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The Utah basketball program learned a tough lesson in its first-ever Big 12 game. Winning — especially on the road — is not going to come easy in this conference.

“It’s really hard to win on the road. It’s just really hard,” Utah coach Craig Smith said following the Utes’ 81-56 loss at No. 25 Baylor on New Year’s Eve. “You’ve got to play very good, tough-minded basketball, and we weren’t good enough.”

Utah’s starters will need to rebound from their rough start if the Utes (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) hope to bounce back on Saturday when they host Texas Tech (9-3, 0-1).

The Utes’ leading scorer, Gabe Madsen, who was averaging 18.8 points, was limited to three points on 1-of-7 shooting Tuesday. Starters Ezra Ausar (1-for-8 shooting) and Lawson Lovering (only one shot) also had just three points each, while Miro Little went scoreless after missing all nine of his field-goal attempts.

Mason Madsen, Gabe’s twin, hit 4 of 12 shots for 10 points and was only one of two Utes in double figures. Reserve Hunter Erickson topped the team with 13 points.

Utah will have its hands full against equally motivated Texas Tech, which stumbled to an 87-83 defeat at home against UCF on Tuesday. That was an eye-opener for the Red Raiders, who are focusing on shoring up their defense.

“To start Big 12 play with this lack of physicality defensively and to let a team come into our place and score 87 points, it’s ridiculous,” coach Grant McCasland said.

“I told our team there’s a lot of improvement we can make. I love our team. I think our group identifies with the fact we can play good offense and we can score, but, man, do we have a lot of growing up to do and experience that’s needed to come very quickly in order for us to be a team that’s a legitimate contender in this league,” he added.

McCasland liked that his team rallied after trailing by 18 points with 10 minutes left. Falling behind big has been a trend in Texas Tech’s three losses, so he hopes to rectify that beginning with the upcoming two-game road trip in Utah, which also includes a matchup against BYU on Tuesday.

–Field Level Media