After coming off a win against Duke in New York City, the Utes continued their success against Delaware State on Tuesday night in the Huntsman Center, winning 105-58.
Kyle Kuzma led all scorers with 15 points and also had three rebounds and three assists. Jordan Loveridge was next with 14 points, and Lorenzo Bonam and Chris Reyes had 12 points each. Brandon Taylor ended the night with eight points and six assists.
Although the team could have taken this game for granted, head coach Larry Krystkowiak is glad to see that his team was eager to get back to work right before Christmas.
“Let’s make sure we [have] respect for the game and trying to play it the right way, and that encapsulates a little bit the idea of not having a let-down,” Krystkowiak said. “Shame on us when you get 30-something games to play, if you come out and you’re not where you need to be — that’s not what we’re about. I thought we did a pretty good job responding to that.”
The team shot 61.7 percent from the floor and was 12-of-23 from three-point range. Reyes thinks the team did a great job of sharing the ball and was happy to see most everyone get involved.
“As you see the ball moving, you see open gaps, which brings the open jump shots,” Reyes said. “Being able to move the ball, getting the penetration that we had today and being able to get kick it out to our shooters — it was a great ball game.”
The Utes got going early on behind a three-pointer from Jordan Loveridge and continued to easily get to the basket. About 10 minutes into the first half, the Utes were up 28-13, all without Jakob Poeltl recording any points. What the big man was doing, though, was finding open teammates throughout the entire half.
“That guy’s kind of the epitome of wanting to share it, and he’s fine with wanting to make the pass,” Krystkowiak said.
Poeltl registered five assists, and his first points only came with about four minutes left to play in the first half, when he made a nice reverse layup. However, on the Utes’ previous possession, Delaware State’s Dana Raysor was called for a flagrant foul on Gabe Bealer, and Bealer knocked down both free throws.
Poeltl opened the second half by immediately scoring four points, and again the Utes were finding success from deep as Isaiah Wright hit a three in the first few minutes.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, Utah was leading 81-40, and most of the starters had taken a seat on the bench.
All Utah players scored aside from Austin Eastman, but he had a nice pass toward the end of the game that got the Utes to the 100-point mark, finding Jake Connor for the open shot.
Delaware State only shot 32.3 percent from the floor, and even though Krystkowiak thinks Utah’s defense is making progress, he knows it can get much better.
“We’re making improvements,” Krystkowiak said. “I like where we’re going, but defensively there’s a lot of things we need to get dialed in.”
The Utes won’t take the court until Monday next week when they play College of Idaho in Salt Lake.
@kbrenneisen