3 things to know about Utah’s 88-61 win over Washington

The University of Utah men’s basketball team blew Washington at the Huntsman Center 86-61 on Saturday night, completing a weekend sweep of the Huskies and Washington State. Here’s the gist:

Successful capture of 2-3 zone

Washington head coach Mike Hopkins played at Syracuse and was an assistant under Jim Boheim for more than 20 years, so Hopkins was Boheim’s brag when he took over in Seattle ahead of the 2017-18 season. adopted the 2-3 zone of

The general principle of that zone is steeped in wanting you to be on your heels, essentially standing. there is.

It took just three possessions on Saturday night for Utah to realize they were going to do the job against a 2-3.

On the first trip down the floor, Gabe Madsen received a pass just above his elbow, dribbled into the teeth of the defense and knocked down a 10-foot jumper. Anthony hits a jumper just inside the elbow after finding space.

Utah had control all night against the zone, but in all fairness, Utah head coach Craig Smith didn’t seem worried at all in the days leading up to the game. pointed out in three meetings with the Huskies last season, 2-3 wasn’t the issue, but rather when they got back to man-to-man.

Utah scored 48 points in the paint. Branden Carlson scored his four dunks in the second half, two of which came off dribble penetration against the zone. After Washington returned to man early in the second half, Luca Tarlac walked unimpeded to the rim for a dunk.

All in all, the Utes run high and when running high for that zone they have a clean look everywhere, whether on the rim or around. For a team that has had its fair share of missed shots this season, it’s a big plus that he went 7-15 in the 3-point range and shot 51.5 percent from the floor.

They got whatever they wanted against a defense that is often difficult to prepare for.When Washington pulls away from that defense, it means Utah is doing something right. bottom.

Luca Tarlac sparks

Whenever Tarlac’s name comes up, Smith has stuck to his belief that the Serbian-born freshman will be a factor. We believe that we have the skill sets that allow for the diversity that matters.

The problem was that Tarlac was injured far too often and never fully recovered.

Tarlac’s appearance against Washington occurred under interesting circumstances. At the 2:47 mark of the first half, after a terrifying display of his rebounding defensively, Smith, seemingly out of frustration, pulled out Lazar his Stefanovic and inserted a fouled Tarlac within five seconds. .

From there, there are only positives to close out the first half.

After stealing in the frontcourt, Tarlac tried to end the breakoff with a Eurostep in the lane but ran into traffic and had the presence of mind to drop the ball to the trailing Rowley Wurster for a layup. rice field. A driving Tarlac layup, an aggressive defensive rebound near the end of the half that Carlson dunked to the other end from the half-court set. Utah was 8 when he entered the game and 14 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Tarlac did a great job attacking the zone with a baseline drive before providing a bounce pass to Cutting Carlsson at the rim for a dunk.

Tarlac made an impact in this game with nine minutes of action, but how or where he can move forward is debatable. Utah is probably pretty big when Tarlac is there, but that’s not something Smith did a lot.

Additionally, if you’re looking to put Tarlac on the wing, Marco Anthony, Stefanovic, who got his first call from the bench, Will Exact, who started seeing more runs, albeit in limited capacity, And crowded among Bostin Holt.

If he believes Tarlac needs a role, how Smith manages the allocation of minutes at the location, especially if Utah will rejoin the NCAA Tournament bubble discussion at some point, is an important story. will be an expansion.

Will this be the season-changing weekend?

Smith used some of his first postgame statements to point out that he and his staff challenged the team from two losses in Los Angeles last week. I asked Smith to extend it.

“I felt like I wasn’t playing as collaboratively as I should have, so I challenged the players to play right. If they can’t play right, that’s a problem,” Smith said. Making the right plays, making the right passes, understanding what needs to be done when the team is throwing at us.”

Smith went on to say that he relied on veterans. By veteran, I mean someone who has been with the group in Utah for four years, including Marco He Anthony, Branden Carlson, Jackson Branchley, and Eli He Borstedt. Brenchley and Ballstaedt seem to have said something powerful in a closed-door meeting that week. Smith didn’t elaborate, and Carlson declined to share details when asked about what Brentley said to his teammates that week.

I wrote this after Thursday’s Washington State game, but it’s not the time to give up on this Utah team. Especially after he had two consecutive offensive outbursts, especially after Utes returned to defense and rebounding, neither of which he has had three straight. Losses for Oregon, UCLA, and USC.

If Utah wins both games next weekend at Oregon State and Oregon State, look back at this weekend’s sweep as a turning point if the conversation starts to bubble back up.

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