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Brandon Taylor takes after his coach: Talk about his offensive game, and he'll flip things around to the other side of the court.

Point out, for instance, that he's averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 assists and shooting 42 percent from 3-point range in his past four games — all Utah wins — and he'll take you the rest of the way: "And my defense, too."

It's a matter of pride for Taylor, a senior from Southern California. One of the first things he looks at in the box score is how the players he guarded performed.

Stanford's Marcus Allen: 3 for 12, 10 points. Cal's Jordan Mathews: 3 for 10, 7 points. Washington's Andrew Andrews: 4 for 10, 17 points. Washington State's Ike Iroegbu: 2 for 8, 7 points.

Guess how many were held under their season scoring average? That's right — all.

Coach Larry Krystkowiak talks about the "head of the snake" often, how Utah needs to match up with its opponent's top scorers. What is talked about less is how often Taylor makes shots tough for many of them. And with Taylor, who stands 5-foot-10, it's helped him fire up the rest of his game in Utah's most recent string of successes.

"It starts for me first, just being defensively sound," he said. "It's really just been that way since the start of college in terms of really taking it to the next level. I think I've really done that the past few games and throughout the season. And if you do that, I think, the offensive part takes care of itself."

Krystkowiak has hit repeatedly on how his defense has improved in Utah's five-game winning streak, and a lot of that takes place in the paint. Stat site KenPom.com ranks Utah's defense on 2-point shots as the 22nd-best in the country (42.9 percent).

Three-point defense has been much shakier this year than last year: Utah's perimeter defense has suffered with NCAA officiating changes and the loss of Delon Wright, ranking No. 302 in the country (37.1 percent). But on a micro scale, Taylor can help take away a backcourt scorer — or at least make scoring tough for his man.

In the last game, the Utes rotated Taylor onto 6-foot-9 Rosco Allen. Stanford's senior forward ended up scoring 16 points, but he needed 17 shots to get there. Taylor finished with three steals and six defensive rebounds to go with 15 points and four assists.

Is he turning up his intensity? Teammates are hard-pressed to tell. To them, it always seems like Taylor is intense. But there might be an added urgency

"He's been the same person since I met him, but I guess it's just a different mentality," senior guard Dakarai Tucker said. "He's seeing his numbers, and he doesn't want to end on a drought."

If Taylor — who was an all-Pac-12 honoree last year — can keep up his current pace, it won't be a drought. His offensive game is warming up as well after struggling to start the season offensively.

Against Stanford, Taylor hit several key shots, including a 3-pointer right before halftime.

Utah plays Oregon State on Thursday: The first game against OSU, Taylor had six points and some trouble finding the bottom of the net. He hopes he can keep up his recent run — on both sides of the court.

"I know I work hard," he said. "I know I shoot and do everything the right way. To see the results, it's a nice feeling. As a senior, I gotta go out and play like a senior."

Twitter: @kylegoon