The U men’s basketball team found a remedy for its offensive struggles in the low block?step behind the 3-point arc.
On the power of a team record 17 3-pointers, Utah (11-3, 1-0 MWC) defeated visiting UNLV (8-6, 1-2 MWC) 86-63 Saturday afternoon in the U’s conference opener. The win is Utah’s eighth straight.
“I don’t know if we can make them like that every night,” sophomore shooter Nick Jacobson said. Jacobson hit a career-high five 3s en route to a career-high 26 points.
“We set up higher picks because we were bogged down with the pressure of St. Mary’s,” said Jacobson.
The higher picks set up the 3-pointer. The barrage of treys shattered the team’s previous high of 14, set four times but most recently during the 1999 season.
The number set a new MWC team record for 3s in a conference game (previously 13 held by BYU), and tied the record for MWC teams in all games (Colorado State had 17 against Michigan in the 2000 season).
But the U can’t count on the 3-ball every game.
“The score is misleading?it was a rare night. It’s not indicative, an aberration,” said coach Rick Majerus. “The ball just happened to go in tonight, sometimes it just falls.”
Utah opened the game on the opposite end of the spectrum. The U missed its first three shots and trailed 7-0 three and-a-half minutes in.
Then the magic of the 3-point shot took over. Utah hit five straight treys, and led 15-12 after Jeff Johnsen’s second. Utah did not score a 2-point field goal until Phil Cullen’s layup with 11:33 left in the first half.
A 3 by Jacobson extended the lead to 8, at 26-18. Minutes later, reserve guard Trace Caton joined the 3-point party, stretching the U’s lead to the highest of the game to that point, 37-23.
“In the first half, I didn’t think we were going to miss,” Britton Johnsen said.
The Utes made 9-15 3s in the first 20 minutes, and led 39 30 at half.
However, the second 20 would be even better. Utah made 8-11 from 3-range, as the lead never dipped into single digits after Jeff Johnsen’s 3-pointer 11 seconds into the half.
With 4:12 remaining, Britton Johnsen caught and slammed an inbound pass from Travis Spivey with four seconds left on the shot clock.
Spivey, suspended for the Utes’ previous game with St. Mary’s, started the MWC opener.
“I made a mistake and I got it fixed,” Spivey said.
The Utes were fortunate. Spivey’s ball control and movement resulted in 6 assists and a smoother offense.
“Spivey did a nice job of getting us the ball,” Jacobson said.
The Utes don’t have much time to savor the win. Tonight, San Diego State (10-5, 0-1 MWC) invades the Huntsman Center for a 7 p.m. game. The Aztecs lost their MWC opener 75-64 to BYU in Provo.
SDSU and coach Steve Fisher are led by the MWC’s most prolific specimen, senior forward Randy Holcomb.
Meanwhile, Utah remains concerned about its inside productivity.
“We can’t count on shooting 3s to win the conference,” Spivey said.