Banged-up Colorado, Utah try to get back on track

Two teams looking to rebound from tough losses face off when Colorado visits Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Both teams are coming off a road trip through the state of Washington last weekend. Colorado (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12) earned a split, losing 78-69 to Washington State on Jan. 27, but Utah (14-7, 5-5) dropped both games on the trip and is on its second two-game skid of conference play.

The Buffaloes had won four straight before losing to the Cougars. J'Vonne Hadley followed up a 24-point performance at Washington with just two points in the loss Washington State. A contributing factor was Hadley having to play with a protective facemask after suffering a fractured cheekbone against the Huskies.

He took it off at halftime against the Cougars, but it didn't change his fortunes.

"It's not the best thing to play with, just not being able to see," Hadley said. "It was definitely a challenge. You can't really see out of your peripherals.

"It is what it is at this point. It's either sit out or play. It's kind of hard to deal with a lot of different things with that. There is a lot of pain with it. I've just got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable."

This is the only game for both teams this week, which allows Hadley more time to adjust — and the Utes a chance to rest.

"It hopefully gives some of our guys more time to heal and recover. It gives us time on the floor to teach, to correct, to hone in to what we're trying to do," Utah coach Craig Smith said.

The Utes are playing without two starters. Lawson Lovering (7.2 points, 4.5 rebounds) has missed the past four games and Rollie Worster (9.9 points, 5.5 assists) has missed the past five. There is no timeline for their return, but Smith said Lovering is closer to playing.

"Lawson's making good progress," Smith said. "I would be surprised if he plays this weekend but you never know how everything works out that way."

—Field Level Media