SALT LAKE CITY — Though he had never set foot in the Beehive State, Wesley Saunders found it difficult to take in any sights when he arrived here with his Harvard basketball teammates in the wee hours Tuesday.

After taking a bus ride from the airport to the team’s downtown hotel for a late check-in, Saunders awoke that morning for a practice at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Center. He threw open the curtains and was dazzled by the breathtaking sight of Salt Lake’s sun-dappled cityscape, framed by the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains in the background.