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http://bit.ly/2geP42K";>What do you learn from a 43-point blowout?

Maybe not all that much.

But there were plenty of hints as to where the Runnin' Utes are headed as they start playing actual Division I competition on Friday against Coppin State.

Some of the big takeaways from postgame comments on Tuesday night:

Utah's lineup could go big • Imagine this lineup: Jayce Johnson or David Collette at 5, Tyler Rawson at 4, and Kyle Kuzma as a 3.

The Utes are imagining it too, and you can bet if the team gets enough healthy big bodies, they'll take a look at it. http://bit.ly/2epxub9";>Coaches see Kuzma as a possible three-man who could present match-up issues for any team. If the opponent tries to guard him with a big man, he has the handle to take most off the dribble, or stretch the floor with his shot. If he's put against a smaller defender, he has the size to post up.

"Kuz, you know is probably more of a play-away, face-the-basket kind of player, although at some point, he could end up playing some three," Krystkowiak said. "Then he's real crafty down in the block too, so maybe it's the first time in the history of our program that we use our three man to post up a little bit more."

The Utes didn't score as much through its bigs against Concordia as they didhttp://bit.ly/2g6M6fV";> against Northwest Nazarene (Kuzma, Rawson and Johnson combined for 27 points as opposed to 44 in the opener). Krystkowiak said while the team was working on feeding the post more, the coaching staff hasn't yet added go-to plays to help the bigs score.

Utah's early offensive looks have been more vanilla than they will be later. Until then, it's going to be a little tougher for the bigs to get points.

"You don't need anything out scouting report-wise where you show your good stuff for opponents," he said. "Right now they have to kind of go earn their offense. But we'll always have some things for our fours and fives to get in position where we'll have some things for them … and I think they'll get even more productive in that way."

Cleaning up those turnovers • How do you get from 19 turnovers to 8 in four days? Sticking to the script.

Utah cut down turnovers by more than half with some rigid practices that focused on http://bit.ly/2fxdLmR";>not freelancing as much as the team did against the Crusaders. Against the Cavaliers, there was marked improvement in how Utah passed the ball.

"In our game against Northwest Nazarene, when we kind of made some stuff up," Krystkowiak said. "There was a real high probability that we were going to turn the ball over. There was just too much of making stuff up and putting us in a bad way."

No Ute had more than one turnover. Parker Van Dyke notably had four assists to no turnovers to go with his 15 points. JoJo Zamora had a team-high 5 assists.

Utah had 19 assists on 38 baskets — a better rate than the season opener, but still not as high as the team would like it. Against better competition, one-on-one match-ups will be tougher, and the Utes will have to rely on more ball movement to open up shots.

"It's all about letting the game come to you and doing what we're best at," Van Dyke said. "We're best when we're moving the ball, when we're sharing the ball and attacking within our offense. That's something we need to work on and improve as the competition gets better and we rely on our offensive sets."

Worth noting: http://www.sltrib.com/sports/4601717-155/byu-basketball-cougars-roll-past-weary";>BYU had 22 turnovers against Coppin State on Thursday night, so check the stat line again after Utah plays the Eagles on Friday.

Figuring out the defense • One thing that will never do for Utah is not being able to play defense. Krystkowiak lamented how the Utes had trouble guarding the ball on Tuesday night.

"Our defense has got to get much better," he said. "We have to not engage what we call our 9-11 defense where we have to help and get over."

Utah lost some of its best defensive players this past year: Aside from block leader Jakob Poeltl, the Utes will miss the on-ball defense of Brandon Taylor who spent a lot of time guarding opposing teams' top scorers.

On one hand, it's promising that Utah didn't allow any of the Cavaliers to score more than Christopher Edwards' 12 — he was the only scorer in double digits for his team. But Krystkowiak cringed when he saw players beaten off the dribble, forcing a help man to come over and opening up easy baskets. While Concordia also got only 2 fast break points, Krystkowiak would like to see the transition defense tighten up.

"We're really not getting back," he said. "It might be OK the last couple games. You're not paying the price. But we've got to get better."

Rotation could tighten up soon • In two games so far, Krystkowiak has played every available player. The only person on the roster who hasn't scored of the 12 who have seen game action is walk-on forward Beau Rydalch.

While that may play for DII opponents, it might not fly for much longer. Krystkowiak said he's ideally an eight- or nine-man rotation believer, and he's looking to get there sooner or later — one would assume before Utah plays Butler on Nov. 28.

There does appear to be a group that is clearly going to play a big role: Lorenzo Bonam, Parker Van Dyke, Devon Daniels, Kyle Kuzma and Jayce Johnson have started the last two games, with JoJo Zamora and Tyler Rawson playing key roles off the bench.

Jake Connor and Gabe Bealer may also be in the mix for added depth at their spots, while it's unclear if Utah would lean toward Jakob Jokl or walk-on Marc Reninger if extra bodies are needed in the post.

Krystkowiak said he's looking for players to impress him with defense, especially against "specials" like taking charges or defending backdoor dunks.

"That's what it's all about: trust, right?" "The sooner we get down that road, the sooner I can tighten up the rotation. But it's a pretty fine line between a lot of guys. For sure as these games start getting closer it makes sense to not play as many guys. … But we've got a lot of competition going on in our practice."

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon