This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Only a few days after struggling for punches on offense, Utah had an arsenal Friday night.
Pick your poison: drives, jumpers off the glass, 3-pointers from all over. Even pick-and-rolls.
It was a different offense that appeared, albeit against a substantially weaker opponent, in Utah's 88-42 win over UC Riverside at the Huntsman Center. Balance between young and experienced players helped lead to a dominant night in almost every aspect as the No. 25-ranked Utes improved to 2-1 only days after losing to a top-25 team in an ugly road matchup.
"It's great to have a bounce-back game like that," freshman Brekkott Chapman said after scoring in double figures for the first time in his college career. "After the struggles in San Diego, that was tough."
Utah showed the potential of almost every weapon it has.
Utah controlled its half-court game, at least more than it has this year. Delon Wright was driving successfully again after an off night scoring on his way to 13 points, and the post players grabbed rebound after rebound, opening up second-chance points. Leaving the 3-point line open was a bad idea, as four Utes hit two or more from deep.
There was at least one big surprise: Freshman guard Kyle Kuzma, entering the game with only one point this year, rained down 3's in a team-high 19-point performance.
It added to another strong game from Utah's freshmen: Chapman had 11 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks, while Isaiah Wright had a team-best eight assists.
"They're kind of coming along a little bit," he said. "We're seeing a little more of a learning curve. It's getting easier for some of the guys who are new to the scene."
Ahead of the game, Larry Krystkowiak asked his players to work on fundamentals: timing of screens, making the right pass and hitting the open shot. The words took, as Utah ran a decidedly more clinical half-court offense than just three days before in a loss to San Diego State.
The tempo was slower, and Utah's execution improved dramatically. The Utes hit 51.8 percent of their shots for the game, but the rate hovered higher for most of the evening when the starters were still playing. They doubled UC Riverside's rebounds and scored 48 points off the bench.
Jakob Poeltl was in foul trouble early after scoring five points in 3 minutes, but the Utes countered with a smaller lineup of Chris Reyes and Chapman, pressing UC Riverside into turnovers rather then slowing them with brute force.
"The key for our team is I really like what we're doing defensively," Krystkowiak said. "I think our offense is going to improve. We've figured some things out in the last couple days."
Even at halftime, the numbers were skewed, as Utah shot nearly 60 percent to UC Riverside's 29 percent. A 22-6 run spanning 7 minutes in the first half effectively buried the Highlanders as the Utes sped ahead for good.
UC Riverside especially struggled from deep, going 0-fer on their first nine 3-point attempts. The Highlanders did not make a deep shot until there were 7 minutes left in the game.
Davis High and Snow College alumnus Nick Gruninger led UC Riverside with 14 points. No one else had more than seven for the Highlanders, who shot 16 of 55 for the contest.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
No. 25 Utah 88, UC Riverside 42
Kyle Kuzma leads with a career-best 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
• Delon Wright adds 13 points, Jordan Loveridge has 12 points.
• Freshman Brekkott Chapman has 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.