It was nearly 11:15, and the Huntsman Center was empty and quiet some two hours after the Utes lost to Santa Clara last night. I was preparing to head home after finishing my work for the newspaper, when a solitary figure started down the steps from the portal near the basketball office.

Still in his uniform shorts and undershirt, it was Carlon Brown.

"What are you doing here so late?" I asked when he reached the floor.

"Gonna shoot," he said.

In spite of the hour, I can't say it sounded like a bad idea.

If there's one thing missing from Brown's game at the moment, it's outside shooting. Coach Jim Boylen acknowledged as much after the game -- "he's not a three-point shooter yet," he said -- and Brown no doubt was bothered by the three-point attempt he embarrassingly airballed from the corner with the Broncos ahead 44-41 and beginning a game-clinching surge.

"That's a play where he's got to drive it in and make a play," Boylen said.

Just a freshman, Brown has made a good impression with his athleticism and driving ability; he's 9-for-12 shooting on the season, mostly because he takes most of his shots from close to the basket. He might be on the verge of earning more playing time, too, considering that for the first time, he was the first player off the bench against the Broncos.

So I joked with Brown that he must not have class in the morning, if he was going to stay up so late working on his shot. Shaking his head, he said, "we have practice in the morning."

Indeed, the Utes worked out at 5:45 a.m. ... and THEN went to class.

"Maybe I'm practicing too hard, maybe I'm driving these guys too hard," Boylen said after the game. "But you know what? That's the way we're going to do it here. We're going to practice hard, we're going to drive 'em hard."