The Utah men's basketball program will conclude its 2024-25 home slate this Tuesday, March 4, against West Virginia in a twist of fate as interim head coach Josh Eilert leads the Runnin' Utes against his former team in which he held the same role just last year.
Meanwhile, the Runnin' Utes will also be honoring its six seniors in Hunter Erickson, Brandon Haddock, Caleb Lohner, Lawson Lovering, Mason Madsen and Gabe Madsen during pregame ceremonies. Fans are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes prior to the 7 p.m. (MST) tip-off to honor the six seniors.
Ted Emrich will call the action in the final game inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center alongside former Stanford Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase as Utah looks extend its five-game win-streak at home and send the seniors off with a victory on ESPN+.
ALL EYES ON AUSAR
Junior Ezra Ausar has made a huge jump in play the second half of league, but has been dominant for Utah in his last five games, averaging 19.2 points and 6.2 rebounds with a .517 shooting clip. During that stretch, Asuar has scored 20-plus points in three of those five games and has improved at the free-throw line – knocking down 79.1-percent (34-for-43) in those five games.
MUCH TO PLAY FOR
With two games remaining in the regular-season, Utah sits at 8-10 in conference play and can still earn a first-round bye. The Utes are tied with West Virginia for ninth place and just one game back from TCU and Baylor, who sit at 9-9 on the season and currently holding the No. 7 and No. 8 slot in the standings. Theoretically, Utah can be as high seventh and as low as 13th based on who wins which games in the final two contests of the regular-season.
UP NEXT
Utah wraps up the regular-season in the Beehive State as it travels 45 minutes south to play in-state rival BYU on Saturday, March 8. Mark Neely and 3x NBA Champion Scott Williams will have the call in the 266th edition of the Red vs. Blue rivalry game as the Runnin' Utes look to go for the in-season sweep of the Cougars in their first season together as members of the Big 12 Conference. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. (MST) on ESPN2 inside the Marriott Center.
LOOKING AHEAD
With the regular-season wrapped up, Utah's fate in its first Phillip 66 Big 12 Championship will be determined on the last day of the regular-season with a log jam in the middle of the league standings. The bottom 8 teams at the end of the regular-season will play on Tuesday, March 11, inside T-Mobile Center starting at 11:30 a.m. (CST) local / 10:30 a.m. (MST) and the last game tipping off at approximately 8:30 p.m. (CST) local / 7:30 p.m. (MST).
