Utes to face most difficult test over last decade


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SALT LAKE CITY — The significance of Utah's game Friday against the Duke Blue Devils is more than just "another game" — a phrase coaches and players like to profess regularly. Whether any of them would readily admit it, it's one of the biggest games, at least for Utah, in a decade.

It’s a game featuring two head coaches with surnames most struggle to pronounce with their overabundance of consonants. One has coached some of the best athletes in the collegiate and professional world and leads the country in more than 1,000 career wins, while another is still looking to make his mark on the national landscape with just over 100 career wins.

The meeting between No. 1 Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and No. 5 Utah’s Larry Krystkowiak will be the first on the court, and is the first time in more than 40 years the two programs have met, with Duke holding a 2-1 advantage. The last time the two programs played, Utah beat Duke by three in a non-conference game in 1970.

“I think in the history of the game, I don’t know how many times two Polish coaches will go against one another, where both of us are called Coach K,” Krzyzewski said in a press conference following the Blue Devils' 68-49 victory over San Diego State Sunday. “He’s (Larry Krystkowiak) a good friend. I had him on my SiriusXM show about a month ago and, boy, was he — he was really good, really good.

“His background is amazing,” Krzyzewski added. “I know they play with great character and they come from a great conference.”

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Krzyzewski admitted on Sunday that he didn't know much about Utah, having not watched any of their games this season. But anyone that follows college basketball — even casually — knows about Duke and its resume.

As one of four top seeds in this year's tournament and a legacy that comes with Duke basketball, the Blue Devils will be forced to address an "underdog" Utah team hoping to prove its worth among the best the nation offers. And a Utah team that isn't easily shaken by high-profile opponents.

“We like to compete. We don’t really care what’s on the front of their jersey,” Jordan Loveridge said. “We know they’re great players, we’ve grown up playing great players. Even in our conference we have a lot of great players we’re playing against. We came to Utah so we could play some of these teams that somebody might say the front of their jersey matters a lot. But to us, I feel, it doesn’t matter too much.”

“I think we all know that we can beat this team. Obviously Duke’s a good program; they always have good teams and have a very good team this year again,” Jakob Poeltl said. “But it’s the NCAA Tournament, and we’re a really good team, too. It’s going to be a tough fight. We’re probably a bit of the underdog, but we can still definitely beat that team.”

Utah will have its hands full against a perennial powerhouse, juggernaut head coach and a roster that features at least three NBA-caliber guys — all projected at one point this season in the first round. Most notable is freshman Jahlil Okafor, a potential No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and force in the post with his excellent postseason play.


At the end of the day it's just basketball. Obviously there's a little more on the line, and everyone wants to win so bad, but you've got to get back to the basics and play good basketball. If you play good basketball you're going to end up where you belong.

–Jakob Poeltl


Utah, too, has NBA-caliber talent, including Delon Wright and Poeltl, who have both been projected as potential first round picks in the upcoming draft. But Poeltl said it’s not going to help anyone to get caught up in the atmosphere.

“At the end of the day it’s just basketball,” Poeltl said. “Obviously there’s a little more on the line, and everyone wants to win so bad, but you’ve got to get back to the basics and play good basketball. If you play good basketball you’re going to end up where you belong.”

“If we do defend and rebound, we have the tools and keys to be in any game, so I feel other teams see that,” Loveridge said. “It’s good to get some respect from teams from our conference and then teams out of our conference.”

“We’re all the same age, we’re all the same height, same length, so it’s just another basketball game,” Kyle Kuzma said. “We have to treat it as that and we can’t think of them as Goliath. We just have to come out and play our game because we’re a pretty good team, too.”

For Utah, though, it's the opportunity to reach the Elite Eight and to become the first team since the 1998 team to make it out of the Sweet 16. But win or lose, Utah is setting itself up for a consistent run in the NCAA Tournament with several younger players on the team getting the experience needed to return each season.

“We have a lot of youth in this program, and this is just a stepping stone for us,” Kuzma said. “We can hopefully keep it going by this experience. It should be pretty exciting the next few years for us.”

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