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For a team like the Runnin' Utes, the non-conference schedule can be a laboratory of sorts.
When Utah hosts its annual home tournament this week, three games in four days, it figures that the team will see different styles and be able to experiment with different personnel. If the Utes get large leads in those games, it's a chance for younger players and bench players to add to their minutes and experience.
Or that should typically be the case, anyway. Coach Larry Krystkowiak said he lost sight of those goals at this time last season, worrying more about letting up than building for the rest of the year. A 2012 game against Cal State Northridge - when the Utes led by 21 at halftime but lost - haunted him throughout last year's tournament.
So even as Utah won every game by double-digits, and even 27 points, starters averaged 65 percent of the minutes. Reflecting on that, Krystkowiak called it "a mistake."
"When we were on a tournament, in hindsight we probably should've played a lot of younger guys and been getting them reps in that tournament environment," he said. "I'm only hopeful that we're going to get some of those games again."
They probably will. Two visiting teams, Texas Pan-American and North Dakota, rank 285 and below in RPI. Alabama State figures to be the best challenge on paper, with an 18-point loss to Arkansas as its only contest so far.
If the Utes have to scrap to go 3-0 this weekend, they'll do it: Winning is still the priority. But if there are chances to give bench guys a run, it seems more likely that Krystkowiak will roll with it. It's time to grow up.
"Potentially if we do get a lead and have a little bit of comfort there," he said, "I can trust those guys."
The state of the Utes trending upward is thanks to one component in particular: defense. Krystkowiak feels his team is way ahead of the game in making stops after holding back court players to quiet performances in back-to-back games. Opponents are shooting an average of under 36 percent from the floor, because it's hard to score when there are hands in your face or your best scorer is denied the ball.
But there's work to do on offense, and the Utes admit that much. UC Riverside was a dramatic improvement: sharing the ball and getting good shooting from close and deep. Going a little slower helped the execution after getting "sped up" against San Diego State.
"We kind of went out of the offensive flow [against SDSU]," freshman Brekkott Chapman said. "If we play like [we did against UC RIverside], we're going to win a lot more games."
Krystkowiak said afterward that his freshmen are improving, and have lost the "deer in the headlights" look they had even a month ago in practice. Jakob Poeltl and Chris Reyes are already starters, and Chapman, Isaiah Wright and Kyle Kuzma could still figure prominently into the rotation, if they play the way they did Friday.
A tournament setting is important for the team as a whole, but particularly for the younger players. It's a mix of styles thrown into one weekend, a blur of games and scouting that can take a toll.
"It's fun to see our guys get their lungs burning in interesting spots," Krystkowiak said. "I think that's productive for us moving forward because we're going to need those guys."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Utah playing home tournament this week
Wednesday
6 p.m. • Utah vs. Texas Pan-American
8:30 p.m. • North Dakota vs. Alabama State
Friday
5 p.m. • Texas Pan-American vs. Alabama State
8 p.m. • Utah vs. North Dakota
Saturday
4 p.m. • North Dakota vs. Texas Pan-American
7 p.m. • Utah vs. Alabama State