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Utah Basketball Starts Four-Game Road Stretch Against Cal On Thursday

Back-to-back wins has Utah looking and playing great, but can that streak continue when the Utes hit the road four four-straight games — starting with a redemption matchup with Cal on Thursday

Ryan Kostecka

The last time Utah faced Cal on Jan. 16, it was coming off what was then being looked at as its biggest and more impressive victory of the season.

The Utes thoroughly dominated Stanford, widely considered one of the top teams in the Pac-12 and a current NCAA Tournament team, for an entire 40 minutes. The end result, a 79-65 victory and some much-needed momentum heading into the last half of January.

Jan 14, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (1) reacts in the second half against the Stanford Cardinal at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, the momentum from the victory over the Cardinal amounted to nothing as two days later Utah was defeated by one-win Cal, a brutal and embarrassing 72-63 loss.

Less than a month later and Utah finds itself exactly in the same spot it did the last time it met with the Golden Bears. The Utes will enter Thursday's game on a high, coming off victories over Colorado and Stanford, and looking to continue their push to the postseason.

Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. from Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. and will air on the Pac-12 Network.

“We have enough data right now to validate the fact that we can play some pretty good basketball,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “And there is also enough data to show when we are not (playing well). You keep building off the experience that you have throughout the course of a year. That’s all you can do.”

Make no mistake, the Utah team that will be playing Thursday is a completely different one than the squad that faced Cal four weeks ago. The Utes seem to have settled into their rotations, and with it their individual roles. 

“Definitely,” Branden Carlson said when asked if Utah has improved. “I think we are on the rise up, because I think our team is a lot better than our record shows. We are a better team, we have better chemistry than what we have seen. We are better at just what we do. From here on out, we are going to be showing what we really can do as a team.”

Timmy Allen is the unquestioned star, the player who makes the team go. He leads the Utes with 16.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, adding in 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game — but has taken his game to another level over the past five weeks, averaging 19.1 points, 7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

If Allen is the star, Mikael Jantunen, Rylan Jones and Carlson are the rocks. Jantunen has the inside-out game, Carlson is the man who holds it down in the middle and Jones' defense and play-making are a huge reason as to why the Utes have this two-game winning streak.

Alfonso Plummer, Riley Battin and Ian Martinez are the primary players off the bench who provide energy, defense and scoring. Battin is averaging 11.5 points per game over his past four game while Martinez is the youthful freshman who is getting better each game.

Plummer is the ace in the deck of cards, a sharpshooting, instant-offense type of player who's averaging 13.5 points per game. Like Battin, he's upped his game to 15 points per game over the past four.

Jan 30, 2021; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Utah Utes guard Alfonso Plummer (25) ties the game up on this three point basket over Colorado Buffaloes guard Maddox Daniels (3) in the second half at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The wildcard is Pelle Larsson, the freshman who has gotten better and better and now looks like a seasoned veteran on the court. His uncanny ability to hit big shots, play defense and make the right reads on offense are why he's emerging as the ideal compliment with Allen in the pick and role.

If Larsson can take his scoring to newer heights over the next few weeks, there's no doubt the Utes will take off as a whole and become a true problem for the rest of the conference.

Jan 14, 2021; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Jaiden Delaire (11) guards Utah Utes guard Pelle Larsson (3) in the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Very similar to how Utah is a different team, Cal finds itself much improved as well — and a lot of that has to do with the return of all-conference caliber guard Matt Bradley.

In 14 games played, and finally healthy, Bradley is averaging 18.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, knocking down 38.2% of his shots from beyond the arc. He's the unquestioned leader and one of the top guards in the conference.

Andre Kelly is the only other Golden Bear averaging double figures with 10 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game. He put up a near double-double the last time these two teams played, thoroughly dominating Carlson and finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Four Cal players scored in double figures in that first matchup (Bradley was out hurt), but none impressed more than Grant Anticevich as he finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor and 2-for-4 from three-point territory.

“We made a lot of mistakes, there’s plenty of mistakes for us to take a look at,” Krystkowiak said. “Let that game slip away, we didn’t make enough plays offensively, we had a lot of mishaps defensively and kind of get what you deserve when you don’t put enough positive plays together. Hopefully, that’s a learning experience. Some of the video clips that we’re using throughout this week are clips from that game. Matt Bradley didn’t play in that first game and he’s an all-conference type of player. There are some things that are setting up a little bit differently, but you can certainly use past experiences to help you in the next one.”

Feb 7, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; California Golden Bears guard Matt Bradley (20) handles the ball while being defended by Stanford Cardinal forward Spencer Jones (14) during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

It's a big game for the Utes as a victory will give them three in a row and even more momentum heading into their game against Stanford on Saturday. But like Krystkowiak said, Utah is focused on the the game ahead and refusing to look ahead.

“We have made some strides in (important) areas, but you are only as good as your next game and we are not hanging our hat on anything we’ve accomplished,” Krystkowiak said. “It is about going on the road in the Bay Area and trying to be competitive. This is a mature group that way, so we don’t have to try and play any Jedi mind tricks on anybody. It is just about going and competing.”

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