I didn’t mince any words and we went through — cut right to the chase — with some things we need guys to do. – Larry Krystkowiak
LOS ANGELES — Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak’s postgame message to the Utes was clear and concise. He didn’t leave a lot to the imagination following Thursday’s 69-59 loss at UCLA.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” he said. “We didn’t do enough things to put us in a position where we could have won.”
After the game, Krystkowiak went around the locker room and asked everyone to tell him what it is they’re going to commit to doing a better job of because he doesn’t have time for a bunch of individual meetings with guys.
“I didn’t mince any words and we went through — cut right to the chase — with some things we need guys to do,” Krystkowiak explained. “And it’s time for everybody to take a look at, ‘Hey, what can I do to improve’ because we all had errors, myself included.”
The Utes, though, are maintaining a united front as they prepare for Sunday’s game at USC and beyond.
“We’re not pointing fingers and trying to figure out if it’s somebody else’s fault, or I’m not playing enough, or whatever it is,” said Krystkowiak, who added it’s back to doing it collectively. “We’ve got a couple of days here to get some things figured out for the Trojans and then we’ll play early Sunday morning. That’s the great thing about sports, is you get a chance to get that taste out of your mouth.”
EYE OF THE TIGER: UCLA coach Steve Alford discussed the mindset of his team in bouncing back from a 71-39 loss at Utah on Jan. 4 to defeating the Utes by 10 at Pauley Pavilion just 25 days later.
“When you get beat by (32) on the road and you get the chance at a rematch, you want to play well in the rematch,” he said. “I thought we really played well tonight.”
EXTRA STUFF: UCLA led the game for more than 28 minutes. … Delon Wright led the Utes with 15 points and six rebounds. … Brandon Taylor had 14 points and a team-high five assists. … Chris Reyes blocked a game-high two shots. … Jakob Poeltl was 4-for-4 from the field.
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