Most of the time, anyway.
Even though they endured some aggravatingly sloppy lapses in their final exhibition tune-up, the Utes generally looked a lot more like the tenacious team Boylen wants them to become while smothering Division II Northwest Nazarene 88-43 in front of 7,650 at the Huntsman Center on Tuesday night.
The Utes made 15 steals, forced 23 turnovers and held the Crusaders to 27 percent shooting - marks that all would have been season bests last year.
"The most important thing was we held them below 30 percent" shooting, forward Stephen Weigh said. "That's a telling factor, right there."
Though they ultimately allowed more points than in their 83-40 victory over NAIA Montana Tech last week, the Utes set the tone against a better team by making five steals and forcing seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes.
"We improved," Boylen said. "We improved our toughness. We hit some people . . . we dove on the floor . . . we took a step in the right direction."
Center Luke Nevill enjoyed another strong night offensively with 19 points and eight rebounds. Weigh added 17 points.
Women
Utah 78, Fort Lewis 32: Utah's women's team went on a 32-0 run to start the second half of Tuesday's exhibition in the Huntsman Center. The Utes had six players in double figures, including Kalee Whipple with 17 points.
