Third Straight Win Hints at Big Things
It's starting to look like the Utes might just be for real this season.
Never mind that season-opening loss to Division II Southwest Baptist. They just won their third straight game over a team expected to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth this season, utterly smothering Morgan State 66-37 in the final game of the Glenn Wilkes Classic at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
"We do what we do," coach Jim Boylen said, "which is guard and play together."
Certainly looked like it -- again -- against the Bears.
The Utes held them to 28 percent shooting and 0-for-10 from three-point range, and fewer points than any team since fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Coppin State in a game of the same score nearly four years ago. Morgan State's top two scorers, guard Reggie Holmes and forward Marquise Kately, combined to score just five points on 2-for-14 shooting.
"That was our game plan, from the beginning of the season, to just be dominant defensively," forward Shaun Green said.
Now, it might be that Morgan State helped the Utes by missing what open shots it was able to create, in addition to the ones the Utes contested. It was a pretty poor shooting team, to begin with, having hit just 40 percent in its first four games.
But still, the Utes have now shown they can win with defense, long-range shooting, and by relying on center Luke Nevill inside. It's a good combination that bodes well for the future.
Never mind that season-opening loss to Division II Southwest Baptist. They just won their third straight game over a team expected to contend for an NCAA Tournament berth this season, utterly smothering Morgan State 66-37 in the final game of the Glenn Wilkes Classic at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
"We do what we do," coach Jim Boylen said, "which is guard and play together."
Certainly looked like it -- again -- against the Bears.
The Utes held them to 28 percent shooting and 0-for-10 from three-point range, and fewer points than any team since fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference member Coppin State in a game of the same score nearly four years ago. Morgan State's top two scorers, guard Reggie Holmes and forward Marquise Kately, combined to score just five points on 2-for-14 shooting.
"That was our game plan, from the beginning of the season, to just be dominant defensively," forward Shaun Green said.
Now, it might be that Morgan State helped the Utes by missing what open shots it was able to create, in addition to the ones the Utes contested. It was a pretty poor shooting team, to begin with, having hit just 40 percent in its first four games.
But still, the Utes have now shown they can win with defense, long-range shooting, and by relying on center Luke Nevill inside. It's a good combination that bodes well for the future.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 5:38 PM |
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