No loss comes without the sting of defeat. The fact that Wednesday’s loss to BYU hurt a little more than usual became clear in the locker room following the game — and not just because it came at the hands of Utah’s biggest rival.
As reporters fired questions at Jim Boylen after the game, the first-year head coach could only answer with a festering stare. The most sensitive topic seemed to be BYU’s 32-10 free throw advantage. All Boylen was left with was the emphasis that his team went into a hostile environment and “played their asses off.”
Although the Utes lost, they managed to hang with their rival in the Marriott Center better than MWC frontrunners New Mexico and UNLV could.
But like any good coach, Boylen is not one to dwell on what the Utes have done, but what they’re going to do. If Utah puts that thought into practice, the ability to quickly lick their wounds and focus on the next bump in the road will be crucial.
Calling New Mexico a mere pothole would be like confusing Mount Everest with Salt Lake City’s Mount Olympus.
New Mexico (21-6, 8-4 MWC) started the season off like a basketball inferno, winning 13 of their first 15 games and taking the frontrunner spot in the conference. After a brief 3-4 hiccup to start MWC play, New Mexico has torn through the bottom half of the conference with five straight wins.
Saturday’s noon meeting inside the Huntsman Center marks a crucial stretch run toward the MWC conference tournament for the Lobos.
New Mexico will host the top two teams in the MWC (BYU and UNLV) at home the following week. Utah, on the other hand, has to go on the road to play two stingy opponents at TCU and Wyoming. For either team, a win Saturday would be the ultimate catapult to a challenging week.
For Utah to win, one key has to be getting center Luke Nevill out of the 8-for-21 spinout he’s suffered during the past week. Another would be slowing the Lobos’ offensive flow that has averaged 79.2 points during their five-game winning streak.
However, the biggest key for Utah will be to control the game in the early going.
Not only has Utah become more experienced at working out of early deficits, it has become more efficient at doing so. The question is, can Utah continue to live on that edge and succeed?
Of 60 first-half minutes over the past three games, Utah has held the lead for nine minutes and 16 seconds, which equates to less than 16 percent of that time. In two of those games, Utah pulled off the win, and in the other, Utah didn’t let the Cougars’ lead reach double figures, but as the adage goes, “Those that play with fire are more likely to get burned.”
The game also marks the second to last time Utah will play at home this season. The other, which comes March 4, is against the 6-19 (0-11 MWC) Colorado State Rams and, on paper, will be Utah’s easiest game in nearly two months.