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The No. 9 Utes have earned a reputation for shutting down their opponent's top scorer, but isn't that just a function of shutting down, basically, everybody?

Utah concedes just 55.6 points per game, least in the Pac-12. Nobody who knows what's good for them has relished facing Utah's defense. But yes, said Larry Krystkowiak, there is something to the notion that Utah is particularly oppressive to an opponent's top scorer.

Of the Pac-12's top 10 scorers, only Cal's Tyrone Wallace and UCLA's Norman Powell have exceeded their season average against the Utes — and Powell scored just eight in his other attempt.

Utah skunked UCLA's Bryce Alford and Cal's Jordan Mathews. Thursday night, Oregon State leading scorer Gary Payton II managed just six points in 40 minutes.

Next up is the Pac-12's leading scorer, Joseph Young, who will enter Sunday night's contest — his final game at the Matthew Knight Arena — having averaged 25.6 points in his last five games.

"He's been on a tear," Krystkowiak said, adding that Young can score from anywhere on the floor, and if you foul him, he almost certainly will score, hitting .926 from the line.

"He has a lot of components of a really good scorer and plays with a lot of energy," he said.

Utah will likely need to limit Young to slow the Pac-12's top-scoring offense, which averages 76.7 points per game. Oregon, firmly on the bubble at the moment, is 10-1 when he exceeds his season average of 20.0 points, and 9-7 when he doesn't.

Stopping an elite scorer starts with learning his personal tendencies, Krystkowiak, through filmwork. Lots of it: "I'd be surprised if there's many teams that do more film."

And the other ingredient is a willing participant. It just so happens that Utah has Brandon Taylor, that the Pac-12's top scorers tend to be guards, and that Taylor handcuffs himself to top-scoring guards.

Cousy Award finalist Delon Wright is no slouch, either. But Taylor plays the lead.

"He doesn't get tired," Krystkowiak said. "He plays a lot of minutes, and it's important to him. I think guys sometimes take some plays off on the defensive end, and Brandon's probably just the opposite of that, where the defense is first and foremost."

Krystkowiak also raves about Taylor's "pad level" — at 5-foot-10, he's not the stopper prototype, but he's able to get into good positions more quickly than his ganglier counterparts.

Still, Young will probably get more than six, and Oregon is likely to score more than 37 in the second act of the changeup-fastball road trip.

Krystkowiak joked Thursday that he doesn't know if he's cut out for another 16-14 half.

But as the laughter died, he added: "It would be a good thing against them. It would be alright."

Twitter: @matthew_piper