Dynamic Duo Helps Power Utes to Third Straight Victory
Coach Jim Boylen was right -- guards Carlon Brown and Luka Drca were a "great combination" for the Utes in their 67-59 victory over Air Force today at Clune Arena.
"We haven't played them together that much," Boylen said. "It has been one or the other, and I thought that was a great combination for us, at least today, with Carlon driving and pitching, Luka driving and pitching. They have great chemistry in practice, and we started thinking, 'Hey, maybe we need to play those guys together some.'"
Good call.
The dynamic duo almost singlehandedly propeled the Utes to victory from a tie game with about eight minutes left, scoring 11 points (and grabbing at least two crucial offensive rebounds) during a game-breaking 13-5 run. And sure, Drca did miss two free throws and heave a poor inbounds pass that Air Force's Andrew Henke stole and nearly turned into a game-tightening three-pointer in the final minute, but he bounced back with two fouls shots that gave the Utes their winning margin.
"The ball was in my hands, coach believes in me to make plays at the end, I just executed our offense," he said.
Drca scored 12 points to tie his career-high, while Brown scored six -- all in the decisive run -- and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. "My man didn't go to the boards," he said, "so I just snatched up everything I could."
Among other tidbits worth mentioning:
-- Center Luke Nevill scored 13 points for the Utes, but seldom seemed a factor. He grabbed only two of the rebounds in the Utes' most overwhelming rebounding performance since the season opener, and his teammate frequently seemed to have trouble getting him the ball against the Falcon zone. Nevill also seemed to aggravate his nagging left wrist injury.
-- While the Utes finally snapped an 0-for-7 streak of games in which they trailed at halftime, they also improved to 14-0 this season when leading with five minutes left.
-- The Falcons lost their second straight home game, following a loss to Brigham Young on Jan. 30, something that hadn't happened in nearly five years. That time? The Falcons lost to Utah and BYU, as well.
-- Referees were calling just about everything in the game, and the Utes wound up with four players with four fouls. Guard Lawrence Borha picked up his four in a quick 18 minutes.
-- Coach Jeff Reynolds took the blame for not having his Falcons better prepared for the Utes, and stunningly suggested he might be making a mistake with his offense. "As a coach, you wonder if you're running the wrong system for the guys," he said. "We didn't make adjustments, and they did. This was hard to swallow today. I can't blame it on the kids. This was my fault. Our guys played hard, and that’s all I can ask."
"We haven't played them together that much," Boylen said. "It has been one or the other, and I thought that was a great combination for us, at least today, with Carlon driving and pitching, Luka driving and pitching. They have great chemistry in practice, and we started thinking, 'Hey, maybe we need to play those guys together some.'"
Good call.
The dynamic duo almost singlehandedly propeled the Utes to victory from a tie game with about eight minutes left, scoring 11 points (and grabbing at least two crucial offensive rebounds) during a game-breaking 13-5 run. And sure, Drca did miss two free throws and heave a poor inbounds pass that Air Force's Andrew Henke stole and nearly turned into a game-tightening three-pointer in the final minute, but he bounced back with two fouls shots that gave the Utes their winning margin.
"The ball was in my hands, coach believes in me to make plays at the end, I just executed our offense," he said.
Drca scored 12 points to tie his career-high, while Brown scored six -- all in the decisive run -- and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. "My man didn't go to the boards," he said, "so I just snatched up everything I could."
Among other tidbits worth mentioning:
-- Center Luke Nevill scored 13 points for the Utes, but seldom seemed a factor. He grabbed only two of the rebounds in the Utes' most overwhelming rebounding performance since the season opener, and his teammate frequently seemed to have trouble getting him the ball against the Falcon zone. Nevill also seemed to aggravate his nagging left wrist injury.
-- While the Utes finally snapped an 0-for-7 streak of games in which they trailed at halftime, they also improved to 14-0 this season when leading with five minutes left.
-- The Falcons lost their second straight home game, following a loss to Brigham Young on Jan. 30, something that hadn't happened in nearly five years. That time? The Falcons lost to Utah and BYU, as well.
-- Referees were calling just about everything in the game, and the Utes wound up with four players with four fouls. Guard Lawrence Borha picked up his four in a quick 18 minutes.
-- Coach Jeff Reynolds took the blame for not having his Falcons better prepared for the Utes, and stunningly suggested he might be making a mistake with his offense. "As a coach, you wonder if you're running the wrong system for the guys," he said. "We didn't make adjustments, and they did. This was hard to swallow today. I can't blame it on the kids. This was my fault. Our guys played hard, and that’s all I can ask."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:36 PM |
2 Comments:
Excellent win for the Utes!!
I am really happy with the work that Coach Boylen has done with this team. It seems like he is able to keep things from spiraling downwards, unlike Giac. Young teams have their ups and downs, a good coach figures out how to mitigate the downs.
Great job Coach Boylen.
I agree, that was a great win after an ugly first half. Scoring 47 points in the second half is a sign of good halftime adjustments.
I think free throws continue to play a huge role. The offensive rebounds and three-point shooting in the second half were also big.
I also loved how Boylen was getting after his guys after missed assignments. After Air Force hit a wide open three with Utah up nine, he called a time out right away and read the team the riot act. That's a good sign for the future. Boylen's not going to let anyone get away with slacking.
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