All Kinds of Treasures at Stake for U.
So we all know the Utes can clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference title by beating the Brigham Young Cougars today at the Marriott Center, and that a victory also will give them the top seed in the conference tournament in two weeks.
But there's something else they can clinch -- though they're surprisingly big 6-point underdogs today -- and that's the player of the year award for center Luke Nevill.
The 7-foot-2 senior is all but a dead-solid lock for the award, considering he's the best player on the best team, a future first-round pick in the NBA Draft who's leading the league in rebounding and blocks, ranking second in scoring, third in field-goal percentage and sixth in free-throw percentage, and the owner of a pile of double-doubles and big performances in big games, and five player of the week awards.
The only way he could lose the award is if he falls off the face of the earth over the final three games, disappearing while the Utes suffer an inexplicable collapse that costs them the league title and Lee Cummard just starts going off to help the Cougars surge past them.
Don't think that's going to happen, but it could.
So Nevill needs to have another solid, if not spectacular, performance in what could be his final game against the Cougars, amid much intrigue about how the Cougars might defend him. The Cougars didn't really double-team him last time, and Nevill annihilated center Chris Miles' one-on-one defense for 32 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime victory, even if Miles had a solid night offensively, himself (aside from his crucial missed free throws, anyway).
But if Nevill can simply have a good game -- particularly in victory -- then he can go ahead and start clearing shelf space, as well as preparing for that noon game against one of the league's weakest teams in the first round of the league tournament.
"It's a huge game," coach Jim Boylen said. "It's a huge game for them, it's a huge game for us. ... I've never strayed from it being a big game, and I never will. It's a different game than any game you'll play, and that's the beauty of it. So, they'll be ready, we'll be ready."
But there's something else they can clinch -- though they're surprisingly big 6-point underdogs today -- and that's the player of the year award for center Luke Nevill.
The 7-foot-2 senior is all but a dead-solid lock for the award, considering he's the best player on the best team, a future first-round pick in the NBA Draft who's leading the league in rebounding and blocks, ranking second in scoring, third in field-goal percentage and sixth in free-throw percentage, and the owner of a pile of double-doubles and big performances in big games, and five player of the week awards.
The only way he could lose the award is if he falls off the face of the earth over the final three games, disappearing while the Utes suffer an inexplicable collapse that costs them the league title and Lee Cummard just starts going off to help the Cougars surge past them.
Don't think that's going to happen, but it could.
So Nevill needs to have another solid, if not spectacular, performance in what could be his final game against the Cougars, amid much intrigue about how the Cougars might defend him. The Cougars didn't really double-team him last time, and Nevill annihilated center Chris Miles' one-on-one defense for 32 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime victory, even if Miles had a solid night offensively, himself (aside from his crucial missed free throws, anyway).
But if Nevill can simply have a good game -- particularly in victory -- then he can go ahead and start clearing shelf space, as well as preparing for that noon game against one of the league's weakest teams in the first round of the league tournament.
"It's a huge game," coach Jim Boylen said. "It's a huge game for them, it's a huge game for us. ... I've never strayed from it being a big game, and I never will. It's a different game than any game you'll play, and that's the beauty of it. So, they'll be ready, we'll be ready."
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 8:01 AM |
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