This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
These are the moments that matter: JoJo Zamora stood at the free-throw line with 13 of his teammates staring at him expectantly and heaving through ragged breaths. Two shots.
The junior guard sank both on Thursday afternoon, rescuing the Runnin' Utes from having to run any more at the end of practice, right before hopping on a bus to the airport.
"I try not to think too much about it," Zamora said. "I try to just clear my mind and just knock them down."
That approach has been valuable to Zamora, who transferred to Utah from Yuba College this offseason. While he's had up-and-down games in his start with the Utes, he has scored a combined 32 points over the last two games (11.4 ppg on the season) and has hit his last 11 free throws in those contests.
Against UVU, Utah leaned on him to hit shots at the line: He made all 8 attempts, improving to 83 percent on the season. The stakes were higher than running.
"I think he's one of those guys that we need to have help us put points on the board," coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "There's a lot of guys on a good curve, but he's a guy you don't see that squinched-up look on his face. He can relax and think less."
Zamora said learning Utah's schemes and rotations has been mentally taxing the last few months, and he's played in some games with tension — afraid of making a mistake.
But now, he said, it's coming a little more naturally.
"I had to get all that down before I could play without thinking," he said.
Coach knocks off cancer
If he had another chance, Krystkowiak may not have let one of his closest personal details slip earlier this week.
After revealing on Monday night during his ESPN 700 coach's show that he had his thyroid removed after it was found to have cancer, Krystkowiak said he went home and eventually regretted his candor.
"I let that slip out," he said. "I thought about that when I got home. I was like, 'Damn.' I wanted that to be flying under the radar."
Too late.
After Tuesday's game, Krystkowiak expounded on his experience, saying that he hadn't told his players that he had cancer, but they could have inferred something was wrong because "I was missing a lot of time." He added that he's among the fortunate when it comes to getting cancer.
"No. 1, if you get cancer, you probably want it in your thyroid," he said. "And No. 2, there's probably not a better place in America to take care of you than right across the street up here at Huntsman's outfit. So I had a lot of things going in my favor, and happy to get through it, certainly. Never taking anything for granted."
Suns' Watson pays a visit
Utah had visitors to its practice on Tuesday ahead of its game against UVU: Phoenix Suns coach Earl Watson and his coaching staff.
The Suns staff shares a few connections with the Utes: Freshman center Jayce Johnson was on the Earl Watson Elite AAU squad. Former Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin is on the staff, as is former Wyoming assistant Scott Duncan, who is close with several Utah staffers.
"It was pretty cool in the middle of a game day, they sat through our shootaround," Krystkowiak said. "They came in and soaked it all up."
The Suns took a 112-105 loss later that night to the Jazz, but Watson said before the contest that he enjoyed going up to the U.
"I love what they're doing," Watson said in a pregame scrum. "I have a kid who played for my travel team that's at Utah, Jayce Johnson, so just supporting. At the same time, I'll got watch anyone play basketball and practice. You can always learn."
Aaron Falk contributed to this story.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah at No. 13 Xavier
P Saturday, 3:30 p.m. MST
TV • Fox