Ask and you shall receive.
Before the season started, Utah head coach Jim Boylen asked his starting point guard Tyler Kepkay and starting forward Shaun Green if they would welcome the thought of being stars off the bench. The move has paid off for Green, Kepkay and the 5-1 Utes.
Kepkay had a team-high 23 points off the bench, while Green followed with a 21-point, six-rebound effort in Utah’s 95-81 win over Oregon.
“As I’ve said a million times, it all comes back to you when you give to the team,” Boylen said. “I’m proud of those guys.”
Green started the bench assault as he entered for starter Kim Tillie and hit four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game that led to his 14 first-half points.
“I don’t know if (coming off the bench) has made a huge difference, but just knowing my role better I guess,” Green said. “Coach has been looking for me to come in and score a little more and to bring leadership off the bench.”
Earlier on in the season, Boylen, alongside his two starters-turned-subs, spoke of how sitting on the bench for the first few minutes of the game allows the game to be read and analyzed easier.
“We’ve talked about it with our team, there’s something to be said for sitting there the first three or four minutes and seeing how the game is,” Boylen said. “(Kepkay and Green) both have experience, so I don’t think they have a lot of nerves as far as how they’re going to play. They’re ready to come in.”
Kepkay used his seven-point first-half performance as a springboard as he went on to score 16 second-half points, which concluded his 9-of-16 night on the field, including a 3-for-7 shooting performance from behind the arc. The senior from British Columbia, Canada had a heyday against 5-foot-6-inch Oregon point guard Tajuan Porter, who had trouble running parallel with Kepkay through all the bumps and screens.
“That’s just what coach had envisioned for us coming off the bench,” Kepkay said.
Utah’s bench outscored the Ducks’ 53-15 on the evening. Pitching in a nine-point effort was true freshman Jordan Cyphers, who had an impressive 13 minutes on the floor after starters Lawrence Borha and Carlon Brown fell into some early foul trouble.
Green shot 8-of-13 from the field including 5-for-9 from 3-point range. The performance of the seniors speaks volumes on what Boylen, his staff and his team are trying to accomplish this season.
“Forty-four points from the guys I asked not to start, from two guys I asked to do what’s best for the team,” Boylen said. “They just contribute. You have to give them credit for that. I’m telling you, you grow up wanting to start, wanting to be one of the main guys and all this stuff. They’ve accepted that this is best for us to win basketball games. Those were tough conversations by me with them…they’ve made it easy.”
Erik DaenitzUtah guard Tyler Kepkay came off the bench to score 23 points. Sixteen of Kepkays points came in the second half.