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Defense and rebounding.

The Utah Utes may not be the best team in the Pac-12 when it comes to scoring. But it is one of he best teams when it comes to those two above categories.

Because of that, the Utes are going to be difficult to deal with for the rest of the season. And if they ever find a way to execute in the last five minutes of close games?

Well, then they will win their share.

Utah proved this week that it will be a team to be reckoned with this week, with two narrow road losses to Arizona State and Arizona.

The Utes took No. 3 Arizona to the wire, with a chance to win down the stretch. And that's because Utah played well defensively. It rebounded. It took away everything the Wildcats wanted to do, and it allowed the Utes to overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half.

Utah falls to 8-6 on the season. But if the Utes play as well for the remainder of the season as they have in the past four days, they have a chance to be better in the Pac-12 than anyone thought.

Thing is, Utah can beat anyone in the league, and lose to anyone as well.

And that makes this team interesting to watch.

Tony Jones