Don’t expect Utah to boast about Tuesday’s overtime win against BYU8212;the hottest team in the Mountain West Conference is coming to town.
“We got to approach it as a bigger game than the BYU game ’cause now we’re back at tied for first place,” said Ute forward Shaun Green. “Each game after the next is bigger than the one before.”
On Saturday, the Runnin’ Utes, 13-7 (4-2 MWC), take on New Mexico, 13-8 (4-2 MWC), which shares the top spot with Utah in the conference alongside two other teams. The Lobos have won four of their past five games. Three of those were at home, in which they held their opponents to season lows in scoring.
But playing in the Huntsman Center has been tough for opponents this season8212;the Utes have won six straight on their home floor.
“I think it’s the pride thing that coach always talks about, just the pride of wearing Utah across your chest,” Green said. “You wanna make people scared to come in and play you and we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”
Head coach Jim Boylen has stressed the need to take it “one game at a time” throughout the season. The Utes have had some big wins on their home floor and they stay focused by celebrating that night, then hitting practice hard for their next game. They’ve shown that what Boylen has been telling them has been on their mind by being atop the MWC.
“We’re definitely handling success a lot better,” said Utah center Luke Nevill. “We’ve come to the realization that we play well when we play the way we want to play; it’s not that we get super excited for big wins.”
The Utes have picked up big wins against solid teams this season and have been able to overcome good shooting and defending teams, which is something that New Mexico brings into every game. What they bring that the Utes haven’t seen too much of in league play is physicality, which Boylen has focused on going into this game.
“(New Mexico’s) got real good balance and toughness,” Boylen said. “I think they’re a team that’s really improved as the year’s gone on and they’re jelling at the right time.”
What they won’t bring to Salt Lake City is a dominant force down low. The Lobos have the three-forward, two-guard starting lineup, leaving Nevill as the center piece of the Ute offense.
Nevill is coming off a career night against BYU with 32 points and 10 rebounds. The Cougars decided to match him one-on-one down low, something the Utes shouldn’t expect from the Lobos. Utah will have to rely on Nevill finding open shooters around the perimeter as the basis of their scoring.
“People come help off one of our guys; we have such a great cast of shooters that I can just throw it out to the open man and they can knock down a shot,” Nevill said.
He said that New Mexico, being a small team, is very athletic and tends to focus on setting solid screens, allowing it to get to the rim. Nevill’s presence down low has forced teams to take shots from outside the paint this season, which has accumulated to a 39 percent field goal percentage.
“We just have to make sure that we talk, help each other out on picks and screens,” Nevill said.
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Tyler CobbLawrence Borha attempts to drive past New Mexico guard Jonathan Wills during the Utes overtime win in the first round of the MWC tournament. Utah will face New Mexico for the first time since that upset win this Saturday at the Huntsman Center.