Turnovers — and points off them — were costly for the Utes in their Big 12 opener

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Baylor guard Jeremy Roach, left, and Utah forward Ezra Ausar, right, reach for the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Waco, Texas. | Jerry Larson

WACO, Texas — Earlier this week when Utah men’s basketball coach Craig Smith discussed the team’s first Big 12 opponent, Baylor, one thing he made sure to point out is that the Bears are adept at forcing turnovers.

That proved to be true, as No. 25 Baylor forced Utah into a season-high 17 turnovers in the Utes’ 81-56 loss to the Bears at Foster Pavilion on New Year’s Eve.

Baylor, who entered the day 35th in the nation in forcing turnovers with a 15.5 per-game clip, turned those takeaways into a 22-8 edge in points off turnovers against the Utes.

While it wasn’t the key factor in Utah’s 25-point loss, it played a role in the Utes’ worst offensive day of the season.

Tuesday was the first time this season Utah (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) has had more turnovers than its opponent — the Bears had 12.

“We’ve done a good job of this this year, but we had 17 turnovers. Now they turn you over — they’re top (35) in the country in creating turnovers. We just had some senseless turnovers that really led to direct points. In fact, 22 of them. That was a real issue for us,” Smith said.

The Utes spent the afternoon largely out of rhythm offensively — they shot a season-low 31.8% from the field, hit 23.3% from 3-point range (second-worst this year) and made 7 of 13 from the free-throw line — the seven makes was a season low.

In the first half, Utah hit just 1 of 12 3-point attempts as the Utes fell behind 37-17.

At one point in the second half, Utah trailed by as many as 31 points before its shooting improved slightly, with the outcome already decided and both teams emptying their benches.

After turning the ball over seven times in the first half, though, the Utes had 10 turnovers following the break as a frustrating day continued to compound upon itself.

The Bears turned those 10…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/turnovers-points-off-them-were-033836163.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2025-01-02 03:38:00

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