This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Judging by what unfolded Thursday night at the Huntsman Center, the Utah Utes are primed for No. 7 Arizona's visit.
Or maybe they should have saved this performance for Saturday, in what qualifies as a Pac-12 championship game.
Coming off one of their five losses this season, the No. 13 Utes destroyed Arizona State. This is one case where the halftime score is the whole story: Utah 41, ASU 9. Reporting the final tally (83-41) is merely for the sake of details.
And there were more astounding numbers to go around, in a half when the Utes produced more blocked shots (10) than points allowed. No way has that ever happened, since rims and nets were invented. The Sun Devils made 4 of 26 shots in the half, thanks partly to Jakob Poeltl's five blocks, and Utah finished with an 18-0 run that featured all kinds of extraordinary plays.
Arizona will not want to watch this film in advance of Saturday, even with the opportunity to make fun of its rivals. Then again, the Wildcats won't lack any confidence, coming off their own 28-point demolition of Colorado and knowing they handled Utah by 18 in Tucson in mid-January.
The Utes have beaten all eight Pac-12 visiting teams by 15-plus points. Even so, Thursday's episode was extreme. I'll say this: Delon Wright and his teammates might live up to his words.
"From here on out, I don't expect us to lose anymore for the rest of the season," Wright said after Tuesday's practice. That statement came in his usual, conversational way of speaking — not defiantly or boastfully. And all he was doing was expressing confidence in the Utes' ability to regroup after Sunday's loss at Oregon, which is what they've done whenever necessary this season.
The question, of course, is whether the Utes can follow through this weekend and beyond, such as the conference tournament in Las Vegas and some phase of their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years.
Arizona State needs no convincing, that's for sure.
The Sun Devils, after all, were good enough to beat Arizona this month. They've played consistently well since losing by 17 to Utah at home. ASU was ransacked Thursday, subjected to a phenomenal effort by the home team.
Who knows if Utah can summon anything like this performance Saturday. The Utes came unraveled in their first meeting with Arizona, losing 69-51. The backdrop of that game was the bizarre circumstance of Utah being ranked ahead of the Wildcats, with Arizona coach Sean Miller framing it as his team's opportunity for an upset.
The ploy sure worked as much with Arizona fans as the players themselves. The revved-up atmosphere in the McKale Center brought out the best in the Wildcats, after a slow start. Arizona dominated Utah on the boards and restored some order in the Pac-12 standings and the national rankings.
Six weeks later, the Utes will get another shot at the conference's flagship program with a Pac-12 title at stake. Even a co-championship would be a huge breakthrough for the Utes, three years after they finished 11th in the league with a 3-15 record.
Utah probably would have to sweep next week's trip to Washington State and Washington to stay tied with the Wildcats, but that's reasonable.
That's also getting ahead of the story. The Utes have to discover a way to match Arizona's toughness if they hope to change the outcome from Tucson. Other than that loss at ASU, the Wildcats have overwhelmed all of their opponents this month.
And because they won so easily at Colorado, the Wildcats shouldn't be feeling the usual effects of the Pac-12's high-altitude swing. The Utes hardly were taxed themselves Thursday, so the league's top two teams should be at their best when it counts.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
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