Utes vs, Cal: nothing like surrendering a 22-6 run over the last 7 minutes.
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Yeah, we fell apart in the last 5 minutes but have looked “decent” in stretches.
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Dang it. Came up short.
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Lost by 7, game was closer. Had a chance late, Cal cranked up the D. They previously beat UCLA, so not an embarrassment.
Fewer breakdowns, still some work to do. Not horrible for early December.
I think we’ll learn from this.
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Some good stretches last night, but need 40 minutes when playing a good team on the road. Scottie Jr. lit us up pretty good last night.
Team is showing progress.
Appears that season ticket holders need to buy the Delta Center game against Mississippi State? (Used to be part of our package.)
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Glad you pointed that out. I’d been ignoring the ads for tix because those used to be included. Just another one of those things Harlen does to show the loyal fan base how much they’re appreciated, I suppose.
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Fairly humdrum game at the JMHC so far. Utes up over Cal Baptist 41-38 at half. Maybe 2000 people here but the good news is the operations guys have thought though seating contingencies.
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Sounds like wishful thinking with overflow.
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At the last media timeout the Utes are up 75-73, which is miraculous considering how they’ve been out rebounded 44-26, including 21-8 on the offensive end. Alex has issued a few open butt chewings for bad blockouts and sleeping on the weak side that cost easy dunks.
Just going to hope for steady improvement.
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Got the win. Timely plays from McHenry and Brown late in the game made it happen. Even Patrick’s jumper – had never seen it from him – was crucial.
Rebounding…sigh.
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The lack of size showed tonight.
No Seydou tonight so there was a Jahkie Howard sighting. He looked like he has started to figure it out. Defense & he had some rebounds.
I am coming to the conclusion that Alex Jensen is a good coach. He has this motley crew playing together & getting results with not much to work with. Of course they will be at the bottom of the league, but if he can recruit some height he might have a decent team some day—but not this year.
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Well we were -12 in the first half and -5 in the second, so it shows that they did tighten things up. And keep in mind that this Cal Baptist team is statistically one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country (13th to be exact), and 55th in total rebounds. So it’s no surprise that they tried to make their bones on the glass. But we pressed our advantage which is our speed over size, and as a result we got to the line A LOT, and behold… we actually make free throws now. Last year we were 357th in the NCAA in ft%, so far this year we are 130th and I think that will get better yet when last night is added because we were 78% last night.
I’m encouraged, I think we are going to be better than expected. What does that mean, still probably middle of the pack, but not at the bottom. And we may even be the top of the middle, very optimistically speaking. TB and DMac are going to be a tough duo to deal with.
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Don’t disagree with the stats and concept. That said, as I watched the game, I was referring to positioning and boxing-out, of which both were lacking and were the reasons why we gave up so many offensive rebounds.
On offense, I noticed our players retreated quickly for defense instead of crashing for the board.
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The team has improved the last few games in the turnover category, but rebounding and defensive technique are both still very poor.
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A brief statement indicating that Choppa has left team to address some personal matters.
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“We wish him the very best in his future” doesn’t sound good, for him at least.
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Elijah Moore and Jahki Howard looked like the most promising recruits, at least on paper.
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Utes up 13 on Miss St in the first half. The Bulldogs aren’t good, but they’re big and athletic.
Howard getting minutes. 
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Utes by 10 at the half, McHenry with 15, Brown with 10.
Were up 17, some defensive breakdowns allowed MSU to come back.
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Painful collapse, we wilted when they got hot and applied defensive pressure.
A lot to learn from this one. They better be pissed off.
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