Utah is 0-9 on the road and only has two more chances to avoid going winless in enemy venues this season, beginning with Thursday night’s Pac-12 game at Stanford.
The Utes (9-16, 2-13 Pac-12) also visit California on Saturday before finishing the regular season with three home games. Stanford is 10-3 at on-campus Maples Pavilion.
Utah’s road struggles were evident last Saturday when it lost 81-76 at Colorado.
The Utes led 69-59 with 10:36 remaining before collapsing down the stretch and being outscored 22-7.
Utah 7-footer Branden Carlson scored a career-high 25 points but his club still sustained its 12th loss in the past 13 outings.
“I don’t think it is really one thing specifically,” Carlson said of the Utes’ struggles. “We just need to get everything we have been doing well, and just put it all together.”
Carlson leads Utah in scoring (13.8 per game) and blocked shots (1.8). He ranks second in rebounding (6.4).
Marco Anthony is averaging a team-best 7.7 boards to go with a 9.0 scoring average. Anthony has produced back-to-back double-doubles, recording 15 points and 12 rebounds in both games.
Stanford (15-10, 8-7) ended a two-game slide with a 76-65 road triumph over Oregon State on Saturday.
Freshman Harrison Ingram continued his strong season with 16 points, six rebounds and a career-best nine assists. Ingram is averaging 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists over the past four games.
“One of my biggest attributes is playmaking for my teammates,” Ingram said after the victory. “I love to see my teammates shine. My favorite highlight is an assist to my teammates.”
Ingram leads the Cardinal in scoring (11.6) and rebounding (6.6). He ranks second in assists (2.9).
Michael O’Connell is Stanford’s assist leader at 3.8 per game. O’Connell sat out the Oregon State game with an ankle injury and is expected to return against Utah.
The Cardinal are tied for seventh in the Pac-12 with five games remaining. Their route to the NCAA Tournament would be to win the Pac-12 tourney so the players are gearing up now to start making a run.
“I think that even motivates us more to take it one game at a time,” Ingram said. “Knowing we can’t drop any games. Every game counts. The magic number is about 20 wins and the next five games we have left are all tough teams. We have to take it one game at a time and win every game.”
Utah has won eight of the past 12 meetings.
–Field Level Media
