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After a 2-0 opening weekend in the Pac-12, the Runnin' Utes continue to scale the AP Poll, coming in at No. 9 in this week's rankings. Utah beat the visiting Trojans of USC 79-55 and followed that up with a 71-49 demolition of storied UCLA. Utah now sits at 12-2, 2-0 in the Pac-12 and atop the conference.
The Utes lead the conference in scoring margin at +20., field goal percentage (.508), three-point shooting percentage (.396), and rebounding margin (+9.1).
Individually, senior guard Delon Wright leads the Pac-12 in assist to turnover ration (3.29), is tied for eighth in the league in scoring at 15.1 points per game, third in steals (2.29), and is fourth in assists (5.64), and freshman center Jakob Poeltl leads the conference in field goal shooting at 66.3 percent, is third in blocked shots (2.14), and is fifth in rebounding at 8.3 per game.
One interesting stat: Last season, both Wright and junior forward Jordan Loveridge were among the league leaders in minutes played per game. This season, Utah doesn't have a player ranking in the Top 10 in the conference for minutes played. Utah is outplaying their opponents without overly taxing their star players.
AP Top 25
| RANK | TEAM (1st) | POINTS | PREV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Wildcats (64) | 1600 | 1 |
| 2 | Duke Blue Devils | 1535 | 2 |
| 3 | Virginia Cavaliers | 1446 | 3 |
| 4 | Wisconsin Badgers | 1397 | 4 |
| 5 | Louisville Cardinals | 1322 | 5 |
| 6 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 1275 | 7 |
| 7 | Arizona Wildcats | 1260 | 8 |
| 8 | Villanova Wildcats | 1089 | 6 |
| 9 | Utah Utes | 1059 | 10 |
| 10 | Texas Longhorns | 976 | 11 |
| 11 | Maryland Terrapins | 966 | 12 |
| 12 | Kansas Jayhawks | 884 | 13 |
| 13 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 775 | 14 |
| 14 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 712 | 17 |
| 15 | Wichita State Shockers | 686 | 16 |
| 16 | Oklahoma Sooners | 674 | 18 |
| 17 | Iowa State Cyclones | 663 | 9 |
| 18 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 591 | 19 |
| 19 | Seton Hall Pirates | 448 | - |
| 20 | Virginia Commonwealth Rams | 311 | 27 |
| 21 | Baylor Bears | 186 | 22 |
| 22 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 184 | 20 |
| 23 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 103 | 29 |
| 24 | St. John's Red Storm | 92 | 15 |
| 25 | Old Dominion Monarchs | 80 | 30 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa (12-2) 72; Iowa (10-4) 63; Butler (11-4) 53; LSU (11-2) 50; George Washington (11-3) 39; TCU (13-1) 33; Temple (11-4) 33; Colorado State (14-1) 31; Stanford (10-3) 29; South Carolina (9-3) 16; Washington (11-3) 13; Wyoming (13-2) 11; Indiana (11-3) 9; Oklahoma State (11-2) 9; Georgetown (9-4) 7; Cincinnati (10-3) 6; Dayton (11-2) 5; Brigham Young (13-4) 3; Xavier (10-4) 2; Hofstra (10-4) 1; Davidson (10-2) 1 | |||
Additionally, ESPN.com's Dana O'Neil likes Delon Wright as an early candidate for Pac-12 Player of the Year, as well as Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak for Coach of the Year. O'Neil picks Arizona as the team to beat, which seems like a safe bet at the moment for the 13-1, 1-0 Wildcats. Arizona gets their first crack at Utah in the McHale Center, traveling to Salt Lake City (which could be the game of the year in the conference) near the end of the regular season.