This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kansas City • After a week of getting bumped and shoved in the post, Jakob Poeltl has sufficient reason to harbor discontent.
But Utah's freshman center reserved his greatest frustration for himself after the Utes (7-2) fell 63-60 to No. 10 Kansas, a missed 3-pointer away from sending one of the premier college brands to overtime.
The Utes had them on their heels, Poeltl said of the second-half 34-11 run that made a blowout into a squeaker. They were so close.
"I'm not saying like it was a bad game: We fought to the end, it was actually a great game," he said. "We played 25, 30 minutes of great basketball. But we have to do that for 40 minutes to compete with the really big teams."
Slight correction: Utah has to play hard for 40 minutes to beat the really big teams. The program has already proved it can compete.
A few months from now, the 10-member NCAA men's basketball committee will meet in Indianapolis and dissect Utah's most recent slate of games: a win over No. 8 Wichita State, a win at BYU, a close loss to No. 10 Kansas in Kansas City. A close defeat to No. 16 San Diego State will also inform their decision-making process.
In other terms: Utah's RPI is 34 as of Sunday. Its two losses are to teams in the top 20 RPI. The Utes have a home win against the No. 8 team and a road win over the No. 54 team, and everyone else they've beaten by at least 18 points and often much more.
If those opponents keep healthy and stay close to their current standings - and the Utes do, too, through Pac-12 play - there's no doubt what that resume says: The Runnin' Utes are NCAA tournament-worthy.
And as Larry Krystkowiak is quick to remind everyone, that was the point of designing a rocky non-conference schedule.
"Whatever happens, our goal is to be in the NCAA tournament," he said, even allowing himself to smile at times in his post-game presser. "We didn't want anybody on the committee or in the room or whatever say, 'Man, they just didn't play a hard-enough schedule.' So we're surviving."
The Utes have indeed proven themselves as survivors. They spotted Wichita State a 10-point lead before their first. They managed to hold on to the banner win of the year when the Shockers pushed them to overtime. They scrapped by BYU in Provo, thanks much in part to stingy defense.
Even when Utah has lost, its shown a will to play on. In last year's Pac-12 tournament, a halftime deficit to Arizona spun out of control into one of the most embarassing blowouts of the year. In the same position in Kansas City - another 21-point deficit actually - the Utes punched back against the Jayhawks against all odds, even when most were prepared for Bill Self and company to roll right over them.
The team has added confidence, Delon Wright said. The players think they belong in every game, and eventually that helps them climb back.
"We have a different mentality," he said. "We think we're a top team in the country."
If they find a way to play a solid 40 minutes in every game, the Runnin' Utes might just soon be one.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Playing with the big boys
The Runnin' Utes are one of the best-performing teams in the country by a few measures, with some metrics courtesy of stat website Basketball State:
• No. 11 in points per possession (1.15)
• No. 32 in points allowed per possession (0.87)
• No. 17 in field goal percentage (50.1 percent)
• No. 17 in opposing field goal percentage (36.3 percent)