The Runnin’ Utes traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to take on the no. 20 USC Trojans, losing 93-73. It was Utah head coach Craig Smith’s first test of Pac-12 play.

Here are the takeaways from the game:

Injuries are taking a toll

The Utes were without Gabe Madsen, Bostyn Holt, Marco Anthony, and Dusan Mahorcic on Wednesday. Then, after seven minutes of action, they lost center Branden Carlson to an ankle injury. This left Utah with seven scholarship players available and only one center, Lahat Thioune.

The Utes would go on to be out rebounded by USC, 51-32. Despite missing key players, the Utes were able to make a run and get the USC lead down to 13, but there was never any question that USC would win after Carlson went out, as they immediately went on a sizable run.

Gach showed he can be a focal point on offense

After a promising freshman season at Utah, Both Gach declined the following two seasons—one at Utah and one at Minnesota. It's early, so judgement should be withheld for a while, but signs point to him having an impactful role this season with or without all the Utes’ current injuries.

Gach is a prime example of one the biggest frustrations that former players and their families had in the Krystowiak era - player development wasn’t good enough. If Smith and his staff can continue to help Gach realize his potential, they’d have a tantalizing talent to plan the offense around.

Stay tuned, but Utah needs Gach to continue to develop if they want to compete in the Pac-12.

A friendly reminder…

This team was always going to struggle the first year under Smith, and the best way to measure progress was going to be incremental improvements. That’s still the case, but at the rate that injuries are going, expectations need to continuously be adjusted. At one point last night, even Thioune had a scare where it would have put Utah down to six scholarship players and no healthy centers. Luckily, Thioune was fine.

There are going to be plenty more 20-point losses this season, so take pride in the small wins and improvements within the games. This program is better off than it was nine months ago.

Up next

The Runnin’ Utes (5-2) will return home on December 5th to face Cal (3-4) at 3 PM MST at the Huntsman Center.