The U men’s basketball team has dropped four straight games. The Colorado State Rams haven’t won a game since Jan. 5. The two teams meet at the Huntsman Center tonight. Something has got to give, right?
Not exactly.
The Rams have a 19-game losing streak on the road. Colorado State has also lost all but one of its conference road games by at least 15 points, and its average margin of defeat on the road in conference play is 19 points. However, that trend doesn’t mean tonight will be a cakewalk for a sliding Runnin’ Ute team in need of a win.
Ram guard Marcus Walker leads the MWC in scoring at 19.6 points per game and is another guard who stands to pose defensive problems for the Runnin’ Utes. 7-foot center Stuart Creason has also returned after aggravating a foot injury in practice nearly two months ago. The center is one of two players who returned from last year, and his return gives the Rams an inside-outside duo. Combine that with the fact that the eventual 0-14 San Diego Aztecs of 1999-2000 were the only team more desperate for a conference win in its last two games, and tonight’s game is shaping up to be more interesting than paper would suggest.
“Creason is a good, good player,” Utah head coach Jim Boylen said. “Now (Colorado State has) kind of an inside-outside punch with Walker and Creason. I think together they average over 34 points per game. I think they’re a much different team from the first time we played them.”
Although this game originally looked like a trap game for the Utes — with UNLV and the end of the regular season on the immediate horizon — Utah will do anything but overlook the Rams as the Utes attempt to seize hold of the fifth seed in the next week’s MWC tournament. Adding to the Utes’ intensity should be the desire to send seniors Sayre Brennan, Chris Grant and Johnnie Bryant off on a good note in their final game at the Huntsman Center.
“We’ll have a little ceremony before,” Boylen said. “I’m thankful for my seniors and glad I’ve got to coach them for one year. Hopefully, we’ll come out and play hard because we need a win. If it’s senior day that gets us rolling, we’ll take it.”
Bryant and the rest of Utah’s perimeter players will need to step their game up a notch to win as Colorado State is one of the rare teams that can afford to guard U center Luke Nevill one-on-one as a result of Creason’s size.
Like Saturday’s game against Wyoming, Boylen has decided to sit Nevill and transfer guard Tyler Kepkay to begin the game and once again start Luka Drca and Kim Tillie instead.
“The intention of the (change in the) starting lineup is to try to save a few fouls from Luke Nevill in the first four minutes of each half,” Boylen said. “It’s also to start the game defensively. Luke Drca and Kim Tillie are my two best defensive players.”
As far as MWC seedings go, a win for Utah tonight would go a long way toward getting the fifth seed at next weeks championships.
TCU and Air Force — both tied with Utah at 6-8 in the conference standings — play one another in Colorado Springs, Colo. TCU then hosts No. 24 BYU (23-6, 12-2) on Saturday, while Air Force plays host to San Diego State (19-10, 9-6).