Utah

We haven't discussed Utah much but the Utes have solidified themselves as one of the top teams in the West. At 20-4, they're 4th overall in KenPom, 14th on offense and 7th on defense. They are one of the most balanced teams in the nation, much less the west.

Utah plays at one of the slowest paces, 300th in possessions per game but as the numbers indicate, they're very efficient. They have an effective fg% of 56.5%, 7th in the nation. They can shoot it from deep, making 40.5%, 10th best and can pound it inside, making 54% from 2! On top of that, they're 26th in FTA/FGA. The Utes are a well-oiled machine. They're average on the offensive glass with a 30.9% rebounding % (174th).

Utah has a defensive effective fg% of 42.2%, 5th best overall. Teams only shoot 40.1% from the paint. Utah only allows an offensive rebounding % of 28.1% (45th). Utah is a tough defensive team.

The leader of the team is Sr. Delon Wright. Wright is considered one of the best players in the nation. A jack-of-all trades, he gives the Utes 14/5/4 per game. He's a great distributor and protects the basketball. His backcourt mate, Brandon Taylor is one of the more underrated players in the nation. With an Offensive Rating that places him 13th, he's deadly from 3, making 46% from there. Big man, Jakob Poeltl, a freshman, is a stat stuffer. He doesn't play a ton of minutes but the minutes he plays are effective. He shoots 68%, has the 9th best offensive rebounding % and is 78th in defensive rebounding. He's a fantastic player.

All 4 of the Utes losses are to likely tournament teams. The loss at Arizona was a bit disconcerting since it wasn very close. They get a revenge chance next Saturday at home.

They're favored in their last 5 games. Coach Larry Krystkowiak has done a good job sheparding the Utes into the Pac-12 and bringing them back to the level Rick Majerus had them at. Sleeper Final 4 team? It's a leap from not making the tournament and going that far but this is a very good team.