Ready or not, Big 12 action is here for the Utah men’s basketball team.

The next two and a half months will determine whether the Runnin’ Utes will do as expected — they were projected to finish last in the conference — or if the squad will outperform those expectations and make some noise in league play.

The nonconference slate provided Utah with the chance to stack up wins, though the 8-3 record isn’t the best indicator to just how competitive the Utes might or might not be in the Big 12.

Utah lost against its three toughest opponents during nonconference play, and is coming off a neutral-site 95-88 loss to Iowa back on Dec. 21.

That sent the Utes into the holiday break a bit down, though there’s optimism that a break could be helpful as Utah heads into the grind of conference play.

“I think it’s the time to really reflect and take a step back and really look at your team and things that you’ve done well, things that you maybe have not done so well, what lineups have been good. You take a deep dive, so to speak, into everything from nonconference play,” Utah coach Craig Smith told reporters Sunday, two days ahead of the Utes’ Big 12 opener at Baylor.

“We came back on the 26th and we’ve gotten after it pretty good for three practices, and obviously have another one tomorrow as we head into the inaugural Big 12 game. There’s a lot to dive into. Who’s playing well, who’s got to keep getting better? I mean, everybody needs to keep getting better. What are some ways to keep our team growing?”

Defense matters

Defense is a primary focus for improvement — during the nonconference slate, Utah beat the teams it was supposed to beat, going 8-0 against Quad 4 opponents, but the Utes were 0-3 against teams in the Quad 1/Quad 2 range.

In each of those losses, there were stretches where Utah’s defense simply didn’t get it done, particularly in the second half, Smith said.

That will be a big challenge in the Big 12 — six league teams rank among the top 25 nationally in scoring. That includes Utah, which is 14th nationally while averaging 86.7 points per game.

“The biggest thing that stands out to me is just defensively, and it’s a little bit of everything right now,” Smith said, in assessing the Utes’ biggest weakness heading into league play.

“So you’ve got to look at it. Is that how we’re teaching it? Is it our scheme? What are some things that we need to do to change it up? Or is it our personnel? It’s a little bit of everything right now, so you’ve just got to keep tightening things up.”

“We’ve got to find a way to get stops. That’s the bottom line. We have to be able to find a way to get stops and end possessions on a consistent basis against good teams.”

—  Utah coach Craig Smith

Smith noted that Utah’s defense in the last 10 minutes of its three losses — against Mississippi State, Saint Mary’s and Iowa — was what let the team down each time.

One example was the home loss to the Gaels. In that game, Saint Mary’s weathered a rally from Utah, who trailed by 17 at halftime, and even though the Utes cut their deficit to 57-55 with four minutes to play, Saint Mary’s scored on six of its final seven possessions to win by nine.

“You’ve got to be able to get stops when you need to get stops to win those types of games. We’re probably eight to 10 possessions away from being undefeated,” Smith said. “We’re close, really close, but you’ve got to be able to finish those games.”

Smith said he believes whatever contributes to the Utes’ ails on the defensive end is fixable — from boxing out on rebounds to helping out along the 3-point line to being in the right position defensively.

He also acknowledged that in a conference like the Big 12, one of the top leagues in the sport, weaknesses can be magnified tenfold if they’re not addressed and fixed.

“We’ve got to find a way to get stops. That’s the bottom line,” the coach said. “We have to be able to find a way to get stops and end possessions on a consistent basis against good teams.”

Up first is Baylor

Utah will tip off Big 12 action on Tuesday in an afternoon matchup at Baylor (noon MST, ESPN+).

The Bears, who won the national championship back in 2021, are off to a 7-3 start this season, with all three losses coming against top-25 opponents.

Baylor is led by forward Norchad Omier, a Miami transfer who is averaging a team-high 16.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. He is fourth nationally on the offensive glass, averaging 4.2 offensive rebounds per contest.

“They play physical, they’re very athletic, they’re very aggressive,” Smith said.

Baylor has five players averaging in double figures, among them senior guards Jeremy Roach (12.2) and Jayden Nunn (12.1), freshman guard Robert Wright III (12.9) and true freshman wing VJ Edgecombe (11.7).

The Bears run one of the nation’s most effective offenses — they average 86.9 points per game, 13th nationally and one spot ahead of Utah, and shoot 49.2% from the field, which is 35th-best in the country.

“We have to really be very, very sound defensively, because they have a lot of weapons out there. There’s many times they have three guards out there that are three-level scores,” Smith said.

“They can shoot the three, have great pull-up games, they get to the rim and they see the floor. They really make the right play.”

It’s a homecoming of sorts for two Utes, forward Caleb Lohner and point guard Miro Little, who are Baylor transfers. Lohner played there the past two seasons, while Little was a true freshman there last year.

Defensively, the Bears are also good at forcing turnovers — they average 15.5 takeaways each game, which is 37th-best in the country.

“We’re going to have to play good basketball. I don’t know that there’s such a thing as a perfect game, but we’re gonna have to play very, very well to find a way to win this game,” Smith said.

Rotations are still a work in progress

One of the reasons Utah is still seeking consistency from game to game, particularly against its tougher opponents, is that the Utes are still sorting through their rotations.

It’s understandable, given that Utah has so many new faces this season and guys like Lawson Lovering, Zach Keller and Lohner — who played football for Kyle Whittingham before joining the basketball team a few weeks ago — have only been available since the back half of nonconference play.

Still, it’s not an ideal situation for Utah to be in, trying to find its best lineups with Baylor, Texas Tech and No. 3 Iowa State on the schedule to start Big 12 play.

While leading scorer Gabe Madsen and Little have been in the starting lineup every game for Utah, the team’s other starting guard spot has rotated in recent contests.

The 6-foot-9 Mike Sharavjamts began the year as a starter before coming off the bench the past two games. After hitting a bit of a slump while starting, Sharavjamts has done well as one of the team’s first subs of the game — against Florida A&M, he scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and had four assists and two rebounds.

Senior Hunter Erickson also started one game after scoring 18 against Radford, and Boston College transfer Mason Madsen was inserted into the starting lineup in the loss against Iowa. Madsen scored 26 points and made six 3-pointers against the Hawkeyes, while adding six rebounds and four assists.

“I wouldn’t say anybody solidified in this spot or that spot. We can go a lot of different ways. And you know, it might be a thing that keeps revolving until somebody really owns up to it,” Smith said. “And it could be a thing where certain guys have a great week of practice. It could be or they start really playing super sound. It could be a thing where matchups dictate. … We try to take into account everything that way.

“… That’s not the ideal situation, but that’s where we’re at as of today.”

In the post, sophomore forward Keanu Dawes started the year by averaging more than 20 minutes per game over the Utes’ first five contests. In that stretch, he scored in double digits three times and had double-digit rebounds twice.

As guys like Lovering, Keller and Lohner have become available, though, Dawes’ minutes have waned. He didn’t play against Iowa, one of two DNPs for the Rice transfer.

Smith said having the fifth-year Lohner, who stands 6-9 and has a stronger build than the leaner, also 6-9 Dawes, available is “part” of the reason for a reduction of play for Dawes, though there’s more to it than that.

“He’s just got to keep getting better,” Smith said. “KD is a good player. He’s got a very bright future, and I’d like to play all 11 guys.”

Smith stressed the need to see consistency out of everyone in the lineup.

“KD’s right in the picture, and he’s just got to keep going and keep getting better and keep pushing forward and I would say that to all of our guys,” the coach said.

“… He’s got to stay confident and stay locked into what’s going on and we’ll see where it takes us.”

A bit more of a consistent schedule

One positive about getting to conference play, especially for a team like Utah that has 10 new players this season, as well as a trio of new assistant coaches, is that there is a more consistent schedule.

That provides a more conducive environment for the team to gel and find its rhythm.

During nonconference play, there were longer stretches between games, as Utah played 11 contests over nearly two months.

Now, for the next 10 weeks, Utah will be playing two games every week.

While Smith said there were some good things to come out of nonconference play, his players “will echo that tenfold” that getting into the meat of conference play is something they are looking forward to.

“There’s just nothing like getting into game mode, and you’re playing two games a week, I think you really get into a rhythm. You just get into a rhythm to what’s going on,” Smith said.