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If Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak's red jacket truly possessed special powers, the Utes would have upset Arizona last season and would have dominated BYU throughout Wednesday's game.

A better explanation than coaching wardrobe selections is required for the Utes' first-half reign and another strong surge during an 83-75 victory at the sold-out Huntsman Center — mixed with some troubling lapses. So how about these conclusions? The best and worst of Utah is better overall than the worst/best of BYU. And Ute center Jakob Poeltl is a much more dominant college basketball player than BYU guard Kyle Collinsworth, whose value became evident mostly in his absence during a critical stretch.

Poeltl's 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots vs. Collinsworth's 15 points, nine boards and five assists account for a big chunk of the story of the annual rivalry game. There's more to tell, about how the Utes led by 23 points at halftime, then by seven with 10 minutes remaining, then by 19 in the last two minutes and then by six in the final 11 seconds, before finally securing the win and overcoming BYU guard Chase Fischer's 26 points, all coming in the second half.

BYU's final flurry after freshman guard Nick Emery was ejected for a flagrant foul, with Krystkowiak pointing angrily at him as officials reviewed the incident. So the rivalry is intact, in case you were wondering. The coach's contribution to Utah's "Red Out" promotion — complete with traditional road uniforms — was a throwback to last December's game in Provo, where Krystkowiak broke out the red coat in a 65-61 victory.

Krystkowiak values a rivalry game as "something that gets your adrenaline going at a little different level," as he said after Tuesday's practice. In an era when some traditional matchups are going away in college football and basketball, "This one's a little deeper … so I've never been opposed to keeping it going," Krystkowiak said.

The fluctuations Wednesday resembled an NBA game more than a college game. The irony was that an NBA-style schedule of playing five games in nine days last month "got us out of whack … that was troublesome," Krystkowiak said. "We went through a period where I thought we were pretty stagnant, because we didn't have adequate practice."

Utah is back into a more traditional routine now, and it showed in the first half. For as long as Krystkowiak coaches the Utes, his team never will match its first-half performance against Arizona State in February, when the Utes stormed to a 41-9 lead. Wednesday's opening half was not that extreme, but it was close enough for the Utes.

The difference? Utah outscored ASU 42-32 in the second half, completing a rout. In Wednesday's second half, BYU answered with a 26-10 run to begin the second half, cutting Utah's lead to 61-54. But then Collinsworth went to the bench with his fourth foul and the Cougars lost steam in their big for an epic comeback win — nine months after losing a 17-point halftime lead over Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament.

BYU's response came after a first half when Jordan Loveridge's 3-pointer pushed Utah's lead to 35-13 after 13 minutes. At the point when Utah was ahead 44-20, the Utes had made 7 of 15 shots from 3-point range and BYU was 5 of 17 on 2-point shots.

Those numbers tell you everything about Utah's efficiency, while BYU struggled to find any offensive rhythm. Yet after trailing 51-28 at halftime, the Cougars opened the second half with a 15-2 run and kept coming, spurred by Fischer's shooting.

To me, the expectation of Wednesday's meeting was that much would be revealed about each team, after the Utes and Cougars both looked capable and vulnerable at various points this season. Ultimately, the eight-point spread was fairly predictable. How the teams arrived at that ending is what made it interesting.

Twitter: @tribkurt