Just when it appeared freshman forward Stephen Weigh was getting squeezed out of the lineup, there he was again for the Utes in a 76-66 home loss to Brigham Young on Wednesday night.

Too bad his seven points in 22 minutes didn’t mean more.

Weigh had watched his playing time dwindle over the last five games, to the point where he played only 19 minutes combined over the last three, and scored just two points in that span. But even though he showed some signs of life, the Utes had their usual stack of problems in their first home loss to the Cougars in 13 years to complete the first half of the Mountain West Conference season.

For example?

While center Luke Nevill scored a season-high 26 points while appearing highly motivated to dominate counterpart Trent Plaisted again, the Utes allowed 58 percent shooting after halftime and led the Cougars make all six three-pointers they attempted in the second half.

Forward Shaun Green had made just 6 of 18 shots over the last three games, representing his worst shooting slump of the season, and guard Johnnie Bryant has been awful in his last two home games. The junior has hit just 5 of 26 shots in those games, and his four points against the Cougars were his fewest since back-to-back three-point games against Northwestern and Albany last month.

Between that and their continually porous defense, the Utes will be hard-pressed to avoid having to win a play-in game just to reach the league tournament next month. They play at TCU on Saturday, which represents one of the few remaining games it appears the Utes have a decent chance of winning.