Somebody asked coach Jim Boylen after his Utes lost 72-71 to New Mexico today whether he was more discouraged that they could not execute properly with the game on the line -- point guard Tyler Kepkay drove for a lay-up at the horn, when the Utes needed three points to tie -- or encouraged that they somehow mustered a chance to win after trailing by eight with 45 seconds left.

"I don't know," Boylen said, shaking his head. "Whipped cream on a turd still tastes like s---."

No doubt, it does for Kepkay.

The junior transfer has been the weak link on a lot of win-preventing misplays this season, and you have to feel for the kid. He was clearly devastated after making the wrong decision against the Lobos, and one of the assistant coaches noted that Kepkay wants to succeed as much as anybody -- frequently putting in extra hours in the gym and the weight room, even late at night.

But it couldn't spare him, this time.

"It's my fault," he said admirably, after finally emerging from the locker room.

Yes, it was, and there's sadly not much more he can say about it. He just fouled up.

Many of his teammates gamely tried to support Kepkay by noting that he's still adjusting to his first season of major college basketball while playing away from his natural position. "I've been in that position at the college level," guard Johnnie Bryant said, "and to come out of junior college, it's real tough to run a team and make plays and know time and score."

That's great, but it's not as if they change the rules when you get to college.

If you need three, you have to try to get three, not get suckered into driving for a lay-up that's not going to mean anything.

Center Luke Nevill wondered whether Kepkay had lost track of the score, or had been too focused on Boylen's instructions during the previous (and last) timeout to drive for a quick score if New Mexico's Dairese Gary made both of his free throws with 8.8 seconds left to make it a four-point game.

When Gary missed his second free throw, the scenario changed, and the Utes suddenly needed just a three-pointer to tie.

But Kepkay said he was aware of all that.

"Coach told me to drive and pitch it out to somebody for three," he said. "And I got more open than I was planning on getting, and then I probably shouldn't have shot it. But I just got so open, I thought maybe I could get it quick and we would have enough time to foul them again."

Of course, they didn't.

But the only thing Kepkay can do now is try to learn from his mistake, and be a better player for it, in the long run. And as painful as it might be at the moment, that's what will make any future success all the more satisfying.