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Las Vegas • For the Utes, the Devil is real. And he wears green.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/3511451-155/utah-basketball-oregons-brooks-flashes-star";>Dillon Brooks has been a headache for Utah for the last two seasons, including Oregon's two double-digit wins in Salt Lake City and Eugene. He hits shots from everywhere: right near the rim and big steps beyond the arc.

Utah hasn't figured it out yet. And that will be issue No. 1 headed into a http://bit.ly/22aKSz3";>match-up Saturday night for the Pac-12 championship against the Ducks (27-6).

"We had a somewhat decent game plan in Eugene," Krystkowiak said. "But we had no answer for Dillon Brooks."

Against the Utes, the 6-foot-6 forward has blistered for 51 points while shooting 22 for 38 this season from the floor. http://bit.ly/203u6AS";>Dealing Utah its only Huntsman Center loss, 77-59, Brooks grabbed 8 boards with his 21 points.http://bit.ly/1W4Ivts";> Playing at home in a 76-66 win, he also dished out 9 assists.

In his career, Brooks is 4-0 against the Utes — including last year's Pac-12 Tournament finish when Joe Young ripped Utah's heart to the hardwood with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Young is no longer the face of Oregon basketball. Brooks is.

"When you got somebody who can put it on the floor, take it to the rim and hit step-back threes, man that's tough," Kyle Kuzma said last month. "He's tough to guard."

Brooks was a little bit more mortal in Oregon's 95-89 win over Arizona in overtime. He had 19 points on 5 for 13 shooting. The play that sent the game into an extra period — when teammate Chris Boucher turned it over trying to hit him with a pass with 0.7 seconds left — he blamed on himself saying he should've called timeout.

"I just wanted the ball so bad so I could get on the free throw line," he said. "But I put Chris in a spot."

But the Ducks also managed to escape their spot, outscoring the Wildcats 18-12 in overtime. Brooks was 7 for 8 from the free throw line, another one of his talents.

As one of the leaders of a versatile group of scorers, Brooks has a lot of control over the direction of the team. Even though Elgin Cook finished with 22 points to lead Oregon, Brooks scored a critical 3-pointer, then got to the line for a pair of free throws that put the game away in the last two minutes.

Midway through the year for the first-place Ducks, he was considered a frontrunner for conference player of the year that http://bit.ly/1R1dGSo";>later went to Utah's Jakob Poeltl. Teammate Casey Benson called him "deserving" of the award.

Any bad blood on that issue?

"You know, the feelings are really mixed, but Poeltl's a really great player," Brooks said. "He showed it at the end and led his team to finishing second. He was playing well, I can't even lie, he really deserved."

Oregon players said the 2-0 series advantage has no bearing on how they approach the game. They're wiping the board clean for the postseason, taking Utah as a serious threat.

While Utah may be focused in on Brooks, Brooks said he's just focused on his team. Oregon is looking to win the conference tournament in the same year as the regular season title for the first time.

"We're just trying to make history," Brooks said. "We're trying to be the best team we can be and, you know, write our names in the history books."

The Utes would like to clear the Devil's name from their ledger and deal him back some of the grief he's given them lately.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon