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Entering Saturday afternoon's matchup, the Utes felt they had given one game away to Stanford.
It was time to take a win back.
Utah (17-5, 6-3) seized a 96-74 victory in a rematch with Stanford, blasting the Cardinal with five different players scoring 14 points or more. With solid second-half defense and a season high in made free throws, the Utes pulled away late for their fifth straight league win, matching their best-ever streak in the Pac-12.
On the first day of the month, Utah's conference-opening loss to Stanford in overtime sent it spiraling. But this Utah team has progressed — and it showed what it could do in front of a crowd of 14,109 snow-braving fans. In the win, the Utes scored their most points ever in a Pac-12 game.
"It was kind of revenge on them," said sophomore forward Kyle Kuzma, who scored 16 points. "We kind of gave them the game the first time, it seems like, with free throws, 19 turnovers. Today, we buckled down."
The Utes found a shooting rhythm they hadn't yet found in conference play, hitting nearly 60 percent of their shots, including 71 percent in the first period —a season best in one half.
The baskets came from all over: Jakob Poeltl punched in his third straight game of over 20 points, finishing with 23 on 5 for 7 shooting. Kuzma was his partner in the paint, cleaning up a few of Utah's misses with putback baskets.
Utah's guards also delivered: Seniors Brandon Taylor and Dakarai Tucker combined for 10 for 15 shooting, including six 3-pointers. Junior guard Lorenzo Bonam was slippery driving into the lane to add 14 points while stuffing the stat sheet with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
On the theme of balance: Utah scored 48 points in each half, adding to the margin by holding Stanford to only 31.3 percent shooting in the second half.
"Maybe the first third of the season, we didn't shoot the ball very well, but it's not like those guys can't shoot," coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "If we continue to guard, it's a pretty high-powered group offensively."
The Utes' lead never fell below double digits after the 10:45 mark in the second half, not even when Stanford began to foul the Utes in desperation down 12 with three minutes left.
Utah set season highs in both free throws made (32) and attempted (42) in a game, led by Poeltl's 13 for 15 effort. The team hit 80 percent from the line in the second half alone, making their coach smile after a disastrous free throw performance in the first meeting in Palo Alto led to Utah's loss.
"We shoot a lot of them — I don't know if there's many teams in the country that shoot a lot more than us," Krystkowiak said. "I think a lot of guys have found a rhythm. … It's up between the ears for a lot of guys, but it was important."
Going 4 for 4 in the first half, Taylor's performance had a particular flair. The senior guard nailed a 3-pointer in transition late, grabbed a steal that led to a Brekkott Chapman deep shot, then hit another 3-pointer all in the final five minutes before halftime.
But Stanford managed to stay in the game by plucking their misses off the glass. The Cardinal scored 10 points off 8 offensive rebounds in the first half, led by Dorian Pickens' 15 points in the initial period.
With the second-half rally to pull away, the Utes positioned themselves to be no worse than a game out of first place in the conference at the halfway point of league play.
"We still have a long way to go," Taylor said. "We've won five games in a row. It's a good feeling, but we know we still have a lot to prove. We don't want to settle on this little five-game streak we have."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Storylines
R Utes shoot conference-best 59.6 percent from the floor.
• Utah sets a school record for most points (96) in a Pac-12 league game.
• Four Utes score 14 or more points, led by Jakob Poeltl's 23.