Oregon is so quick, Utah had to shoot a tad more quickly than normal. This took Utah out of its rhythm and contributed to Utah's shooting woes. I think once Utah adjusts to the speed of the game against conference opponents, the boys won't struggle quite so much.

Utah played well defensively. The Utes held Oregon to nearly 30 points below their average in regulation (and 20 points after overtime). Both teams missed shots. Both teams gave great effort. And in the end, Oregon made a play and won the game.

The key point of this game was when Utah went up by ten points with about 14 minutes to go after a Dakari Tucker three pointer. Utah had the momentum, the big crowd was going crazy, and it looked like Utah was in a position to put the game away. But Oregon came back. Oregon went on a 12-2 run by taking the ball to the basket. Ten of Oregon's 12 points during that key stretch were layups or free throws. Utah's inability to keep Oregon's guards out of the paint allowed Oregon to quiet the crowd and get the Ducks back in the game.

The Utes had a great chance to win the game at the end of regulation. Jordan Loveridge had a great look, but just couldn't put it down. The teams then exchanged points in overtime leading to the punch to the gut to end the game (and another good look by Jordan Loveridge).

One thing I used to always stress with my players was the small margin between winning and losing. Bachynski has been playing well, but I can not imagine that he was the first option on that in bounds play. The Utes had to find a way to get the ball in Delon Wright's hands so he could take the ball to the basket and either drive and shoot or drive and dish. It didn't happen and Utah lost an important conference game. The question I had after that game was how would the young Utes respond.

Utah 80 Oregon State 69

Well, Utah responded great after the tough loss against Oregon. Oregon State is a much different kind of team than Oregon. The Beavers are not nearly as quick as the Ducks and they are not good ball defenders. To mask some of their defensive deficiencies, OSU played a lot of half court trap and extended zones to try to get Utah out of their offense. After a couple of series, Utah figured it out and really took it to Oregon State. Utah had a lot of open looks and got into a great rhythm offensively. But to Oregon State's credit, the Beavers didn't give up. Oregon State stuck with its game plan and got the game back to single digits by half time.

OSU made a couple of runs in the second half. The Beavers cut it to three two minutes into the second half. But Utah responded with an 8-2 run. After Utah went up 61-49, Oregon State made one last run. The Beavers went on an 11-2 run to get within three once again. And then Brandon Taylor took over. The young guard made a tough jumper to just beat the shot clock and then came back with a confident three point shot about two feet behind the line. After Jeremy Olsen made a little hook shot in the lane to put Utah up 10, the game was all but over.

Big Picture

There are no moral victories and I don't think Utah felt like the loss against Oregon was a victory in any way. But what I learned about Utah is that the Utes expected to beat Oregon. And when they didn't, they didn't put their heads down. They went to practice the next day and then beat an opponent that they should have beaten.

So after week one in conference play, Utah has shown that it will be a tough out (especially at home) against every team in the league except maybe Arizona. I think Utah is capable of making some noise in conference play. But the Utes are young and have little experience playing on the road. The last couple of seasons, I wondered whether Utah had the talent and the mental toughness to win close games. This season, I don't have any question about Utah's ability to win games. Jordan Loveridge, Delon Wright, and Brandon Taylor are all leaders and are all capable of hitting shots when the games tighten up. Utah also has plenty of solid role players to play off those three. And Utah plays solid defense and it rebounds well. Utah is a good team.

The question I have about this team right now is whether it can play consistently well. And whether it can play consistently well on the road. To get to nine or ten conference wins, Utah will have to win a few road games and it will have to beat some elite teams. Utah is young and it may not be ready to be an NCAA Tournament team. But if it continues to learn from its mistakes, if it can play as consistently on the road as it has been playing at home, and if it can make a little run in the conference tournament like it did last year (a lot of ifs, I know), then we may see Utah get an NCAA tournament bid. And if Utah does that, it will be a monumental achievement in light of where Utah has been. The process is working. We'll have to see if the results are ahead of schedule. Go Utes!!

November 26, 1982 - Oregon State at Utah

Utah's had lots of good games against Oregon State over the years. I remember the first time I coached against the Beavers in Corvallis -- Slats Gill was their head coach at the time and the school had already named their arena after him. We lost that one, 65-63. And then there was the time we faced Oregon State in the 1966 NCAA Tournament. Jerry Chambers had 33 points and sent us to the Final Four.

But Utah's most memorable game against Oregon State came many years later. It was the season opener in 1982, and the Utes were coming off a disappointing 11-17 season. Oregon State, on the other hand, was coming off a 25-5 season where they won their third-straight Pac-10 title. When they arrived in Salt Lake in 1982, they were ranked as high as #7 in the national polls.


I recall the Beavers had two big stars at the time: Charlie Sitton and A.C. Green. Utah had Pace Mannion and 12,983 excited fans at the Special Events Center. But the player of the game, by far, was Utah's George Furgis. Furgis led Utah to a 11-6 lead out of the chute and scored 18 of Utah's first 24 points. 

But when Furgis sat down in foul trouble, Oregon State came back. They cut Utah's lead down to as little as three late in the half.

The second half began the same way. Furgis led the Utes out to another solid lead. When Manny Hendrix scored a layup with 8:01 remaining, the score was Utah 58, Oregon State 43. It was Utah's biggest lead of the game. It was also the last time the Utes would score in regulation.

The final eight minutes of regulation was a disaster for Utah. Turnovers ... penalties ... missed shots ... poor rebounding ... you name it. Before you knew it, Charlie Sitton was drilling a big shot to tie the score at 58 with :55 remaining. 

And then Utah threw away the inbounds pass!

The Beavers held the ball for the final shot. When that shot came, it was slightly off the mark. Oregon State got the offensive rebound, but the put-back was no good. Utah really, really bit the bullet there!

Utah would settle themselves and get back to basics in the overtime period. George Furgis once again took the lead; he would finish with 23 points on 7 for 10 shooting. Meanwhile, Sitton's shots stopped falling and Utah survived to a 68-62 overtime victory.