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Utah's 92-84 win over Montana State on Thursday night will linger for Kyle Kuzma, if only as the triple-double that got away.

One assist shy of his mark for the last 7:20 of game time, Kuzma joked — with more than a hint of truth — that his desperation to make history was one of the reasons Utah finished with 17 turnovers — led by his six.

But what allowed him to come close to the hallowed mark was simple: As Montana State crowded around him, he looked for teammates.

"I just feel like we made a lot more shots than we did against Butler," he said after his 16-point, 15-rebound, nine-assist evening. "Montana State did a good job of double-teaming me. So I was just able to find people and people converted."

While the win was important to both a coach who has established a new era — Larry Krystkowiak notched his 100th career victory Thursday — and a player who looks like a budding star, the game provided some perspective for a Utah (5-1) team that is still figuring out what it's got.

What it has: athletic slashers, big men who can pass, and a group emphasis on crashing the boards.

What it lacks: perimeter shooters and defenders, steady ball-handlers and a consistent mentality to steamroll teams like the Bobcats.

Coach Larry Krystkowiak circled the issues that have cropped up often during the young season, especially with turnovers. But his biggest issue seemed to be Utah's mindset: He's looking for more focus and maturity, and he's not about to wait for another 100 wins to turn it around.

"Overall, we just need some more maturity and some discipline, I think, on our squad," he said. "We've got a young team, and we don't have a few years to kind of just let this transpire, and I'm asking our guys to be a little bit more disciplined and find an edge."

As defined in the first six games, Utah does have some clear advantages.

Utah has outrebounded every opponent thus far, doing so by a nation-leading average of 17.2 points. KenPom.com ranks Utah as the third-best offensive rebounding team nationally (42.6 percent) and the No. 42 defensive rebounding team (75.2 percent).

Reinforcing Utah's identity as a team that plays big is how the Utes have protected the interior: Opponents have only shot 33.5 percent on two-point tries, which is just a hair better than how they've fared on 3-point attempts (32.8 percent).

Offense hasn't always come easily. Utah's struggles against Butler showed, but the Utes' versatility has created match-up problems for teams like Montana State. Even double-teamed, Kuzma can pass well enough to find the many players — Lorenzo Bonam, Devon Daniels, JoJo Zamora — capable of cutting to the rim. In fact, Kuzma (21 assists) and Rawson (15 assists) are among the three top passers on the team so far.

Utah also flashed the versatility of its lineup by green-lighting Kuzma and the other forwards and guards to bring the ball up the court, easily breaking Montana State's pressure for most of the evening. That's not something Utah has always been able to do.

"You get the rebound, we're allowing [you to push into the break] rather than an outlet phase to a guard and going up," Krystkowiak said. "We're allowing those guys to make some plays."

And yet the effort against Montana State may not be good enough for Utah's next opponent Utah Valley, which beat BYU in Provo last week, and lost a close game to Washington State on Wednesday.

Most glaring should be how the Bobcats hit 52 percent on 3-pointers and were successful at stretching Utah's defense. Krystkowiak said he wants to see the Utes close out more efficiently on assignments, not letting shooters either fire freely, or leak past defenders into the paint.

Utah's own shooting leaves much to be desired. Parker Van Dyke started out the game blistering with three early 3-pointers, but cooled down quickly. Zamora was the only Ute to hit a 3-pointer in the second half — yes, only one. Utah's 29.2 percentage from beyond the arc ranks No. 316 nationally, building on preseason concern after the program graduated some of its best shooters (and another, Kenneth Ogbe, will be on the opposing bench next week).

The next few games will not be gimmes, and there's an increasingly small margin for error. The Wolverines provide the next test to see if Utah can build on what it has established, while correcting the errors.

Said Kuzma: "It's gonna be a war."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Utah Valley at Utah

P Tuesday, 6 p.m.

TV • Pac-12 Network