# 2021–22 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by first-year head coach Craig Smith. They played their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah as members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Utes finished the season 11–20, 4–16 in Pac-12 play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Washington.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Utes finished the 2020–21 season 12–13, 7–11 in Pac-12 play to finish in eighth place. They defeated Washington in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament before losing to USC in the quarterfinals.
On March 16, 2021, head coach Larry Krystkowiak was fired after 10 seasons with an overall record of 183–139. The school named Craig Smith, from cross-state rival Utah State, the new head coach on March 27.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Luc Krystkowiak | 0 | G | 6'4" | 195 | RS Freshman | Salt Lake City, UT | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Timmy Allen | 1 | F | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Mesa, AZ | Transferred to Texas |
| Ian Martinez | 2 | G | 6'3" | 183 | Freshman | Heredia, CR | Transferred to Maryland |
| Pelle Larsson | 3 | G | 6'5" | 215 | Freshman | Nacka, Sweden | Transferred to Arizona |
| Jordan Kellier | 10 | G | 6'6" | 215 | Sophomore | Portmore, Jamaica | Transferred to Siena |
| Brooks King | 14 | G | 6'3" | 167 | RS Junior | Boise, ID | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Rylan Jones | 15 | G | 6'0" | 178 | Sophomore | Salt Lake City, UT | Transferred to Utah State |
| Mikael Jantunen | 20 | F | 6'8" | 220 | Sophomore | Helsinki, Finland | Signed to play professionally in Belgium with B.C. Oostende |
| Alfonso Plummer | 25 | G | 6'1" | 182 | Senior | Fajardo, PR | Graduate transferred to Illinois |
| Brendan Wenzel | 30 | G | 6'7" | 215 | RS Freshman | San Antonio, TX | Mid-season transferred to Wyoming |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| David Jenkins Jr. | 1 | G | 6'1" | 204 | RS Senior | Tacoma, WA | Transferred from UNLV. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jenkins graduated from UNLV. |
| Both Gach | 2 | G | 6'6" | 189 | Senior | Austin, MN | Transferred from Minnesota. |
| Bostyn Holt | 3 | F | 6'6" | 199 | Junior | Portland, OR | Junior college transferred from Coffeyville CC. |
| Marco Anthony | 10 | G | 6'5" | 223 | RS Senior | San Antonio, TX | Transferred from Utah State. Will be eligible to play immediately since Anthony graduated from Utah State. |
| Dusan Mahorcic | 21 | F | 6'10" | 226 | Senior | Belgrade, Serbia | Transferred from Illinois State. |
| Rollie Worster | 25 | G | 6'4" | 201 | Sophomore | Missoula, MT | Transferred from Utah State. |
| Gabe Madsen | 55 | G | 6'6" | 186 | Sophomore | Rochester, MN | Transferred from Cincinnati. |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lazar Stefanovic SF | Belgrade, Serbia | N/A | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 28, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| 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: "2021 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2021 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

#### 2022 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2022) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Mason Falslev #62 SG | Smithfield, UT | Sky View High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 28, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: 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: "2022 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2022 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2022 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 4, 2021 6:00 pm | | Westminster (UT) | W 87–51 | – | 16 – Madsen | 8 – Thioune | 3 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (N/A) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 9, 2021* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Abliene Christian | W 70–56 | 1–0 | 15 – Jenkins Jr. | 10 – Tied | 6 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,701) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 13, 2021* 7:30 p.m., P12N | | Sacramento State | W 89–56 | 2–0 | 21 – Carlson | 10 – Anthony | 6 – Anthony | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,805) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 15, 2021* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | Bethune–Cookman Sunshine Slam campus game | W 86–55 | 3–0 | 25 – Jenkins Jr. | 9 – Carlson | 4 – Jenkins Jr. | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,638) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 20, 2021* 3:00 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Boston College Sunshine Slam semifinals | W 68–61 | 4–0 | 13 – Tied | 7 – Anthony | 7 – Worster | Ocean Center Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 21, 2021* 5:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. Tulsa Sunshine Slam Championship | W 72–58 | 5–0 | 15 – Carlson | 13 – Carlson | 4 – Tied | Ocean Center (1,264) Daytona Beach, FL |
| November 27, 2021* 7:30 p.m., P12N | | No. 18 BYU Rivalry | L 64–75 | 5–1 | 17 – Carlson | 6 – Tied | 5 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,443) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 1, 2021 9:30 p.m., P12N | | at No. 20 USC | L 73–93 | 5–2 (0–1) | 28 – Gach | 11 – Thioune | 4 – Worster | Galen Center (3,754) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 5, 2021 3:00 p.m., P12N | | California | W 66–58 | 6–2 (1–1) | 19 – Gach | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,548) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 8, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. TCU Simmons Bank Showdown | L 62–76 | 6–3 | 16 – Tied | 9 – Carlson | 5 – Worster | Dickies Arena (2,231) Fort Worth, TX |
| December 11, 2021* 3:00 p.m., P12N | | Manhattan | W 96–62 | 7–3 | 16 – Thioune | 7 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (6,645) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 18, 2021* 2:30 p.m., SECN | | at Missouri | L 75–83 | 7–4 | 18 – Jenkins Jr. | 8 – Anthony | 4 – Gach | Mizzou Arena (6,782) Columbia, MO |
| December 21, 2021* 5:00 p.m., P12N | | Fresno State | W 55–50 | 8–4 | 11 – Anthony | 6 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,673) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 30, 2021 7:00 p.m., P12N | | at Oregon State | L 76–88 | 8–5 (1–2) | 22 – Jenkins Jr. | 9 – Carlson | 5 – Tied | Gill Coliseum (3,245) Corvallis, OR |
| January 1, 2022 8:30 p.m., P12N | | at Oregon | L 66–79 | 8–6 (1–3) | 15 – Carlson | 8 – Anthony | 3 – Stefanovic | Matthew Knight Arena (5,655) Eugene, OR |
| January 6, 2022 7:30 p.m., P12N | | Washington | L 68–74 | 8–7 (1–4) | 12 – Tied | 13 – Anthony | 4 – Anthony | Jon M. Huntman Center (6,964) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 8, 2022 4:00 p.m., P12N | | Washington State | L 61–77 | 8–8 (1–5) | 15 – Gach | 8 – Mahorcic | 3 – Gach | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,578) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 15, 2022 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 6 Arizona | L 64–82 | 8–9 (1–6) | 12 – Gach | 8 – Battin | 2 – Tied | McKale Center (14,164) Tucson, AZ |
| January 17, 2022 2:00 p.m., P12N | | at Arizona State Rescheduled from Jan. 13 | L 62–64 | 8–10 (1–7) | 14 – Jenkins Jr. | 8 – Mahorcic | 3 – Worster | Desert Financial Arena (6,482) Tempe, AZ |
| January 20, 2022 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 UCLA | L 58–63 | 8–11 (1–8) | 18 – Stefanovic | 6 – Anthony | 5 – Gach | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,785) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 22, 2022 4:30 p.m., P12N | | No. 16 USC | L 67–79 | 8–12 (1–9) | 20 – Madsen | 5 – Tied | 6 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,846) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 26, 2022 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington State | L 54–71 | 8–13 (1–10) | 11 – Stefanovic | 6 – Worster | 4 – Gach | Beasley Coliseum (3,064) Pullman, WA |
| January 29, 2022 3:00 p.m., P12N | | at Washington | L 73–77 $^{2OT}$ | 8–14 (1–11) | 18 – Carlson | 9 – Anthony | 4 – Gach | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,729) Seattle, WA |
| February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Oregon State | W 84–59 | 9–14 (2–11) | 15 – Stefanovic | 11 – Anthony | 10 – Gach | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,388) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 5, 2022 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | Oregon | L 77–80 | 9–15 (2–12) | 19 – Madsen | 12 – Anthony | 6 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,756) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 12, 2022 6:00 p.m., P12N | | at Colorado | L 76–81 | 9–16 (2–13) | 25 – Carlson | 12 – Anthony | 6 – Anthony | CU Events Center (7,988) Boulder, CO |
| February 17, 2022 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Stanford | W 60–56 | 10–16 (3–13) | 13 – Carlson | 12 – Anthony | 3 – Anthony | Maples Pavilion (2,437) Stanford, CA |
| February 19, 2022 4:00 p.m., P12N | | at California | W 60–58 | 11–16 (4–13) | 13 – Anthony | 7 – Worster | 4 – Anthony | Haas Pavilion (4,248) Berkeley, CA |
| February 24, 2022 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 2 Arizona | L 77–97 | 11–17 (4–14) | 15 – Madsen | 6 – Jenkins Jr. | 3 – Tied | Jon M. Huntman Center (8,263) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 26, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Arizona State | L 61–63 | 11–18 (4–15) | 19 – Anthony | 6 – Tied | 5 – Worster | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,940) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 5, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Colorado | L 71–84 | 11–19 (4–16) | 18 – Tied | 5 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,724) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2022 9:30 p.m., P12N | (11) | vs. (6) Washington First round | L 70–82 | 11–20 | 18 – Anthony | 8 – Worster | 6 – Worster | T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||
Source: