Ute basketball is a roller-coaster ride

I’m sitting here in Pocatello, Idaho, trying to figure out how the Utah basketball team lost game it had no business losing earlier tonight. Sure Idaho State is a lot better than its 1-5 record indicates, but it’s still a 1-5 Big Sky school.
I’ve seen every game the Utes have played this year and tonight’s game was most like the opening loss to Southwest Baptist. I felt like whether they believed it or not, the Utes didn’t come ready to play from the start. And once they fell behind, I had a feeling they weren’t going to come back and win.
A lot of the problem tonight was shots not falling and a lot of Ute shots seemed to bounce in and out. But coach Jim Boylen is the first to tell you that he doesn’t expect his team to shoot well every night and that if it plays defense and rebounds, it should still have a chance to win. But Utah played poor defense in the first half when it fell behind by 15 points and was outrebounded by a smaller Bengal squad.
I must admit if you would have asked me before the season started what Utah’s record would be right now, I would have said 5-2 or even 4-3. However I figured losses would have come against Mississippi and either Missouri State or Oregon, not Southwest Baptist and Idaho State.
I still think the Utes will win a lot of games this year and may even contend for the Mountain West Conference title. But it’s going to be a roller-coaster experience with unexpected victories and unbelievable losses.