Up until now, the “Dome of Doom” in Laramie, Wyo., has lived up to its billing. The Runnin’ Utes changed that Saturday.
Utah, 16-7 (7-2 MWC), had four players score 15 points and shot 11-for-24 from 3-point range en route to the 80-70 win over the Cowboys.
Utah’s fourth straight conference win was also Wyoming’s first home loss of the season.
“We are very thankful for this win; this is a difficult place to play,” said center Luke Nevill. “We have had problems with this team in the past, they are athletic and quick.”
Tyler Kepkay, Luka Drca, Lawrence Borha and Nevill all finished the game with 15 points, while Carlon Brown and Shaun Green added 10 apiece.
Green, one of the team’s four seniors, became the 34th Ute to score 1,000 points in his career.
The win rounds out a tough week on the road for the Utes, as they beat TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier in the week before traveling to Wyoming to face the Cowboys.
“I thought Carlon Brown was a catalyst for us in the first half and Tyler Kepkay did the same for us in the second half,” said head coach Jim Boylen. “We stress driving and trying to play to the second side.”
Whether it was the elevation8212;Arena Auditorium sits at 7,200 feet8212;or the long travel week, the Utes had a slow start in the first half.
The Utes went on a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead, only to watch Wyoming claw its way back with a 12-2 run of its own.
Drca changed the tide for the Utes as he hit back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the first half to give the Utes a 35-34 lead at halftime.
“Our guys were trying to do it on their own in the first half, but we shared it and made more shots in the second half,” Boylen said. “Our spacing was much better in the second half8212;it wasn’t good in the first.”
Green, who had remained relatively quiet throughout the first half and much of the second, erupted toward the end of the game, scoring all 10 of his points in the last five minutes.
The wave of 3-pointers came fast and furious in the second half, as Borha and Kepkay hit four back-to-back 3-pointers8212;two apiece8212;that helped put together a 20-10 run that gave Utah a nine-point lead.
“We trusted each other more in the second half and it showed,” Boylen said. “We moved the ball around better, and when we move the ball, we are a good basketball team.”
With their usual go-to guy Nevill being double-teamed nearly the entire game, the Utes had to rely on their perimeter game to earn the win.
The Utes shot 46 percent from behind the arch, well above their 37 percent season average. They hit seven of their 11 3-pointers in the second half.
The Utes have won six of their last seven Mountain West Conference games, and their four-game win streak will be put to the test as San Diego State, which is tied with the Utes atop the conference, comes to town in a battle for the top spot in the MWC.
“This is what our league is all about,” Boylen said. “San Diego State is a quality team and they play tougher than we did last time. We have to watch that film and try to grow and get better for this game.”
Lennie MahlerCarlon Brown scored 10 points Saturday against Wyoming. Brown was one of six Utes to score double-digit points in the 80-70 win.