This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With four straight wins — three blowouts and one inspiring overtime victory over Duke — headed into conference play, there was a sense that the then-No. 21 ranked Runnin' Utes were building toward something special.
But since the Utes entered the Pac-12 fray, they haven't been the team they hoped. And a 77-59 loss to Oregon at home on Thursday is just the latest, and most frustrating, example as the team sank to a three-way tie for last place in the league. And frighteningly, Utah is arguably only one last-second layup away at Colorado from being winless in the Pac-12.
What might be most upsetting for fans is that the Utes came out flat against an opponent they had every reason to be motivated to beat. Coach Larry Krystkowiak copped to a week of substandard practices, pointing to an injury to Jakob Poeltl as one of the reasons the team was off-balance.
But ultimately, he summed up Utah's situation best: "We've got a couple excuses, maybe something lined up that was a little unusual, but we've got to get ready to go. Nobody's going to have any sympathy for us coming into our building."
Even beyond Thursday's loss, Utah hasn't played up to their season averages during the conference slate.
In four Pac-12 games, the Utes are shooting a lot worse (48.4 percent to 39.6 percent), scoring a lot less (79.1 ppg to 60.2 ppg), have been outrebounded (plus-6.6 margin to minus-5.8 margin). Even the freebies haven't been easy: Twice, against Stanford and Oregon, the Utes have shot under 60 percent from the free throw line despite getting more than 20 attempts.
Of Utah's players, six of Utah's nine most-played guys have seen their scoring averages dip in conference play. Most notably, Jakob Poeltl, who entered Pac-12 play as the country's top shooter from the floor, has averaged only 12 points per game while shooting 44.1 percent (down from his season average of 65.4 percent). Starting out the year as Utah's breadwinner, he's only scored 13 points and shot 3 for 12 in the last two games combined.
Only senior guard Brandon Taylor (10.5 ppg in Pac-12 play) has seen his scoring average increase significantly, but that's more of an expected return to the mean for the returning Pac-12 second-teamer.
Arguably, Utah's greatest drop-off has been in leadership. Aside from a three-minute stretch to start the second half to lower the deficit to six points, Utah didn't show much initiative or fight against Oregon in a game it never led — despite having three four-year seniors; despite having four returning starters; despite having coaches and players who made a Sweet 16 run last year.
"This isn't really a time to indict anyone for leadership," Krystkowiak said. "But I certainly am not going to say somebody led us tonight."
The Utah coach said a good deal of it falls on his shoulders. But on offense, Krystkowiak admitted "we kind of lost our mojo."
While Oregon's length and nine blocked shots had a lot to do with Utah's inefficiency, the Ducks also seemed to be in the Utes' heads. Utah's shot chart indicates 16 misses that were within roughly 8 feet of the rim. Several were uncontested, and two misses came from Poeltl directly underneath the basket. In other instances, the Utes moved the ball around too much, passing up potential looks.
While Utah's 34-percent shooting from the floor is a season low and possibly an outlier, it gives the program no peace of mind with a game against scrappy Oregon State. Although the Utes beat the Beavers last season, they scored only 47 points in the win.
How do the Utes find the team that started out the year with so much promise? They hope the answer lies within.
"Losing at home, it hurts us a lot, especially when we have our fans backing us up," Taylor said. "We're not giving them what they want to see. It's not the right thing to do to go out there and not play hard. Playing the way we did tonight is not the route we want to go."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Oregon State at Utah
P Sunday, 6:30 p.m.
TV • ESPNU