Forget the Points — Nevill Rocked
The number in the points column -- seven -- was far from dazzling. Even coach Jim Boylen acknowledged as much.
But Boylen could hardly stop raving about center Luke Nevill and the way he played in the Utes' 57-36 blowout of the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena tonight, calling it the senior's best game since Boylen arrived to coach him. Not only did Nevill grab 12 rebounds, block four shots -- he's one away from the school record, now -- and make two steals, but he set the tone defensively for a disastrous shooting night for the Falcons.
"He was active, he blocked balls, he stole balls, he communicated," Boylen said. "He's getting screened on every play. They're beating the living tar out of him. I thought he was awesome. I thought he set the tone. He was at the rim on every play. He was also defending the three. Best game he's played, by far. Forget the points, and all that."
Indeed, the Falcons collapsed around Nevill on every possession, limiting him to five shots and five free throws. But their own shooting betrayed them; the Falcons made just 5-of-34 shots in the first 35 minutes, including 2-of-18 from three-point range, to fall behind by as many as 28 points.
"You just have some nights like that," Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.
Once every dozen years, maybe.
It was so ugly that forward Carlon Brown said the Falcons looked like they wanted to go home, and it was hard to disagree. Not until the final five minutes against the Utah reserves did Air Force put anything together. And Nevill was a huge reason; the smaller Falcons dared not challenge him inside, leaving them to clank almost every shot they took with the game in the balance.
"Luke is always a big key for our team," guard Lawrence Borha said. "If he's in there, everybody's always focused on him, they're always swarming him, and that gives us avenues to drive down the lane."
Coach Reynolds was impressed, too, calling Nevill and "awfully good player," though he also sounded as if he was trying not to give Nevill too much credit for the result. "He's a presence with anybody, not just us," Reynolds said. "He's a pro prospect. He's 7-3, weighs 260 pounds. Now, he couldn't come out on the floor and guard our jump shots. Unfortunately for us, they didn't fall."
But Boylen could hardly stop raving about center Luke Nevill and the way he played in the Utes' 57-36 blowout of the Air Force Falcons at Clune Arena tonight, calling it the senior's best game since Boylen arrived to coach him. Not only did Nevill grab 12 rebounds, block four shots -- he's one away from the school record, now -- and make two steals, but he set the tone defensively for a disastrous shooting night for the Falcons.
"He was active, he blocked balls, he stole balls, he communicated," Boylen said. "He's getting screened on every play. They're beating the living tar out of him. I thought he was awesome. I thought he set the tone. He was at the rim on every play. He was also defending the three. Best game he's played, by far. Forget the points, and all that."
Indeed, the Falcons collapsed around Nevill on every possession, limiting him to five shots and five free throws. But their own shooting betrayed them; the Falcons made just 5-of-34 shots in the first 35 minutes, including 2-of-18 from three-point range, to fall behind by as many as 28 points.
"You just have some nights like that," Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.
Once every dozen years, maybe.
It was so ugly that forward Carlon Brown said the Falcons looked like they wanted to go home, and it was hard to disagree. Not until the final five minutes against the Utah reserves did Air Force put anything together. And Nevill was a huge reason; the smaller Falcons dared not challenge him inside, leaving them to clank almost every shot they took with the game in the balance.
"Luke is always a big key for our team," guard Lawrence Borha said. "If he's in there, everybody's always focused on him, they're always swarming him, and that gives us avenues to drive down the lane."
Coach Reynolds was impressed, too, calling Nevill and "awfully good player," though he also sounded as if he was trying not to give Nevill too much credit for the result. "He's a presence with anybody, not just us," Reynolds said. "He's a pro prospect. He's 7-3, weighs 260 pounds. Now, he couldn't come out on the floor and guard our jump shots. Unfortunately for us, they didn't fall."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 11:23 PM |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home