Thanksgiving week has turned into feast week in the college basketball world, featuring interesting non-conference matchups across the country – and even outside the US.
Utah basketball gets a taste of MTE action this week as the Runnin’ Utes head to Palm Desert, California for the Acrisure Series.
After a disappointing 92–85 home loss against Cal Poly for the Utah program, this event will allow the Utes to see if they can show progress as the competition increases.
On Tuesday, the Utes will face Grand Canyon in the nightcap of a five-game day (10 p.m. MST, CBS Sports Network).
Then on Wednesday, Utah will face either Iowa or Ole Miss before a short Thanksgiving break.
Utah (5-1) played its first six games of the season at home – including wins over San Jose State, Weber State, Holy Cross, Sam Houston and Purdue Fort Wayne.
While the Utes, who have 12 freshmen on the roster this season, showed their share of growing pains in those five wins – especially in the win over Weber State, when Utah had to rally from 10 down to force overtime – Utah was able to overcome its inconsistencies and have won five in a row as the favorite.
However, against Cal Poly, Utah was unsuccessful and lost to a Mustangs team that took advantage of the Utes’ defensive shortcomings – an issue that was visible long before the loss to Cal Poly.
“Our guys have to take the challenge of defense personally,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said after the loss, when Cal Poly shot 50% from the floor at Huntsman Center and made 14 of 25 3-pointers.
“We told them they were going to come out fast, they were going to shoot a lot of threes. So we had to talk and come back and keep the ball out of the paint, and I think we eased our way into the game.”
If the Utes want to win or have a shot at two, they can’t afford to play ineffective games in California for long periods of time.
“We know why we lost, and we know it’s a very controllable thing,” junior forward Keanu Dawes said after the Cal Poly loss.
“I think (it) was effort and energy and focus, and obviously it’s not the loss we wanted, but sometimes losses are the best things that happen, especially when it happens early in the season. So our goal is just to learn from it and not let it happen again.”
What to see from the Grand Canyon?
The Lopes, who joined the Mountain West Conference this offseason, will provide a good challenge for the power conference Utes.
Grand Canyon has made the NCAA Tournament four of the last five years as a member of the WAC, and now they will have a chance to show they can raise their game in one of the top mid-major conferences.
While Lopez is 3-2 so far this year, they are currently ranked 100th in the KenPom ratings, 21 spots above Utah at 121st.
Grand Canyon played two exhibition games against power conference teams, losing to Baylor by five on the road and USC by six at home.
The game against Utah begins a stretch where the Lopes will play three power conference teams in their next four contests, they will face either Iowa or Ole Miss in their second Acrimonious Series game, then Grand Canyon will host Oklahoma State on December 6.
According to the team website, Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew said of the Utah game, “They have great size and length, and they can really score the ball, but it’s more about us and executing systematically what we want to do. That’s my top concern.”
While the Utes are led in the frontcourt by double-double threat Dawes and the guard duo of Terrence Brown (25.2 points per game) and Don McHenry (16.7 ppg), Grand Canyon will challenge the Utes with guys like tall guard Jaden Henley.
The 6-foot-7 Henley will be a handful for Utah’s backcourt — he’s averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
Fellow guard Makaih Williams is averaging 13.2 points and is the team’s top 3-point shooter, making 10 of 27 on the year, and 6-8 forward Nana Owusu-Ane is a double-double performer, averaging 12.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest.
“We know exactly what we’re going to prepare for,” Henley said, according to the team website. “After St. Louis (a 78-64 loss on Nov. 15), we’ve taken to the drawing board. We’ve got to win two big games. That’s what we have to do. We’re going to step into the gym with a clean slate.”
A quick look at Iowa and Ole Miss
Both the Hawkeyes and Rebels come into the tournament undefeated at 5-0 on the young season.
Iowa’s best win to date was an 81–62 victory over Xavier at home.
The Hawkeyes and Utes have faced each other the past two seasons – last year, Iowa defeated the Utes in a neutral-site matchup in South Dakota, while Utah defeated the Hawkeyes in the NIT on home soil two years ago.
Guard Bennett Sturtz averaged 17.6 points per game, leading three Iowa players in double figures, while forward Alvaro Folgueras added 12.4 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds.
Ole Miss’s best win has been an 83–77 win at home over Memphis.
Guard Elias Kamardin is one of three Rebels to average over 14 points per game, as his 15.8 average leads the team. He also averages 5.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest.
Forward Malik Diaa adds averages of 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Iowa is currently ranked No. 29 in KenROM’s ratings, while Ole Miss is ranked No. 34.
If Utah wins Tuesday night, they will face the winner of Iowa-Ole Miss on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm MST.
If the Utes lose to Grand Canyon, they will face the losing Iowa-Ole Miss team on Wednesday at 10 pm MST.
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