Coach Jim Boylen made a specific point of saying he has not considered changing his lineup when Utes play at New Mexico tonight -- even though guard Luka Drca arguably has been playing better than starter Tyler Kepkay, and fellow guard Johnnie Bryant started the second half of the loss to Brigham Young last weekend.

"I don't believe in mixing up the lineup a whole bunch," he said. "We'll start the same way, and see how it goes."

Regardless of which players start or get the majority of minutes, the Utes could pretty clearly use some improved guard play. The Utes rank last or next-to-last in the league by averaging just 4.3 steals, 9.3 assists and 13 turnovers (for a poor assist-to-turnover ratio) during league games, and they're going up against one of the better backcourts in the Mountain West Conference.

Everybody talks about J.R. Giddens and all of the three-pointers the Lobos shoot, but the Lobos also are especially good at sharing the ball. They lead the league by handing out 17.3 assists per game -- a statistic we know Boylen covets, judging by the number of times he has checked the stat sheet after a game to see how many baskets his Utes assisted on -- and rank in the top two in turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio.

"They get a lot of their threes in transition," Boylen said, "because they have multiple ball-handlers. ... That's very difficult."

For their part, the Lobos are focused on stopping center Luke Nevill, which could put even more pressure on the Utah guards to make plays. And that might not be a good thing, if recent history is an accurate guide.