SALT LAKE CITY — A lot of things can change in four years. Kids go to college and return as grownups. Presidents get elected and sometimes disappear. Celebrities get married and divorced, often more than once.
But from worst to first?
Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center, the Utes’ master plan rolled smoothly along. They embarrassed an upper-echelon conference opponent (Colorado) by applying the standard mix of stifling defense and varied offense, pulling ahead by 35 in the second half. That makes it 3-for-3 in conference, all by obscene margins, including weekend routs of USC and UCLA
“This is a lot more fun than when we first came here,” said seriously serious and earnestly earnest assistant coach Tommy Connor.
Life is good on the concierge level.
Not surprisingly, 10 people scored, nobody more than 14, making it look all too easy in the 74-49 win. Next up is the dreaded road trip to Arizona State and Arizona, the latter game pairing the conference’s top teams in a showdown of Naismithian proportion. If the current No. 9 Utes can sweep, they’ll have a nice jump on the conference championship.
Either way, they’re looking bodacious, a team at its finest. So far they’re averaging 27-point wins in conference play and are 13-2 overall. The national pundits are starting to reference Rick Majerus, the last Ute coach they paid any attention. Some have even gone so far as to cautiously suggest the Utes can make the Final Four.
The Utes must be thinking, “Great, 15 regular-season games left and the prognosticators are already out.” So far it’s only fantasy talk, but it’s hard not to peek. They came into the season picked second in the conference. Now they’re making a case for first. Utah beat UNLV by 13, while Arizona lost by four to the Rebels. However, the Wildcats beat San Diego State 61-59, while Utah lost 53-49.
“The program’s gone from apathy to expectations,” Connor said. “We’d rather have expectations.”
While Utah’s rise still has fans shaking their heads in disbelief — the Utes were awful for several years — things have unfolded according to a plan. The coaching staff mapped this out long ago. After the 2011-12 season I saw Connor by chance during the summer. That year’s team had won just six games.
“The longest year of our coaching lives,” Connor said on Tuesday.
During that 2012 conversation, he said they expected struggles in Year 1, but in Year 2, they would be more competitive. He thought by 2013-14 they could be dangerous — which is what happened. They weren’t far from making the NCAA tournament, winning 21 games.
This season they’re announcing themselves with a bullhorn.
Asked about his 4-year prediction, Connor laughed, “Didn’t know I had that in me,” but went on to say it was “not too prophetic” because 3-4 years is a standard timetable.
True, but with Ray Giacoletti and Jim Boylen as coaches, things went backward.
It didn’t take long for the Utes to get in the same groove they’ve been in, Wednesday. After a close start, they strangled Colorado’s attack, holding the Buffaloes scoreless for nearly 8½ minutes and without a field goal for a 10-minute stretch. That gave Utah time to warm up its offense, building the lead to 12. However, a late Colorado surge cut the margin to eight just before halftime.
The Utes were out of the gate but not out of the woods.
As per usual, nobody piled up big scoring totals. Nine players tallied in the first half, nobody in double figures. But it was enough to deliver the gut punch soon after, when back-to-back 3-pointers boosted their lead to 15 with 15:41 to go.
They had rendered the Buffaloes extinct.
Home games are home games, where Utah historically wins at an 80 percent rate. This year the Utes are 11-0 at home. Clearly, they have that part down. But the road schedule looms. Still, if they have proven anything so far, it’s that they can stick to a schedule. In that light, they’d be crazy not to pencil in some wins next week.
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