The frustration is starting to show in Salt Lake City.
After an 81-69 home loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday - Utah’s seventh loss in eight Big 12 games - head coach Alex Jensen didn’t hold back. In his first season at the helm of the Runnin’ Utes, Jensen is navigating the brutal gauntlet that is the Big 12, and so far, it’s been a harsh welcome.
Saturday’s matchup looked like one of the more winnable games on the Utes’ schedule. Oklahoma State came in with just two conference wins, and Utah was back home after a tough road swing against Kansas State and BYU. But instead of snapping the skid, the Utes stumbled late, going cold offensively and letting another opportunity slip away.
“That’s the disappointing thing about tonight,” Jensen said postgame. “Oklahoma State’s a good team, but we’re good enough to beat ’em.”
What really stung for Jensen wasn’t just the loss - it was how his team played. He called out what he saw as selfish basketball, a regression from the progress he thought they’d been making in recent weeks.
“Very selfish and I thought we were getting better at that,” Jensen said. “But very, very selfish, individually tonight as a team.”
That’s not the kind of thing you want to hear from your head coach in early February, especially with the toughest part of the schedule still ahead.
Looking at the numbers, it’s clear where Utah’s issues lie. Defense has been a glaring weakness - and it’s not just a Big 12 problem.
Nationally, the Utes rank near the bottom in key defensive metrics, and that’s been a consistent theme throughout conference play. Combine that with inconsistent offensive execution, and you’ve got a team struggling to find its footing in the country’s deepest league.
Now comes a Wednesday matchup with Arizona State, another program in a tough spot. The Sun Devils have dropped five of their last six and are navigating what could be the final stretch of Bobby Hurley’s tenure. After a lopsided loss to Arizona, even Hurley admitted the window for a turnaround might have already closed.
“It’s kind of too late to put things together,” Hurley said. “Today we played as good of basketball as this team was probably capable of.”
That sets the stage for a game between two teams desperate for a spark. Both Utah and Arizona State are among the worst defensive teams in the country, but their offenses are capable of putting up points - albeit inconsistently. Translation: expect a high-scoring affair, with plenty of transition buckets and not a lot of resistance at the rim.
According to ESPN’s matchup predictor, Utah has a 59.2% chance to win. But after that, the road gets even steeper.
The Utes are currently favored in just one more game - a home tilt against Colorado. The rest of the schedule?
A murderers’ row.
Utah still has to face No. 14 Kansas on the road, and they’ll host No.
10 Houston and No. 8 Iowa State at the Huntsman Center.
Every remaining opponent is ranked No. 77 or higher in KenPom, and four of them sit inside the top 14. There are no easy nights in the Big 12 - and for Utah, there may be no more wins unless something changes fast.
Realistically, the NCAA Tournament is off the table. Barring a miracle run through the Big 12 tournament, the Utes are staring at their 10th straight season without a March Madness appearance. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a program with a proud basketball history.
So what’s left to play for? For Jensen, it’s about setting the tone for the future.
This final 10-game stretch is a chance to evaluate who fits his system, who’s buying in, and who might be on the way out. Another offseason roster overhaul seems likely, and these next few weeks will offer valuable insight into what this team needs to compete in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz, who’s also in the early stages of building his program, understands the grind. His Cowboys went 7-13 in conference play last year and are currently 3-5, but he knows just how unforgiving this league can be.
“I don’t think people understand how hard this league is this year,” Lutz said. “We were knocking on the Top 25 a month ago and now we’re sitting in this league 3-5.”
Lutz also offered a vote of confidence in Jensen, praising Utah’s offensive system and the process being put in place.
“It takes a little bit of time to recruit to this conference,” Lutz said. “And I don’t care how much basketball we’ve all coached, until you coach in this league, you have no idea how hard this thing is. No idea.”
He’s not wrong. The Big 12 is a different beast - deep, physical, and relentless. There are no nights off, and for a team like Utah still trying to find its identity, that’s a tough environment to grow in.
Still, there are signs - however faint - that Jensen is laying a foundation. The offensive spacing, the pace, the flashes of cohesion. But until the Utes can defend consistently and play unselfishly for 40 minutes, wins will remain hard to come by.
The road ahead is brutal. But for Jensen and the Utes, it’s also a proving ground.
The next 10 games won’t define the program, but they will shape its direction. And in a league like this, every possession, every adjustment, and every ounce of growth matters.