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Los Angeles • Brandon Taylor's high school, Pacific Hills, lies 10 miles away from the USC campus. As a recruit, the 5-foot-10 guard never got a sniff from the Trojans or the Bruins.
As the Utes enjoyed their first road sweep in Southern California during the Pac-12 era, the senior showed UCLA and USC what they missed out on, scoring a combined 20 points and dishing out 17 assists in two games with only three turnovers.
Those assists are what stood out to coach Larry Krystkowiak as Taylor had a career-high 10 in an 80-69 win over USC on Sunday.
"He's done a good job the last couple months when everybody is collapsing on the rim, he'll kick it out and create plays for his teammates," Krystkowiak said. "It took him a while, but better late than never."
For much of the year, Taylor has been tasked with playing the point for the Utes. It hasn't always come naturally: His shooting guard role last season allowed him to play around Delon Wright, come off screens and avoid the kind of defensive attention that accompanies handling the ball.
But his effort against the Trojans showcased his vision. He found Kyle Kuzma alone underneath the basket several times, ran pick-and-roll plays with Jakob Poeltl cleanly, and drove in and kicked to his teammates for open 3-pointers.
Quietly, Taylor has gotten four or more assists in seven of his past eight games, morphing into the facilitator Utah has needed him to be.
"He's just being a senior out there," Poeltl said. "He's doing a great job leading us. He's drawing defenders to him and finding the right teammate. I think early in the season, he would've taken some bad shots where now he's finding a teammate, and that just shows his growth as a basketball player."
Krystkowiak said early in the season that the coaching staff probably hadn't put Taylor in the best position by changing his role. In an early loss to Wichita State, the Utes looked a bit lost at point guard.
But averaging four assists in Pac-12 play, Taylor has changed his stripes. His quick passes were a staple for Utah's offense — which Krystkowiak said is starting to click like never before — during the trip as he compiled a 5.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
He has also been able to recapture some of the scoring touch that has otherwise defined his career at Utah: He's hit multiple 3-pointers in each of the past four games.
"My focus is to try to go out there and make the best play possible," Taylor said. "Whether that's an assist or scoring, it doesn't matter. That's the biggest thing to me."
Twitter: @kylegoon