Takeaways: Runnin’ Utes at Colorado

Well, that was one to forget… After a week off, the refreshed Runnin’ Utes traveled to Boulder on Sunday where they faced the Colorado Buffalo. What followed was a dominating performance by the Buffaloes from start to finish, as the Utes were blown out 91-52.

Here are the takeaways from the game:

They couldn’t get the lid off the rim

No Ute scored in double figures against the Buffaloes, as Riley Battin was the high point man with eight, followed by Timmy Allen and Gach with seven. A lot of this can be credited to the Colorado defense, but the Utes finished 19-54 from the field for 35.2 percent shooting. The Buffaloes, meanwhile, doubled up the Utes in made field goals, on ten more shots due to the rebounding advantage. They struggled so badly shooting the ball, that they also only made 8-12 free-throws.

No offense to the walk-ons, but why…?

This season has been a weird and unique one. Walk-ons have gotten key minutes in plenty of games, something that Reininger did against Colorado. This instance was before the game was fully out of hand.

This season has led to some interesting lineup decisions. Therefore, you have to wonder if the staff is frustrated with the development of some of the scholarship players. Regardless—and no offense to any of the walkons, they’re valuable for practice preparation—if you’re playing them that early, you’re conceding defeat. You play to win the game. Therefore, don’t reward walkons with key minutes, or just come out and better explain the rationale.

Utes were out-physicaled the whole game

The Buffaloes ran away with this game in large part due to a 42-24 rebounding advantage. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that Lahat Thioune and Branden Carlson, only had four rebounds total. That’s inexcusable, as Allen led the way with five.

The one key element that the Utes have really missed this season, is a physical presence down low, that’s where they’ve missed Jayce Johnson. Still, Johnson hasn’t performed any better after transferring to to Marquette, as he’s averaging three points and five rebounds per game.

Up next

The Utes will now travel to (11-5) Arizona and (10-6) Arizona State, who they’ve had some success against in recent years. The (10-5) Utes have similar records to both teams, but each team only has one loss at home. Therefore, a split on the road trip would be a nice accomplishment, but no one will expect the Utes to come away with a road sweep.