Craig Smith ‘redefining’ lineups after Runnin’ Utes bit by injury bug

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

SALT LAKE CITY — The road hasn’t been kind to the Utah men’s basketball program this season.

Every loss for the Runnin’ Utes this season has come on the road or in a neutral-site environment. More frustrating for the team, though, is that most of those games have also featured an injured player and forced Utah to mix up its lineups.

Keba Keita suffered an injury in nonconference play that held him out of the Houston and St. John’s games — both losses — and then was limited, again, in Utah’s road game against a ranked Arizona team. In Tucson, Keita left the game early, which limited what Utah could do to challenge a tough Arizona team that went on to an easy victory.

Rollie Worster was scratched from the lineup Sunday before the game with an injury that was sustained in the UCLA game — it wasn’t made known until after the game. Starting center Lawson Lovering joined Worster on the bench three minutes into the game after sustaining an injury of his own that forced him to limp off the court into the locker room.

Utah was, once again, forced to go deep into its bench to combat a plucky Stanford team that already stole a win against Arizona a couple weeks ago, and then followed it up with a win over Utah.

The road is apparently a dangerous place for Utah.

“It’s been a frustrating week, for sure,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said. But that might be putting it lightly for a team that was projected to break its postseason drought and give Smith his first taste of the NCAA Tournament experience with the Utes after several consecutive years of doing so with Utah State.

At one point this season, Utah had a 98.2% chance of making it to the NCAA Tournament, according to TeamRankings.com, but is now in a pivotal point of the season where that number — it currently sits at a still respectable 88.7% — could see a big drop depending on the health of Worster and Lovering.

Though Utah wasn’t fully trending toward a postseason berth last season, a Gabe Madsen injury early into conference play that held him out for several weeks all but sank any chances the Utes had of playing later into March.

The hope for Smith and his team is that Worster’s and Lovering’s injuries won’t have a similar impact on the team this season — especially with so much early promise.

Smith said both players visited with “appropriate medical personnel” Tuesday to perform tests, but any clarity in their long-term outlook remained to be seen. Worster may be further along than Lovering, based on Smith saying Worster was close to playing Sunday, but he said there’s still more tests needed to be done to know for sure.

“We do everything we can from a — I think we have a really good sports science team, built up with about five different people, covering a lot of different facets,” Smith said. “We’re really in tune to that. We really are very, very diligent to load management and what we need to do to help put our guys in the best position from an athletic standpoint and a freshness standpoint while still getting the work done that you’ve got to get done. And so it’s an unfortunate deal.”

Utah guard Deivon Smith (5) dribbles between Stanford guard Benny Gealer (15) and forward Brandon Angel (23) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, in Stanford, Calif. (Photo: Godofredo A. Vásquez, Associated Press)

Though questions remain, Smith is proceeding with the idea that neither will be available as the team welcomes the two Oregon schools to town this week. Fortunately for the Utes, both games are at the Huntsman Center and not on the road, but one team, in particular — Oregon — has been the eternal thorn in Utah’s side.

None of that helps an already limited Utah team.

Utah lost a scholarship player before the season, Wilguens Jr. Exacte decided to pursue a redshirt season due to injury, and Worster and Lovering are expected to be out of the lineup, which leaves Smith with a limited bench — and less flexibility in the rotations he’s been utilizing.

Branden Carlson will slide back over to the five, or center, position, and Keita will be expected to fill more of the void left absent by Lovering, though Smith said his sophomore big needs to be a little more judicious with his fouls to keep himself on the court. Behind those two mainstays, Ben Carlson is expected to be utilized more, as well as Luca Tarlac.

Deivon Smith, who got his first start Sunday in Worster’s absence and recorded a triple-double, will be the team’s primary ball-handler and floor general, though Madsen will help fill some need. Outside of the two starter-worthy guards, Hunter Erickson will get more playing time, as well as rarely-used Jayden Teat.

“We’re redefining ourselves, certainly, as we go,” Smith said.

But losing two of the team’s best defenders in Worster and Lovering will be difficult to overcome, Smith admitted. That, he said, was most noticeable on Sunday when Utah allowed a middling Stanford team to overtake Utah en route to a win.

“Lawson does some things that certainly don’t show up in (the boxscore) at a very high level,” Smith said. “He’s one of our best defensive players. … He is an elite defender, and he covers up a lot of mistakes for our team, and he’s done that part all year.

“So with those two guys all of a sudden out on the snap of a finger, it certainly changes some things,” he added. “We really had to get into our bench, and that’s why guy’s have got to always be ready to roll. We’re in a tough spot right now.”

Utah will get its first chance Thursday (7 p.m. MST, ESPN2) against an Oregon State team that ranks 179th in the NET but can present a challenge to the Utes — especially with two of its top players potentially scratched from the lineup.

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Josh is the Sports Director for KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women’s basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.