A great matchup from the league’s elite
Two of the Mountain West Conference’s leading scorers, Utah center Luke Nevill and BYU forward Lee Cummard, put on a scoring clinic in the first half of Tuesday night’s game, scoring 16 points apiece in the 20 minute half.
“I thought (Nevill) and Cummard was as good a show as I’ve seen,” said head coach Jim Boylen. “Those two guys going back and forth, I’m not going to call it (Larry) Bird-and-Dominique Wilkins, but I thought it was pretty doggone good.”
Nevill was a force on the block and showcased his potential to play at the next level. The Cougars decided to match up with the 7-foot-2-inch Aussie one-on-one for most of the game, allowing Nevill to post up and score at will. He knocked down 6-of-8 shots in the first half and was fouled three times.
Cummard was just as unstoppable, even with one of the best defenders in the league, Lawrence Borha, constantly hounding him. Making 7-of-8 shots in the first half, besides two from beyond the arc, Cummard’s night consisted of jumpers that found the net.
“(Cummard) hit tough shot after tough shot and we just kept telling (Borha) to keep staying with him, get in his pocket and keep trying to make it hard for him,” said forward Shaun Green. “LB kept doing that and he got him to miss a couple shots down the stretch.”
The Utes were able to shut down Cummard in the second half and in overtime, scoring just seven points the remainder of the game. Nevill doubled his first half total and finish the game with a career-high 32 points.
Leaving ’em on the floor
Boylen decided to leave it up to his four seniors to close out a much-needed win over his team’s bitter rival. The four leaders stepped up for the Utes in a big way.
As a team, Utah shot 83 percent on 5-of-6 shooting in overtime with individual efforts from each upperclassman.
Tyler Kepkay scored 10 of his 19 points in the five-minute overtime period, which included two tough and contested layups in the lane en route to sinking six free throws. Borha had a defensive game against Cummard, but the highlight was his 3-pointer that jump-started the overtime period.
Although Green didn’t havehis most productive game offensively, scoring just seven points, he showed his scrappiness by diving after loose offensive rebounds, ending with three in the overtime period that led to time-consuming possessions and second-chance points.
“I thought we just stayed the course and really stayed focused and tough mentally,” Boylen said.
It’s the small stuff that counts
Utah wouldn’t have had an easy time hanging with the Cougars if it hadn’t been for made free throws Tuesday night. The Utes found themselves at the charity stripe 40 times and sunk 31.
Boylen’s Utes are No. 2 in the nation at the free-throw line, averaging 78.8 percent. Only UC Davis shoots freebies better than Utah, 81.5 per outing.
The 40 attempts were a season-high at the line in one game this season. Boylen has been stressing the fact that if they wanted to win, they had to make free throws.
“We shoot a lot of free throws before and after practice, and in situations in practice we keep shooting foul shots,” Nevill said. “It pays off. The more you practice something, the better you get.”
Mark one in that column, please
Head coach Jim Boylen has done what was expected of him during his first two years at the U.
Until Tuesday night, beating BYU hadn’t been accomplished yet.
On Monday, Boylen said in practice that his team was “on edge” in anticipation of the showdown, and Cougar head coach Dave Rose noticed that edge once the game hit overtime.
“In overtime they got on our heels quick,” Rose said.
The 13-7 Utes now focus on New Mexico, who come to town Saturday.
Erik DaenitzTyler Kepkay scored 19 points in the Utes? win over BYU Tuesday.