Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Ezra Ausar's basketball performance has improved despite personal challenges.
- He scored a game-high 26 points against BYU, leading Utah to victory.
- Coach Craig Smith praised Ausar's growth, highlighting his potential and emotional journey.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two weeks earlier, Ezra Ausar was in Atlanta. Basketball was the last thing on the East Carolina transfer's mind at the time.
His grandmother had just died and he was there to pay his respects at her funeral while the Utah men's basketball team was back home at the Huntsman Center outmatched and seemingly headed in the wrong direction as a program.
But even to that point in Ausar's tenure with the Utes, it had been an up-and-down season, with mostly spotty performances recorded among sprinkled successes that showcased his potential on the floor.
But, ultimately, consistency — and confidence — has held him back.
A death to a family member among other private, personal matters added to what has been a roller coaster ride of emotions.
But something changed for the 6-foot-8 forward ahead of Utah's home meeting against Oklahoma State last week. Despite a four-game losing skid for the program — which included a three-game losing streak to open up Big 12 play — something clicked for Ausar.
"I thought his two practices going into Oklahoma State were the best of his Utes career," Utah head coach Craig Smith said Saturday night.
Against Oklahoma State, Ausar turned in one of his best performances of the season, finishing with a team-high 21 points — including a much-improved 7-of-8 from the free-throw line — and four rebounds to help Utah to the program's first Big 12 win.
A week later, Ausar was an unstoppable force against a rival BYU team that forced the game into overtime and fought to the bitter end before the Runnin' Utes outlasted the Cougars 73-72.
After scoring just 2 points in the first half, Ausar went to work in the post and finished with a game-high 26 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win. BYU threw different defenders his way, but Ausar continued to put in the work and lifted Utah to an emotional win.
Seconds after the final buzzer sounded, Ausar and his head coach shared an emotional embrace.
"It's a raw emotion. It's hard to replicate it. You can't explain it," an emotional Smith said as he recounted the postgame embrace. "He just happened to be there, and he just kind of — so happy for him, so happy for these guys. ... His best basketball is yet to come. But for him, even in the locker room afterwards, he had just raw emotion.
"I mean, just flowing with it; and he's not a crazy, emotional guy, but you could — he was kind of trying to hide almost. But we have a special connection. It really started in the recruiting process."
For at least one night — a night in which Utah bested its rival and went on to a three-game winning streak — Ausar was the star. All the outside forces that have complicated his basketball career were silenced Saturday as he stood there as the best player on the court that night.
His coach hopes that type of performance continues to happen on a more regular basis, but it was a moment in time in which Ausar could rely on his growing confidence in himself.
"It was just really counting on myself," Ausar said. "To me, it was just confidence. I've just been kind of fighting my own emotions and feelings, and the best just came out. And I feel like I've still got more to go, so I'm just proud of the performance, and I'm gonna take it in and let it marinate."
He's not alone, though.
Ausar said his teammates have continued to "beat him up" — in a good way — to help lift him up and give him a spark of confidence in himself. Even during the halftime break against BYU, he got the reminder from his teammates that he needed to be the aggressive player they know him to be.
"I just kept looking forward, honestly, like the first half was over with," he said. "It was a whole new 20 minutes, and it was time to really elevate."
And elevate he did as he lifted Utah — with a strong helping from a team starting to figure it out on the court a bit — to another win.
"I love that man," Smith said. "I don't know what got into him, but it needs to happen all the time. He's just a really amazing person. I've met a lot of people in my life and I'm not sure I've met anybody exactly like Ezra — and that's a compliment. Amazing family. ... He's been through some stuff here. He's going through some personal things.
"He's had a different look to him. I think a lot more purpose."
Though Ausar hopes to marinate on his recent performance a little longer, it comes with a heavy dose of reality quickly as Utah travels to No. 10 Houston Tuesday before a home contest against No. 25 Baylor on Saturday.
