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Runnin' Utes open season with athletic freshmen and emphasis on physicality

SALT LAKE CITY — Coming off an NIT championship game blowout loss to Penn State last season, Utah basketball head coach Larry Krystkowiak felt his team needed to be more physical.

Utah was outmatched, outrebounded and simply outdone by the Nittany Lions. In the aftermath, Krystkowiak told his strength coach, Charles Stephenson, that Utah needed to resemble the physicality of Big Ten teams. And that’s what Utah tried to accomplish in the offseason.

Stephenson took the message to heart and doubled down on their strength and conditioning approach, and pushed the players in the weight room and on the court.