This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Larry Krystkowiak never shied from stoking the fire.
He walked into the Marriott Center wearing a custom-made red corduroy jacket, a 6-foot-9 walking target for a BYU crowd that wanted to see him and the Runnin' Utes fail. And he walked out with his fist raised, his team having backed up his words.
A few late free throws and stymying up the top scoring offense in the country helped seal up Utah's second straight win over BYU in as many years. Coach Larry Krystkowiak got his first win in Provo as the No. 13-ranked Utes improved to 7-1 against their biggest in-state rival.
It was Utah's second headliner win in a row, and Krystkowiak wanted everyone to see his pride.
"I knew maybe I got in hot water with my statements a week earlier, and I wanted everybody to know where I was if they were trying to find me," he said. "I'm just really proud of our program, and I wanted to make sure I donned a red jacket. I thought it was fitting."
It was hardly easy: The Utes had to sweat out holding a one-possession lead on a night when it was only shooting 63 percent from the free-throw line. Utah in fact missed three of its final six to make its second nail-biter in a row all the more tense.
But BYU had no answer for Utah's defense, missing six of its final eight shots from the field. Tyler Haws, 9-of-22 on the night for a hard-fought 23 points, saw his last shot swatted by his Utah senior counterpart Delon Wright as time ran out.
Utah held the run-and-gun Cougars to only 37 percent shooting, and it helped cover for some of the Utes' sins. They gave away 15 turnovers and BYU made them pay with 24 points off the giveaways. Utah also struggled to penetrate BYU's zone defense, slowing down offensively in the final 10 minutes of both halves.
But the Utes also pounded the boards against a team that typically rebounds well: They had 43 to BYU's 31, and scooped up 77 percent of their defensive rebounding opportunities. Dallin Bachynski played some critical late minutes with five points, all from the free-throw line. His pair of free throws with 27 seconds were critical.
It was exactly the kind of close game Utah struggled to win last year, and the victory means a lot to the team's progress, Bachynski said.
"Just to know that [winning close games] can be a difference this year, it says a lot about the program and the way we're going with it," Bachynski. "Just how it could look this year."
Wright led Utah's effort with 18 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to nailing some of the game's biggest plays. Among the most memorable: a steal off Haws, a behind the back crossover and a two-handed dunk.
Early in the second half, Utah pieced together a 10-0 run to retake a lead that it had lost late in the first half. Riding a hot streak of defensive rebounding and forcing Cougar misses, Utah never let go of the lead afterward, though the lead dipped to a single-possession game in the final minutes.
The game's start looked like a rerun of last year's blowout. Utah shot out to a lead as rebounding and defense carried it. Brekkott Chapman had a one-man 8-point run in the early going as Utah led by as much as 13.
For the final 8:13 of the first half, Utah shut down on offense as BYU revved up. They took six shots and missed all of them while turning the ball over five times. BYU's high point came when Kyle Collinsworth tied the game with a three, then after a Utah turnover, Haws came back and a knocked down a 3-pointer off the backboard for BYU to retake the lead with 1:18 left.
Collinsworth had a stellar night with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, including two transition dunks. But the Cougars struggled in the post after losing Nate Austin to an injury on the opening possession, and only got 16 points from their bench.
"I think we are really close," coach Dave Rose said. "I mean, that's a good basketball team right there, and we competed really hard and came close."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah 65, BYU 61
- Delon Wright has 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
- Tyler Haws leads all scorers with 17 points
- Utes give up 13-point lead, but regain it on second-half run