PROVO8212;A rude awakening awaited those in the Marriot Center dreaming of an encore of Luke Nevill’s Jan. 27 performance against BYU.
After Nevill posted a career-high 32 points and added 15 rebounds in Utah’s 94-88 overtime win last month, Saturday’s showdown brought the 7-foot-2-inch center down to earth.
Nevill’s 3-for-12 performance from the field was the result of offensive frustration from the senior from Perth, Australia and the defensive intensity of the BYU front court that was torched a little more than a month ago.
“We just got them at an uncomfortable pace,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose.
Cougar center Chris Miles, who unsuccessfully played man-to-man defense on Nevill in Utah’s win a month ago, came out aggressive and zoned-up the Ute big man.
“It’s not a defense that’s played a lot in our league,” said Rose in reference to the zone package that blitzed Nevill. “It’s helped us out a lot.”
Miles, a junior from Provo, savors playing against top-level talent such as Nevill, and Saturday’s performance showcased it. The BYU big man finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, but key to his ability to keep the Cougars in the game early on and after having a disastrous night at the free throw line (2-of-9) at the Huntsman Center, Miles made them count this time.
Utah head coach Jim Boylen noticed.
“Five-of-6 was big for him,” said Boylen, who has become a big admirer of Miles. “He’s a good kid. I’m disappointed we lost, but it’s nice to see a guy improve. Him and I have a relationship.”
Miles paved a path to success with his free-throw shooting, but his stout defense on the potential Mountain West Conference Player of the Year was headline material. Nevill constantly spun around Miles in the teams’ last meetings, but this time, Miles stood strong.
“It was tough to get the ball inside,” Nevill said. “A couple of the guards were zoning me up and it was tough to even get a catch.”
Boylen fielded questions in the postgame asking if his Utes were ready and able for a BYU zone that they didn’t see in the first meeting. He said his team and staff were prepared.
“We were ready for (the zone),” Boylen said. “We worked on it, we were ready for the double. You just gotta make shots and make plays. They’re a good zone team now. I think their zone is their best defense now, in my opinion.”
Nevill’s first-half performance was solid, with seven points and 12 rebounds, but the combination of Cougar zone and Miles’ defensive effort left Nevill with no field goals in the second half and only two points on free throws.
“I thought Luke played his ass off,” Boylen said.
Boylen went on to mention that Nevill probably gets more defensive packages thrown at him than any other player in the MWC.
Packages aside, the first-year starter Miles did his homework from his first lesson with Nevill and applied it superbly.
“He’s the biggest guy in the conference, so it was important to have a really good defensive game,” Miles said. “I think my whole career I’ve gotten up for big games. I felt like it was my responsibility to play defense on Luke and try to make the game as tough for him as I could, to try to wear him out and make him take tough shots, because he’s really big for his team.”
Lennie MahlerLuke Nevill puts up an out-of-control shot as the Utes trailed BYU in the final minutes of the game. The BYU zone held Nevill to nine total points on Saturday.