Utes Prove They're Ready to Dance
Nothing you can say about these guys now, except congratulations. No quibbling about the shocking early losses (which, henceforth, will remain nameless) or the title-denying late ones. No questioning their heart or talent or toughness. Nothing.
No, the Utes removed the last significant question about their ability -- could they finally beat a good team away from home? -- by beating San Diego State 52-50 in the championship of the Mountain West Conference at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and proved that they will be a team to be reckoned with at the NCAA Tournament next week.
"We're just going to soak this in tonight," forward Carlon Brown said.
Tomorrow, the Utes could find themselves armed with perhaps a No. 5 seed -- certainly, nothing worse than a No. 7 -- after the defensive lockdown they put on the Aztecs to win their first tournament title in five years and win their third game in three nights on a floor where they had lost six of their previous seven games, overall.
And no matter where they end up, they will stand a puncher's chance against any team against which they're matched, on account of center Luke Nevill and their squadron of supporting players. My two questions about this team entering the postseason were whether they had the fortitude to win three in a row on subsequent days and whether they could win more than one game at the NCAA Tournament.
The Utes have delivered one strong answer, already, and I'm not going to doubt them on the other.
No, the Utes removed the last significant question about their ability -- could they finally beat a good team away from home? -- by beating San Diego State 52-50 in the championship of the Mountain West Conference at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and proved that they will be a team to be reckoned with at the NCAA Tournament next week.
"We're just going to soak this in tonight," forward Carlon Brown said.
Tomorrow, the Utes could find themselves armed with perhaps a No. 5 seed -- certainly, nothing worse than a No. 7 -- after the defensive lockdown they put on the Aztecs to win their first tournament title in five years and win their third game in three nights on a floor where they had lost six of their previous seven games, overall.
And no matter where they end up, they will stand a puncher's chance against any team against which they're matched, on account of center Luke Nevill and their squadron of supporting players. My two questions about this team entering the postseason were whether they had the fortitude to win three in a row on subsequent days and whether they could win more than one game at the NCAA Tournament.
The Utes have delivered one strong answer, already, and I'm not going to doubt them on the other.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 10:37 PM |
1 Comments:
Can I just compliment you on the blog? It's one of my favorite blogs to read and you do such a fantastic job.
I expect the Utes to get a 7th seed. I'll be thrilled if they get a 5th or a 6th seed and disappointed if they get 8th or lower. Hopefully they'll stay out here in the west.
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