This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In the Pepsi Center locker room on Saturday night, Larry Krystkowiak brushed aside a question about the foundation of the program and what Utah basketball would be moving forward.

He wasn't in the mindset to start thinking ahead. Surrounded by his team and coaches, he said he wanted some time to look back on his season and what the Utes did.

"This is one of those past-tense moments which I haven't been in very often," he said. "Right now, I'm not thinking about the future. It's actually the first time in six months I'm not thinking, 'What's next?' We won 27 games, and there were times this season where I wouldn't have expected that. So there's some good things that happened, and I just want some time to reflect on that."

It's definitely understandable.

There will be a time to look ahead, and you can expect the Tribune will be doing just that soon for Utah basketball. But here's a brief reflection on the stories were big in an often-exhilarating and sometimes-frustrating season for the program:

Unprecedented Pac-12 success • Utah's record of 13-5 was the same, and they also finished second place in the conference last year. But within that conference record — and finishing 27-9 overall — the program achieved some milestones.

The Utes won nine straight games against Pac-12 opponents, which was the longest stretch ever for the program as a member of the conference. Utah had never before swept a two-game road trip in Pac-12 play, and did it twice http://bit.ly/1nIOPfg";>in Washington state andhttp://bit.ly/1SMfk0r";> in Los Angeles. With a win over Arizona (to be expanded upon later), the Utes have now beaten every Pac-12 team at least once since joining the conference. And Utah went to its first Pac-12 title game ever, despite the unpleasant result.

Dominated by Ducks • The Wildcats were replaced as the greatest target of Utah ire by Oregon, by virtue of the Ducks taking the conference title and beating the Utes bad on three different occasions. They drubbed Utah at home forhttp://bit.ly/203u6AS";> the program's only loss at the Huntsman Center this year, then http://bit.ly/1W4Ivts";>they took a rematch in Eugene. But the most savage game was saved for Las Vegas, when Oregon dropped a 3http://bit.ly/1MfhoGN";>1-point margin of victory on Utah for its worst loss since being pummeled by Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament two years ago.

Big regular season wins • While the stakes weren't as high as the last time the teams met, http://bit.ly/1Mo85Tw";>Utah managed to steal an overtime game from Duke in December. http://bit.ly/1QB2C3y";>The Utes rode their front court domination to a win over the Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden — an arena where Duke was familiar and comfortable playing but Utah hadn't been in years.

The Utes alsohttp://bit.ly/1XRYhJE";> struck down the Arizona curse after 18 years since its last win over the Wildcats. With a late dagger by Brandon Taylor, the Huntsman Center exploded (literally the loudest sound ever recorded in the building) andhttp://bit.ly/1UpvcW7";> the Utes knocked out the last remaining Pac-12 win that had eluded them since joining the conference. While Utah still has a lot of catching up to do in the overall series, Krystkowiak and the team were 1-0 against Arizona this year.

Ugly losses postseason losses • For all the times that Utah was able to pull out late games (3-1 in overtime this season), the finish of the year will linger long after the season ends. When they appeared poised to do truly great things, the Utes were pounded by Oregon and Gonzaga, losing two of their last three by a combined 54 points. The loss to the Ducks camehttp://bit.ly/22aKSz3";> less than 24 hours after a thrilling overtime win over Cal to make the Pac-12 championship game for the first time ever, so perhaps fatigue was an issue. But http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3653453-155/kragthorpe-oregon-owns-utes-as-pac-12";>Oregon convincingly made the case that it was far and away the best Pac-12 team with a 3-0 series sweep against the second-place Utes. Then the Gonzaga game was a bit of a mystery to most viewers, as http://bit.ly/22vokJo";>Utah's defense was simply no match for the hot-shooting Bulldogs. The path to a deep run was evident — 11-seed Gonzaga will face 10-seed Syracuse in the Sweet 16 — so it will always hurt a little more, especially if Gonzaga can make it to Houston this year. While the team suffered some painful losses last year that made greatness seem just out of reach (Kansas, Arizona, Duke),http://bit.ly/1RYw9zO";> the losses this year made that next level seem even further away.

BYU series boiling point • Fanbases will be arguing for a long time about why the drama went down, but in the end, it resulted inhttp://bit.ly/1OP8IHd";> the cancellation of one of college basketball's most tenured rivalries. BYU and Utah won't be playing next fall. The brouhaha began on the Dec. 2 game between schools http://bit.ly/1NrAYnc";>when freshman guard Nick Emery struck Taylor in the closing minutes of Utah's 83-75 win, getting himself ejected. Krystkowiak said he perceived a cycle of aggressive in-game behavior from BYU toward Utah's players over the course of the last few seasons, and http://bit.ly/1Q0vOQq";>decided enough was enough.

http://bit.ly/1PhUIXd";>The cancellation sparked a lot of outrage from Cougars, and some resigned sadness from Utah fans (and inspired other Utes who apparently would like to be rid of all series with BYU). It generated enough controversy to gehttp://bit.ly/1VvPtaY";>t the Utah State Legislature interested in auditing the Utah athletics department from top to bottom. The war of words in the rivalry isn't over, but the men's basketball games are done for the foreseeable future — and it seems unlikely that the fallout has made either side warm to restarting scheduling discussions.

Defining numbers • Some statistical numbers worth remembering: The Utes finished No. 10 national with a 48.9 field goal percentage. Jakob Poeltl helped make the team one of the most efficient offenses in the nation. Utah was also No. 18 in assists, passing the ball well when it played its best and getting a lot of scoring out of a lot of guys. The Utes were 16-0 when four or more players scored in double figures. Offensive balance was the winning key, but they also were No. 90 in field goal percentage defense (41.9 percent), with one of the best interior defenses in the country.

Here's some more forgettable numbers: Utah ranked No. 307 in turnover margin, on average giving up 2 more turnovers than they got. They were No. 301 in 3-point percentage defense (37.1), which was a huge problem in the season-ending loss to Gonzaga. While the defensive glass was good for Utah, offensive rebounds came tougher: The Utes ranked only 164th in offensive rebound rate (29.9 percent), and overall struggled to get more shots against high-caliber opponents.

The year of Jakob • http://bit.ly/1R8JHev";>His season ended on a tepid note, to say the least, but no one player was more important to the Utes than Jakob Poeltl. The sophomore delivered on his freshman promise, leading Utah in scoring (17.2 ppg), rebounding (9.1 rpg), blocks (1.6 bpg) and shooting nearly 65 percent on field goal attempts for one of the best percentages in the nation. He was named first-team All American by many publications, http://bit.ly/1R1dGSo";>earned Pac-12 player of the year (the award Delon Wright didn't win last year), and was a finalist for many of the most prestigious awards in the country. Critics will point to soft games he had against Colorado (part I), Oregon and Gonzaga, but Poeltl offered many other standout performances: 32 points vs. Temple, 26 points vs. BYU, 19 points vs. Duke, 29 points vs. Washington, 29 points vs. USC, 29 points vs. Cal.

He was consistently great, http://bit.ly/1lc8wv7";>even on nights when his teammates weren't quite there. On rare nights when he wasn't great,http://bit.ly/1lG3Q0O";> it was hard for Utah to overcome. In the end,http://bit.ly/1QVP2pw";> Poeltl had no regrets about returning for his sophomore year. He's considered unlikely to return again however, and is http://bit.ly/1oTwvjN";>widely expected to enter the 2016 NBA Draft andhttp://bit.ly/1RWVaQF";> become the first Austrian to ever play in the NBA — no small achievement for his homeland, or http://bit.ly/1PZqzhH";>for Utah in helping him develop. Fans who say he isn't ready are likely just having a hard time letting go: He was the best Utah big man since the days of Andrew Bogut.

So long seniors • There are senior classes every year, but as the first group Krystkowiak and his staff recruited and coached through four years, http://bit.ly/1LFkDMV";>Jordan Loveridge, http://bit.ly/1PdggmY";>Brandon Taylor andhttp://bit.ly/1z94sdP";> Dakarai Tucker certainly have a different stamp on their era. http://bit.ly/1nmboWe";>They were key pieces as the program vaulted from Pac-12 punchline to conference contender. Krystkowiak acknowledged he wanted to take them on some special road trips, and they went tohttp://bit.ly/1PbGL1m";> New York and http://bit.ly/1XacftQ";>Puerto Rico (winning games there in addition to seeing sites). They'll wind up as some of the most prolific scorers and 3-point shooters in program history, even though the up-and-down nature of their games http://bit.ly/1ReWUny";>served to frustrate some fans. Ultimately they'll be remembered as the class that served as a catalyst for Utah basketball's return to relevance.

Next men up • While Utah is saying farewell to some standout players, there's some coming back who made themselves known. http://bit.ly/1Y6ieel";>Kyle Kuzma might've been Utah's most improved player, averaging 10.8 ppg and 5.7 rpg with big games against Duke, USC, Cal among others. He was a little hot and cold, but figures to be a prominent player in next year's rotation.http://bit.ly/1R1RgU0";> So too does Lorenzo Bonam, who averaged 10.2 ppg and finished the year hot — with ebbs in between. He was a Utah bellwether: The Utes only lost one game when he scored double-digit points (Stanford), and his slashing ability was a unique weapon for Utah's offense.

Other presumed returners include Brekkott Chapman, Isaiah Wright and Gabe Bealer, who could each have a greater role next year. If Kenneth Ogbe can get healthy, he could fill some holes lacking in Utah's roster. There's also a lot of intrigue with players who are in the program who haven't been able to see the floor yet: redshirting freshmenhttp://bit.ly/1O4M15Q";> Jayce Johnson and Makol Mawien, andhttp://bit.ly/1OlDNoM";> transfers David Collette and Sedrick Barefield. Several guys who were on the sidelines this year figure to be critical performers going forward.

We'll be looking even more forward coming up soon.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon