Utah Basketball - Loveridge heeds Krystkowiak's criticism, stands out on Wednesday night

Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak was blunt in his assessment with Jordan Loveridge on Monday. Yes, the freshman played well against Oregon - offensively.

But when Krystkowiak looked at the stat sheet, one number stood out: Zero.

That represents the number of rebounds Loveridge pulled down against the Ducks. As Oregon pounded the Utes on the boards, Loveridge's best skill went silent at the wrong time.

That wasn't the case against Arizona State for the rookie out of West Jordan. He scored 13 points to complement Jason Washburn's game-high 26 points. More importantly, Loveridge pulled down six rebounds. He hauled down boards in traffic and he did it without sacrificing his offensive game.

"We finally started to get rebounds that we needed," Loveridge said. "We stepped up and made the plays that were needed."

Loveridge looks to finally be healthy and pain free from the knee injury that bothered him for a few weeks. In a game where Utah looked good, then shaky, and then good again, Loveridge stood out when it counted the most.

Tony Jones