This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
It's more meaningful than a Dallin Bachynski dunk, a Brandon Taylor 3-pointer, a Jakob Poeltl block or a Delon Wright dish.
To Larry Krystkowiak's eyes, the sweetest sight might have just been the Huntsman Center crowd, the great red-and-white-striped mass of more than 14,000 fans, standing at attention as the Runnin' Utes battled in the last minutes of a hard-fought win over Wichita State.
They roared with every basket. They clapped with every rebound. Utah has enjoyed a few big wins under Krystkowiak, but this may have been the biggest, and it had the best audience-driven soundtrack.
That means something.
"We talk in our program an awful lot about believing in what we're doing, and it hasn't always been easy sometimes to believe in the direction and the hours that we're putting in," he said. "But it's been a staple, that word: believe. And now it's really cool because, in my assessment, now some people in the area believe in what we're doing."
If the coaching staff has been surprised by a 6-1 start, it has done a good job of holding that in. Krystkowiak said multiple times before the season that he expected the group to be competitive. The talent level is undeniably better than it's been: NBA scouts are circling Wright and Poeltl as future NBA draft picks, and vets like Taylor and Dakarai Tucker are stepping up while freshmen like Brekkott Chapman and Kyle Kuzma are blending in.
But belief - well that's a new thing.
Utah has seen signs of it: being picked No. 2 in the Pac-12, getting ranked in the preseason, being named a sleeper or dark horse by multiple outlets.
But now here's the tangible evidence. Utah beat the No. 8 team in the nation, displaying their talents. Utah out-rebounded one of the toughest rebounding teams in the country, held up its defense against a top-level offense, and scored inside and out.
The team has believed in itself for a while. Now the rest of the country's starting to come along.
"It means a lot," Brandon Taylor said. "Me and Dakarai have seen this program kind of turn like a complete 180. To come in as freshmen, even the fan base, to kind of see how now is amazing."
This win, Krystkowiak said, is exactly the kind of game Utah couldn't win last year. Against good teams in late games, the Utes faltered, made mistakes or straight up missed shots. Stumbling against No. 4 Arizona last season at the Huntsman Center comes to mind.
Not that Wednesday was perfect. Ideally, Utah would have closed out the game when it had an 11-point lead. If Tucker hadn't pushed it to overtime, Wichita State would've had another notch in its belt and the conversation would be about collapse instead of rising up.
There's been a mentality shift, Taylor said.
"That's the one thing that's the difference from this year to last year: Last year we panicked a bit - me, I did, " he said. "This time around, I was like, 'Don't panic, everything is cool.'"
Today on the hill, everything is cool. Utah could be the ascending power it was promised to be in the Pac-12. For now, they'll leave the panicking to their opponents.
Twitter: @kylegoon