The first clue that scoring would not be as easy as expected for Utah came during the second half of the season opener when the Utes went nine minutes without a basket.
Or maybe it was two days earlier, when sophomore forward Donnie Tillman reflected on six weeks of preseason practice. The season “can go either way,” he said. “It can be a great year or it can be a really bad year.”
So far? Somewhere in between, going into Saturday’s game vs. BYU at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utes (4-3) have absorbed only one really disconcerting defeat, a neutral-site loss to Hawaii.