This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah only started seriously working on playing zone defense in the middle of the year.
And yet in Wednesday night's 88-47 win over Washington State, the largest margin of victory Utah has enjoyed in a road game in 17 years, it would be hard to know that. The scheme also masked that the Utes were without their starting center — or at least showed they didn't need him to push around the Cougars.
And make no mistake, the Cougars were pushed around like they hadn't been before. They posted their lowest offensive efficiency mark of the season.
While the barrage of baskets around the rim stole the show in the victory, Utah also provided evidence that it is building a defensive identity— one that's flexible and in which the team takes pride.
"It's come around a lot," junior forward Kyle Kuzma said. "It's a big tool for us. We can rely on that to slow down some big-time players. Not a lot of teams like zone, and I don't know if we like [playing against] zone a lot. But it just helps put some brakes on the offense."
Utah's zone has been a strong tool in Pac-12 play, putting the skids on Colorado, slowing down Arizona early, and breaking down USC.
Washington State fell into the teeth of it Wednesday. Seeking their high-scoring bigs, Josh Hawkinson and Conor Clifford, the Cougars would pass inside only for the big men to hit a double-team. While Hawkinson ended up getting his points — 19 on 8-for-14 shooting — Clifford was held to only two shots. Backup big Robert Franks was 1 for 5, and he and Clifford combined for five Wazzu turnovers trying to pass out of the traps.
Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak credited Lorenzo Bonam, who had three steals, for helping set the agenda on defense: He jumped into passing lanes and helped goad freshman Malachi Flynn, who had three turnovers against two assists, into mistakes.
The defensive performance — holding Washington State to under 33 percent shooting — reflected a lot of work Utah has poured into perfecting the scheme, Krystkowiak said.
"A lot of our guys haven't played much zone," he said. "Some of them never have been introduced to it. It continues to get better for us. We added a couple wrinkles, and guys believed in it, and we got stops."
What might be most surprising is how Utah has defended 3-pointers while playing zone. Conventional wisdom says that long-range shooting can break the will of a zone defense. And yet Washington State was only 2 for 18 on 3-pointers, a season low among others in assists, points and shooting. Rebounding out of a zone also can be tricky for players to get position, yet Utah was plus-19 on the boards without David Collette.
Center Jayce Johnson played a key role in his fifth start. In a zone, Krystkowiak said, the center plays the role of "quarterback," being able to see more in the perimeter and alerting those on the outside what's happening. Johnson said he's grown more comfortable in the role as the season has gone on.
The Washington game will test Utah's consistency on the defensive front. Washington is coming off an overtime win over Colorado powered by the conference's leading scorer, Markelle Fultz. The player most expect to be a top-five NBA draft pick this summer scored 37 points, all without making a 3-pointer. He's explosive and strong, and the Huskies (9-9, 2-4) rise and fall by his performances.
But the Utes believe that defense is one of the aspects they'll be able to control from game to game, even when their shots aren't falling. And the other thing about defense: It tends to travel well.
"We're improving every day defensively in practice," Kuzma said. "It's kind of hard with a bunch of young guys to lock in. But if you have a defensive mindset, the offense is going to come."
Twitter: @kylegoon