The training staffs at Utah and Washington might have as much say in the starting lineups Saturday as Utes coach Craig Smith and his counterpart, the Huskies’ Mike Hopkins.
Both teams limp into the Pacific-12 Conference matchup in Seattle with multiple injuries.
The Utes (14-6, 5-4 Pac-12) already were without starters Rollie Worster and Lawson Lovering, both of whom last played Jan. 11 against UCLA. They lost another when Deivon Smith went down with an ankle injury late in the first half of Wednesday’s 79-57 loss at Washington State, in which the Cougars pulled away in the final 10 minutes.
“Obviously that’s huge. You don’t plan for that stuff. It’s a part of the game, probably the worst part of the game is getting hurt,” Utes senior guard Gabe Madsen said. “But at the end of the day, you know, we can’t make excuses about it.
“We were right in that game. And we always talk about next-man-up mentality and you know, like I said, we’re right in that and it just kind of got away from us.”
The Utes might have to start Hunter Erickson at point guard Saturday. The transfer from BYU is averaging 3.8 points and 2.3 assists in 18.1 minutes per game.
“I told the team afterwards, it is what it is. It’s sports,” Smith said after his team dropped to 0-4 on the road in conference games. “Obviously, we have three really good players out. … But that is part of the deal.”
The Huskies (11-9, 3-6) know the feeling.
Starting center Franck Kepnang has missed the past 10 games with a knee injury and his backup, Braxton Meah, left Wednesday’s 98-81 loss to visiting Colorado in the second half because of cramping. In addition, backup guard Koren Johnson couldn’t finish the game because of a right shoulder injury.
Without Kepnang and Meah, the Huskies were unable to stop Colorado.
“Excuse my language, it was all (messed) up,” forward Keion Brooks Jr. said of the Huskies’ defense. “The main thing is, we’ve got to start buckling down and playing some defense and get some stops.
“If not, we’re not going to beat anybody giving up 90 points every day.”
The Buffaloes shot 55 percent from the field, made 6 of 13 3-point attempts and were 26 of 28 at the free-throw line.
“It wasn’t our best effort,” Hopkins said. “From the beginning of the game, they came right at us and I felt like we couldn’t stop them. … It seemed like we were a little bit slower and couldn’t keep them in front. They did whatever they wanted to do.”
The Utes and Huskies met Dec. 31 in Salt Lake City, with Utah rallying from an 11-point halftime deficit to post a 95-90 victory as 7-footer Branden Carlson scored a career-high 34 points.
–Field Level Media