Utah center Luke Nevill is having quite a year.
The 7-foot-2-inch big man from Perth, Australia is making a strong case for himself in the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year debate.
For the fifth time this season, Nevill was named as MWC Player of the Week, this time sharing the honor with Wyoming guard Brandon Ewing. The only other player to receive multiple honors this season is New Mexico forward Roman Martinez, who has earned it twice.
Nevill is coming off a week in which he recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 23 points and a season-high tying 14 rebounds in an overtime victory against Colorado State. He added seven blocks, none bigger than his sixth at the end of regulation, which sent the game into overtime. The seven swats is a new career-high and a tie of the Utah school record.
With his seven blocks, Nevill broke the single-season record for blocks in a season, once held by former Ute star and No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Bogut. Nevill now has 71 for the season.
His 14 rebounds put him at 852 for his career, an all-time high in MWC history.
In overtime Nevill scored eight points, pulled down five boards and blocked a shot, ultimately sealing the win for the Utes 89-79. He was 7-for-7 from the free throw line, 4-for-4 in overtime, and 8-for-11 from the field.
With 1,777 points, Nevill is just 13 points shy of breaking the top five in Utah’s all-time scoring list.
Morgan Warburton picked up her eighth career Mountain West Player of the Week award this week with her performance over Colorado State on Wednesday night. Warburton had a field day against the Rams, scoring 27 points, along with notching seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. The Utes went on to crush Colorado State 74-45.
This is the fourth time Warburton has received the MWC honor this year, tying her with San Diego State forward Paris Johnson for most in the MWC. Her last came on Feb. 2 after helping lead Utah to crucial conference road wins against New Mexico and BYU.
Since Utah’s only conference loss of the season to SDSU on Feb. 11, Warburton has been on a tear, averaging 22 points per game. Her teammate, Kalee Whipple, has also been on par the past two games. The two all-MWC forwards have put up a combined 91 points in the team’s past two games.
Warburton is also continuing her climb up the all-time leading scorer sheet in Utes basketball history.
Last week, Warburton eclipsed the 1,700 point mark and now has 1,720 points in her career. That is good for No. 6 all-time in Utes history. She is 15 points behind Shona Thorburn, who is in the No. 5 slot. Perennial WNBA All-Star Kim Smith holds the record with 2,281 points.
Warburton and the Utes will take the court next Wednesday at UNLV.
