Utes 'Fired Up' for Wyoming Rematch
Coach Heath Schroyer says it was nothing at all, the last-second alley-oop dunk that his Wyoming Cowboys threw to punctuate their third straight victory over the Utah Utes last season in Laramie. "Completely blown out of proportion," he said.
But don't count on the Utes looking at it that way.
The Utes acknowledged they have revenge on their minds, going into their Mountain West Conference opener against the Pokes today at the Huntsman Center, where they are 12 1/2-point favorites in the first meeting between the teams since Utah coach Jim Boylen angrily confronted Schroyer over the dunk just moments after the game. Boylen believed it was a show of disrespect, considering the Cowboys already had assured a comfortable victory.
"Everybody saw what happened last year, at the last second of last year's game up there in Laramie, so we're all pumped up," Utah's Carlon Brown said. "Coach is pumped up."
He has scarcely denied it, either.
Speaking about the possibility that the league opener might be overlooked by fans, sandwiched as it is between marquee non-conference games against No. 16 Gonzaga and LSU, Boylen explained that "with our team, with what we experienced last year with Wyoming, and it being a league game, I think it's a marquee game."
Asked then whether he planned to motivate his players with videos of the dunk, Boylen responded, "we'll see."
"All in good time," he added. "All in good time."
So obviously, there's a little more intrigue surrounding today's game, even though the player who threw down the dunk in question, forward Joseph Taylor, has graduated from the Cowboy program. The player who threw the pass, on the other hand, is back -- and senior guard Brandon Ewing remains one of the best players in the league.
A three-time all-conference selection, Ewing is leading the high-scoring Cowboys by averaging 18.6 points per game, and trying to guide them to a victory that might help validate a glossy 11-3 non-conference record earned against a weak schedule. The 8-5 Utes, meanwhile, are trying to build on their landmark victory over Gonzaga earlier this week.
"It's like the game that's going to build our momentum for the rest" of league play, point guard Luka Drca said. "It's the same game as the Gonzaga game here."
But don't count on the Utes looking at it that way.
The Utes acknowledged they have revenge on their minds, going into their Mountain West Conference opener against the Pokes today at the Huntsman Center, where they are 12 1/2-point favorites in the first meeting between the teams since Utah coach Jim Boylen angrily confronted Schroyer over the dunk just moments after the game. Boylen believed it was a show of disrespect, considering the Cowboys already had assured a comfortable victory.
"Everybody saw what happened last year, at the last second of last year's game up there in Laramie, so we're all pumped up," Utah's Carlon Brown said. "Coach is pumped up."
He has scarcely denied it, either.
Speaking about the possibility that the league opener might be overlooked by fans, sandwiched as it is between marquee non-conference games against No. 16 Gonzaga and LSU, Boylen explained that "with our team, with what we experienced last year with Wyoming, and it being a league game, I think it's a marquee game."
Asked then whether he planned to motivate his players with videos of the dunk, Boylen responded, "we'll see."
"All in good time," he added. "All in good time."
So obviously, there's a little more intrigue surrounding today's game, even though the player who threw down the dunk in question, forward Joseph Taylor, has graduated from the Cowboy program. The player who threw the pass, on the other hand, is back -- and senior guard Brandon Ewing remains one of the best players in the league.
A three-time all-conference selection, Ewing is leading the high-scoring Cowboys by averaging 18.6 points per game, and trying to guide them to a victory that might help validate a glossy 11-3 non-conference record earned against a weak schedule. The 8-5 Utes, meanwhile, are trying to build on their landmark victory over Gonzaga earlier this week.
"It's like the game that's going to build our momentum for the rest" of league play, point guard Luka Drca said. "It's the same game as the Gonzaga game here."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 9:41 AM |
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