For the first time in 18 years, Utah got a win against Arizona, 70-64, this last Saturday at home. While the Utes ended that particular streak, they have a new one going — six straight conference wins, the most consecutive wins they have ever had in Pac-12 play. The person at the forefront of it all is center Jakob Poeltl.
The big man finished with another double-double against Arizona, 14 points and 10 rebounds and certainly outplayed Arizona’s center, Kaleb Tarczewski, who finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
“It was such a tough 40 minutes,” Poeltl said. “It was scrappy, it was physical, but we really did a great job of playing together, playing defense at the end. I’m just really proud of us, of the team and how we played.”
Last year, it wasn’t the same story. Poeltl only had four points and five rebounds against the Wildcats while playing in Salt Lake City, whereas Tarczewski finished with 13 points and six rebounds. This goes to show how far Poeltl has come along in a year, a year many thought he would be playing in the NBA.
After the win, he jokingly told everyone in the locker room that beating Arizona was why he decided to stay for his sophomore season. All jokes aside, he did feel that he had unfinished business at Utah and is happy the team is playing its best basketball of the year at the right time.
“I think we’re having a very successful season right now, especially towards the end and that was part of why I wanted to come back, to have a great season with the team,” Poeltl said.
While the Utes pulled out a win, it wasn’t all smooth sailing against Arizona. They had an 11-point lead at halftime, yet couldn’t hang on to it in the second half. They turned the ball over four times within the first four minutes of the second half, allowing the Wildcats to get back in the game.
Head coach Larry Krystkowiak was livid and reminded his players that there was no way they were going to win playing like that.
“I threatened to chop their fingers off in the timeout if they kept doing that,” Krystkowiak said jokingly. “I thought we got sloppy. It wasn’t what we talked about all week, taking care of the ball and having a sense of urgency with it. Got a little loosey-goosey and threw some balls away and that’s not us.”
This message resonated with Poeltl, who admits he was feeling the side-effects from the quick turnaround after Thursday’s game with ASU. Arizona worked its way to a 59-55 lead, but even then, Poeltl never felt like the game was out of hand and soon got back into the right mindset.
“I wouldn’t say it felt like it was slipping away, but we have to do a better job of coming out the gates,” Poeltl said. “We had to get our team back together on defense and stop turning the ball over.”
Although the majority of his free throws didn’t fall — he was 2-of-5 from the stripe — Poeltl knows he made plenty of contributions elsewhere. He had two assists and three blocks in the game, all of which were necessary for Utah to clinch a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament.
As he walked off the court Saturday afternoon to fans chanting, “One more year!” he wants to make sure the Utes take care of business in the closing stretches of the season, because they still have ways to go until they reach their end goals. Although this win could somewhat distract the team, in Poeltl’s eyes, it’s all the motivation this Ute squad needs heading into March.
“It boosts your confidence,” Poeltl said. “It brings the team closer together because we experience this win as a team and it was a team win through and through. It gets to you in a positive way.”
@kbrenneisen