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San Juan, Puerto Rico • Coming off its worst loss in two years, Larry Krystkowiak took a hard look at his team that was thoroughly outplayed by Miami.

Among the missed shots, ugly turnovers and lapses on defense, there was one thing the Utes needed most of all: a day off.

Utah was headed for its fifth game in nine nights. Being cooped up in practice wasn't going to help what was ailing the Utes the most.

"This has been a challenge for us," Krystkowiak said. "I wanted the guys to have the day off, away from the gym. We looked at a ton of film. We talked. But I thought rest was probably far more important for whatever they had going on between their ears than beating each other up."

Not everything was fixed when they took the court again, but there was a marked turn for the Utes, who finished their Caribbean excursion with a 74-68 win over Temple, a 4-1 record and maybe a little more Zen.

What Krystkowiak chewed on Saturday morning was "for the first time in a long time," he saw bickering on his team. Finger-pointing. Or not communicating at all on the court. When Miami punched the Utes in the mouth, some tensions began bubbling over.

While pundits have touted the Utes' experience this year, it's still a team in transition. Sophomores are stepping up into much bigger roles, led by sky-high expectations for Jakob Poeltl. A few junior college players have enormous shoes to fill. Even players like Jordan Loveridge and Brandon Taylor are rising a notch higher in the scouting report, stepping out from the shadow of Delon Wright.

With that diverse mix, it's no surprise Utah has seen tiny chemistry hiccups early in the season. But with so many games in so little time — as well as a cross-continental flight — the Utes hadn't had much time to iron them out.

"I challenged them a little bit," Krystkowiak said. "'You can all be a superstar and a high character guy when things are rolling along, but what do you do when it's not going well?' And I asked everybody to take a good look and make sure that they were taking care of their business."

So they went body surfing, went walking around Condado's main strip, and spent some time with one another, or got a little space — depending on what they needed. So getting back to the pregame shootaround on Sunday felt like a fresh start, in many ways.

Said Taylor: "It gave us time to recharge, rethink and get back to being ourselves."

It showed in the results against Temple: The turnovers were down, the defense was better, and the Utes attacked on offense in the final game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. They had a few spellbinding highlights, like Poeltl scooping up his own rebound for a dunk, or Taylor nailing a fadeaway to beat the shot clock in the final minute.

The swagger from those kinds of plays is important for a growing team. So is the unity.

After the game, Taylor looked down at the stat sheet and seemed pleased by what he saw.

"I feel like we really came together as one out there," he said. "We kind of lost that in the Miami game. We separated. But this game, we came together and bounced back, and I feel good about it."

Alongside Taylor, Poeltl was perusing the stat sheet himself as he listened. He nodded his head silently, as if he had just been struck by the same thought.

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Idaho State at Utah

P Friday, 7 p.m.

TV • Pac-12 Network ­—

Utes drop out of Top 25

The Utes' overall resume wasn't enough to keep them from tumbling out of the Associated Press' Top 25 after a blowout loss to Miami in Puerto Rico. Utah is ranked 27th, or tops in the "others receiving votes" category — Texas A&M and SMU tied for 25th — in the new poll released Monday. The previously unranked Hurricanes, meanwhile, essentially replaced Utah at No. 15. There's a new No. 1, too, with unbeaten Kentucky replacing North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who absorbed their first loss over the weekend (against Northern Iowa), slipped to No. 9.

Record Pts Prv

1. Kentucky (59) 4-0 1,619 2

2. Maryland (6) 3-0 1,518 3

3. Michigan St. 3-0 1,448 13

4. Iowa St. 2-0 1,297 7

5. Kansas 1-1 1,243 4

6. Duke 4-1 1,238 5

7. Oklahoma 2-0 1,210 8

8. Villanova 4-0 1,153 11

9. North Carolina 3-1 1,141 1

10. Gonzaga 2-0 1,138 10

11. Arizona 4-0 970 12

12. Virginia 4-1 872 6

13. Indiana 3-0 846 14

14. California 3-0 746 15

15. Miami 5-0 724 —

16. Purdue 5-0 550 21

17. Notre Dame 3-0 480 18

18. UConn 3-0 432 19

19. Vanderbilt 3-0 431 17

20. Wichita St. 2-1 423 9

21. Oregon 4-0 369 25

22. LSU 3-0 285 23

23. Xavier 3-0 143 —

24. Cincinnati 4-0 110 —

25. SMU 3-0 100 —

25. Texas A&M 4-0 100 —

Others receiving votes • Utah 95, George Washington 85, Baylor 81, West Virginia 69, Butler 59, Louisville 40, N. Iowa 23, Iowa 20, Dayton 18, Tulsa 17, Colorado St. 13, Providence 8, Georgetown 4, Michigan 3, Valparaiso 2, Chattanooga 1, Washington 1.