This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Kansas City • Just as Utah's hopes couldn't be much lower, Delon Wright had a defining moment.
The Utes had just been pounded down, trailing by 20 in the final minute of the first half. Wright rolled down the floor to his left, then cut back to his right to cross up Cliff Alexander before laying down a one-handed hammer of a dunk on the 6-foot-8 freshman.
The Sprint Center crowd gasped, and all watched a likely Top 10 highlight.
The slam, taken with 36 seconds left in the first half, was the final word of a very ugly 20 minutes for Utah. It would've been unforgettable on its own.
But Wright did something more memorable: He used it to boost his team's spirits at halftime and make a snoozer of a game into one that dripped with suspense. If you want to point to the core of Utah's rally from 21 points down in the 63-60 loss to Kansas, it was Wright.
It started with The Dunk.
"The guys, I think they saw I was ready to play," he said. "They didn't feel alone out there. I was ready. My energy was up. So at halftime, we were all trying to get hyped and win."
Win — which no one expected from Utah at that point. The Utes had hit only 9 of 26 in the first half. Kansas had run roughshod over a defense some consider one of the finer units in the country, shooting 60 percent from the floor.
But Wright showed energy throughout, even from the beginning, when he scored Utah's first four points in a seven-second span: a layup, a steal and a short jumper.
Wright said he was motivated by the memory of playing San Diego State, when he didn't score a field goal until the final two minutes. This time, Larry Krystkowiak said, there could be no doubt that Utah's star was fully locked in.
"He likes big games," Krystkowiak said. "He rises to a different level for us in this type of environment. He makes some plays. He's engaged. I thought he was the one guy, with no disrespect to the rest of our team, that was ready to be here from the beginning. He had a look in his eye that it was important to him."
Even against a Kansas team that is likely fielding some future NBA players, Wright had the most highlight-reel moments of any. Viewers on ESPN were treated to the senior's ability to poke out steals and block shots. He had another drive through three defenders on which he finished off the glass from 7 feet out.
In the future, Utah hopes to be more ready for marquee matchups in difficult environments.
It helps to have a role model among them already.
Twitter: @kylegoon