# 2023–24 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by third-year head coach Craig Smith. They played their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Utah started the season with strong non-conference play, winning landmark games on the road against Saint Mary's and at home against then #14th-ranked BYU. Prior to their final out-of-conference game against Bellarmine, Utah received the 29th-most votes in that week's AP poll and were projected to be a 9th-seed in that year's NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Despite being dominant at home, even giving UCLA their second-worst loss in program history, the Runnin' Utes failed to win all but one conference road game, scoring a last-second basket to beat the same team in Pauley Pavilion. After home losses to Arizona and Arizona State, Utah was considered to be on the bubble for an NCAA tournament bid. After a road loss to Oregon State in which Branden Carlson scored a career-high 40 points, it was reported that "Utah’s NCAA tournament hopes were all but extinguished".
This season, Branden Carlson broke the all-time Runnin' Utes blocks record, finishing the season with 241 blocks. Incoming transfer Deivon Smith was unable to play until December due to double-transfer eligibility rules, but was able to debut in Utah's game against Utah Valley University after judge John P. Bailey extended a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against the NCAA to the end of the season. After becoming eligible, Smith would go on to score five triple-doubles in the rest of the season, breaking the all-time Pac-12 record that was previously held by Jason Kidd.
In the 2024 Pac-12 men's tournament, Utah won their first round game against Arizona State before falling to Colorado in the quarterfinals. The team played in the 2024 National Invitation Tournament, being the only Pac-12 team to accept one of two automatic bids for teams in the conference. This marked the program's first appearance in a postseason tournament since the 2018 NIT six years prior. Utah advanced to the semi-finals before being eliminated by the Indiana State Sycamores.
This was their final season as members of the Pac-12 Conference after 12 years before they will join the Big 12 Conference in the 2024–25 season.

## Previous season

The Utes finished the 2022–23 season 17–14, 10–10 in Pac-12 play, to finish in 7th place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Stanford.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Gavin Baxter | 0 | F | 6'9" | 224 | Senior | Provo, UT | Retired from basketball due to injuries |
| Mike Saunders Jr. | 2 | G | 6'0" | 184 | Junior | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred to McNeese State |
| Bostyn Holt | 3 | F | 6'6" | 193 | Senior | Portland, OR | Graduate transferred to South Dakota |
| Jaxon Brenchley | 5 | G | 6'5" | 195 | Senior | Providence, UT | Graduate transferred to Denver |
| Marco Anthony | 10 | G | 6'5" | 223 | RS Senior | San Antonio, TX | Graduated |
| Lazar Stefanovic | 20 | G | 6'7" | 185 | Sophomore | Belgrade, Serbia | Transferred to UCLA |
| Eli Ballstaedt | 32 | G | 6'5" | 198 | Senior | Midway, UT | Walk-on; graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Hunter Erickson | 0 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Provo, UT | Salt Lake CC |
| Cole Bajema | 2 | G | 6'7" | 190 | GS Senior | Lynden, WA | Washington |
| Deivon Smith | 5 | G | 6'1" | 172 | Senior | Loganville, GA | Georgia Tech |
| Lawson Lovering | 34 | C | 7'1" | 225 | Junior | Cheyenne, WY | Colorado |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jake Wahlin #42 PF | Provo, UT | Timpview High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 22, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2023 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

#### 2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2024) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| David Katoa #43 SG | Salt Lake City, UT | Real Salt Lake Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 26, 2023 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2024 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2024 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | Westminster | W 84–61 | – | 18 – Bajema | 9 – Be. Carlson | 4 – Bajema | Jon M. Huntsman Center (–) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:30 p.m., P12N | | Eastern Washington | W 101–66 | 1–0 | 20 – Madsen | 11 – Keita | 8 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,632) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 10, 2023* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | UC Riverside | W 82–53 | 2–0 | 18 – Lovering | 7 – tied | 7 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,565) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 16, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Wake Forest Charleston Classic quarterfinals | W 77–70 | 3–0 | 31 – Br. Carlson | 7 – Be. Carlson | 9 – Worster | TD Arena (2,745) Charleston, SC |
| November 17, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. No. 6 Houston Charleston Classic semifinals | L 66–76 | 3–1 | 29 – Madsen | 8 – tied | 6 – Worster | TD Arena (3,029) Charleston, SC |
| November 19, 2023* 3:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. St. John's Charleston Classic third-place game | L 82–91 | 3–2 | 22 – Br. Carlson | 8 – Br. Carlson | 3 – tied | TD Arena (3,841) Charleston, SC |
| November 27, 2023* 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Saint Mary's | W 78–71 | 4–2 | 17 – tied | 8 – Worster | 3 – Br. Carlson | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) Moraga, CA |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m., P12N | | vs. Hawai'i | W 79–66 | 5–2 | 17 – Br. Carlson | 9 – Worster | 3 – Worster | Delta Center (4,686) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 5, 2023* 7:00 p.m., P12N | | Southern Utah | W 88–86 | 6–2 | 23 – Keita | 10 – Be. Carlson | 10 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,161) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 9, 2023* 5:00 p.m., P12N | | No. 14 BYU Rivalry | W 73–69 | 7–2 | 17 – Madsen | 8 – Br. Carlson | 8 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,648) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 16, 2023* 2:00 p.m., P12N | | Utah Valley | W 76–62 | 8–2 | 26 – Br. Carlson | 11 – Lovering | 9 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,349) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., P12N | | Bellarmine | W 85–43 | 9–2 | 17 – Lovering | 9 – Be. Carlson | 4 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,310) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2023 6:30 p.m., P12N | | Washington State | W 80–58 | 10–2 (1–0) | 20 – Madsen | 11 – Keita | 7 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,235) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 31, 2023 4:00 p.m., P12N | | Washington | W 95–90 | 11–2 (2–0) | 34 – Br. Carlson | 11 – Madsen | 7 – Br. Carlson | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,468) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 4, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Arizona State | L 70–82 | 11–3 (2–1) | 19 – Br. Carlson | 8 – Br. Carlson | 5 – Madsen | Desert Financial Arena (6,259) Tempe, AZ |
| January 6, 2024 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 10 Arizona | L 73–92 | 11–4 (2–2) | 18 – Madsen | 6 – Be. Carlson | 5 – Worster | McKale Center (14,688) Tucson, AZ |
| January 11, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | UCLA | W 90–44 | 12–4 (3–2) | 14 – tied | 14 – Br. Carlson | 8 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,934) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 14, 2024 3:00 p.m., P12N | | at Stanford | L 73–79 | 12–5 (3–3) | 16 – tied | 10 – Smith | 11 – Smith | Maples Pavilion (3,037) Stanford, CA |
| January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Oregon State | W 74–47 | 13–5 (4–3) | 18 – Keita | 15 – Keita | 8 – D. Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,063) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 21, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN | | Oregon | W 80–77 | 14–5 (5–3) | 24 – Smith | 9 – Smith | 8 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,919) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 24, 2024 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington State | L 57–79 | 14–6 (5–4) | 20 – Br. Carlson | 9 – Keita | 3 – tied | Beasley Coliseum (2,605) Pullman, WA |
| January 27, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Washington | L 73–98 | 14–7 (5–5) | 20 – Smith | 7 – Keita | 3 – tied | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,419) Seattle, WA |
| February 3, 2024 3:00 p.m., P12N | | Colorado Rivalry | W 73–68 | 15–7 (6–5) | 21 – Madsen | 11 – Smith | 9 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,294) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., P12N | | No. 8 Arizona | L 99–105 $^{3OT}$ | 15–8 (6–6) | 27 – Br. Carlson | 15 – Br. Carlson | 10 – D. Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,944) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 10, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Arizona State | L 77–85 | 15–9 (6–7) | 25 – Br. Carlson | 11 – Br. Carlson | 9 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,235) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 15, 2024 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | at USC | L 64–68 | 15–10 (6–8) | 19 – Smith | 9 – Smith | 7 – Smith | Galen Center (5,122) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 18, 2024 5:00 p.m., FS1 | | at UCLA | W 70–69 | 16–10 (7–8) | 17 – tied | 7 – Br. Carlson | 10 – Smith | Pauley Pavilion (9,537) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., P12N | | at Colorado Rivalry | L 65–89 | 16–11 (7–9) | 18 – Madsen | 6 – tied | 5 – Smith | CU Events Center (9,075) Boulder, CO |
| February 29, 2024 6:30 p.m., P12N | | Stanford | W 90–68 | 17–11 (8–9) | 21 – Bajema | 10 – Smith | 10 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,833) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 2, 2024 7:00 p.m., P12N | | California Senior Night | W 88–59 | 18–11 (9–9) | 30 – Br. Carlson | 10 – tied | 10 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,841) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 7, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Oregon State | L 85–92 | 18–12 (9–10) | 40 – Br. Carlson | 7 – Br. Carlson | 10 – Smith | Gill Coliseum (3,362) Corvallis, OR |
| March 9, 2024 5:00 p.m., P12N | | at Oregon | L 65–66 | 18–13 (9–11) | 19 – Br. Carlson | 6 – Smith | 4 – Lovering | Matthew Knight Arena (8,668) Eugene, OR |
| Pac-12 tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2024 9:30 p.m., P12N | (6) | vs. (11) Arizona State First Round | W 90–57 | 19–13 | 22 – Baejma | 10 – tied | 9 – Smith | T-Mobile Arena (10,133) Paradise, NV |
| March 14, 2024 9:30 p.m., FS1 | (6) | vs. (3) Colorado Quarterfinal/rivalry | L 58–72 | 19–14 | 13 – tied | 6 – tied | 5 – Smith | T-Mobile Arena (11,428) Paradise, NV |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 19, 2024* 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | UC Irvine First Round – Villanova bracket | W 84–75 | 20–14 | 21 – Br. Carlson | 11 – Br. Carlson | 10 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (3,137) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 24, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | (3) Iowa Second Round – Villanova bracket | W 91–82 | 21–14 | 31 – Madsen | 10 – tied | 10 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (3,804) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 27, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | VCU Quarterfinals – Villanova bracket | W 74–54 | 22–14 | 18 – Madsen | 11 – Smith | 12 – Smith | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,008) Salt Lake City, UT |
| April 2, 2024* 5:00 p.m., ESPN | (2) | vs. (1) Indiana State Semifinals | L 90–100 | 22–15 | 28 – Smith | 7 – Smith | 6 – Smith | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | | | | | | |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | — | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.