One week made big difference for Utes, Jazz

Catching up on the sports world, the basketball world at least, a week into the new year . . .

What a difference a week can make for a sports team. Last week after a 40-point loss in Colorado, Utah basketball fans were worried they might have the worst basketball team in America and if the Utes would win a single game in the Pac-12 Conference. However, on Thursday night, the Utes not only competed well with Washington State, they came from behind to win in overtime 62-60. Then on Saturday they came close to beating one of the preseason favorites in the league, Washington, before losing by four.

Then there's the Utah Jazz, who were blown away in three road losses and looked to be among the worst teams in the NBA. A week later they have four straight victories to their credit and a 5-3 mark that is tied for 11th best in the league. The bad news for the Jazz is that they are playing in the toughest division in the NBA so far and are in fourth place behind Oklahoma City, Portland and Denver.

Saturday wasn't a good day if your name was C.J. Up at the Huntsman Center, former Pleasant Grove star C.J. Wilcox had his worst shooting day as a collegian, going 2 for 13 from the field, although his Washington team did edge Utah. That evening, Utah Jazz guard C.J. Miles only played four minutes and went 0-for-3 from the field in the Jazz win over Golden State.

BYU is having another terrific basketball season, sitting at 14-4. One of the Cougars' losses was to Baylor, which is one of just three unbeaten teams in the country, and another loss was to Saint Mary's which is 14-2. Except for remaining games at home against Saint Mary's on Jan. 28 and Gonzaga on Feb. 2 and at Gonzaga on Feb. 23, the Cougars should cruise in the West Coast Conference and go into the conference tournament no worse than 24-7.

Another team that should cruise through the rest of the regular season is Weber State, which is clearly the class of a mediocre Big Sky Conference at 12-3 overall. The only other team with a winning record is Montana, which pays a visit to Ogden this Saturday night. Then the two teams don't meet until the last game of the season Feb. 28 in Missoula.

Wildcat guard Damian Lillard is the best player in the state and his numbers this year are astounding. He leads the nation in scoring at 26.3 points per game, shoots 48.9 percent from the field, 47.4 percent from 3-point range (14th in the nation) and 90.9 percent (16th in the nation) from the foul line. He also leads his team in assists per game and steals per game.