Utes Make Most of Scrimmage
The season has barely started, and already, the Utes are short-handed.
Junior guard Luka Drca sprained his ankle during a two-hour practice earlier in the day, so he sat out the "JimmyBall" intrasquad scrimmage at the Huntsman Center on Thursday night. And with freshman guard Chris Hines already nursing an ankle injury, the Utes had only two point guards available -- senior Tyler Kepkay and Jace Tavita.
So coach Jim Boylen split them up, with Kepkay headlining the Red Team and Tavita spearheading the White Team.
Ultimately, the Red Team won 36-28 after two 12-minute halves with a mostly running clock, but Boylen was pretty liberal about switching players between the sides, so there's only so much you can read into that.
Center Luke Nevill had a good night, hitting a number of hooks over Morgan Grim to finish with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Grim had his moments, too, showing off his improved shooting touch with a couple of long jumpers en route to eight points.
"At times, our defense was very good," Boylen said. "At times, we didn't get the ball out of the net fast enough to start our running game. We want to run on makes and misses. I didn't think we did a good job running off makes."
The coach was discouraged to learn that Drca will miss up to a week after landing on forward Carlon Brown's foot and twisting his ankle. But he praised Nevill for making a good attempt to rebound more -- "it seemed like he was around every rebound, which is what I've asked him to do," Boylen said -- and said he was pleased with Tavita and fellow freshman Jordan Cyphers.
Tavita finished with three points, five assists and three turnovers and looked poised running the team, while Cyphers buried a pair of three-pointers, which is what the Utes want him to do. Forward Shaun Green looked good, too, along with Brown -- though Brown just missed on a couple of sensational pass and shot attempts that kept him from scoring more than five points.
"It just gives us a feel," Boylen said.
The Utes also added a walk-on to the roster, with junior Kyle Perkins joining the team after playing last season at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The 6-foot-4 guard is ineligible this season under transfer rules, so he will only practice with the team.
Naturally, Boylen took to the public-address microphone after the scrimmage, telling fans how much he appreciated them attending.
"What we're working for is to become a team that you can be proud of and that you can rally behind," he said, adding later that "I really feel we have the makings of a championship team."
Junior guard Luka Drca sprained his ankle during a two-hour practice earlier in the day, so he sat out the "JimmyBall" intrasquad scrimmage at the Huntsman Center on Thursday night. And with freshman guard Chris Hines already nursing an ankle injury, the Utes had only two point guards available -- senior Tyler Kepkay and Jace Tavita.
So coach Jim Boylen split them up, with Kepkay headlining the Red Team and Tavita spearheading the White Team.
Ultimately, the Red Team won 36-28 after two 12-minute halves with a mostly running clock, but Boylen was pretty liberal about switching players between the sides, so there's only so much you can read into that.
Center Luke Nevill had a good night, hitting a number of hooks over Morgan Grim to finish with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Grim had his moments, too, showing off his improved shooting touch with a couple of long jumpers en route to eight points.
"At times, our defense was very good," Boylen said. "At times, we didn't get the ball out of the net fast enough to start our running game. We want to run on makes and misses. I didn't think we did a good job running off makes."
The coach was discouraged to learn that Drca will miss up to a week after landing on forward Carlon Brown's foot and twisting his ankle. But he praised Nevill for making a good attempt to rebound more -- "it seemed like he was around every rebound, which is what I've asked him to do," Boylen said -- and said he was pleased with Tavita and fellow freshman Jordan Cyphers.
Tavita finished with three points, five assists and three turnovers and looked poised running the team, while Cyphers buried a pair of three-pointers, which is what the Utes want him to do. Forward Shaun Green looked good, too, along with Brown -- though Brown just missed on a couple of sensational pass and shot attempts that kept him from scoring more than five points.
"It just gives us a feel," Boylen said.
The Utes also added a walk-on to the roster, with junior Kyle Perkins joining the team after playing last season at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. The 6-foot-4 guard is ineligible this season under transfer rules, so he will only practice with the team.
Naturally, Boylen took to the public-address microphone after the scrimmage, telling fans how much he appreciated them attending.
"What we're working for is to become a team that you can be proud of and that you can rally behind," he said, adding later that "I really feel we have the makings of a championship team."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:35 PM |
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