Well, we're not even back from Hawaii yet -- anybody wants to hear about taking two bumps for $1,600 in flight credits and two extra (free) nights in paradise, I'll be happy to tell you -- but there's breaking news today ...

Assistant coach Chris Jones is leaving the Utes to join coach Stew Morrill's staff at Utah State.

Couldn't reach Jones immediately to ask him about it, but coach Jim Boylen confirmed the move, expected to be announced soon. Jones essentially will be replacing departed assistant Don Verlin, who left the Aggies last week to take the Idaho job (woo-hoo!). The departure means the Boylen has two positions to fill on his staff, with former assistant Marty Wilson having left near the end of the season to become the associate head coach and head-coach-in-waiting at his alma mater at Pepperdine.

Wilson and Jones both had been retained by Boylen, when Boylen replaced fired coach Ray Giacoletti last year.

That raises the question of how well either of them truly meshed with a new coach who may have chosen them only under the duress of the situation, but they always seemed to work well and get along together -- so I suspect that both viewed their new jobs simply as better routes for their careers. Obviously, Wilson acted on a great opportunity, and with Boylen already working on bringing in somebody to replace him -- one of "his guys," of course -- I can imagine Jones potentially worrying that he might not necessarily move up the ladder of the coaching staff.

And that's just the way it goes.

We'll have more info as we get it -- hopefully, Jonesy will call back -- and keep you posted. And since we're finally about ready to come home, consider the blog back up and running for the offseason ...

All right people, I'm afraid this will be the last blog for awhile.

Having figured the Utes would have either already played their NCAA Tournament games by now or failed to reach the postseason altogether, I'm heading off on a long-planned Hawaiian vacation while the Utes attempt to make their way to the finals of the College Basketball Invitational.

Don't worry, I'll be back in time for the championship series, if they get that far. (Our newspaper isn't sending anybody on the road at least until then, anyway, because of the expense.) But in the meantime, the blog's going to go dark for the next week while I practice mixing margaritas on the beach.

Maybe mai-tais, too.

Or, heck, maybe just straight rum ... it's been a long winter.

In any case, a few items of note as the Utes prepare to play at Tulsa in the tournament quarterfinals on Monday night. Perhaps most interestingly, the Golden Hurricane are coached by the guy -- Doug Wojcik -- whose departure from the Michigan State staff three years ago to take the Tulsa job cleared the way for coach Jim Boylen to join the Spartans a second time.

Of course, Boylen then worked as an assistant to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo for two years before landing the Utah job, and said his Utes now share a similar "Izzo mentality and background" with the Golden Hurricane -- though he was careful not to compare either team to the highly ranked Spartans.

"To say that our program mirrors Michigan State, I don't think is fair," he said. "To say his does, I don't think is fair, either. There are some similar things, but ..."

Boylen also said he has been pleased with the organization of the tournament, though it has not been paid much attention in its first year in the shadow of the NCAA Tournament and the NIT.

"We're in no position to look down our nose at anybody or any tournament," he said. "We are thankful to be playing in this tournament. The tournament organizers ... have treated us with respect. It was a classy event at El Paso. Everything we needed was there. And we're just thankful to be playing."

Incidentally, the Utes will be playing at the location that so far has set the bar for CBI attendance, with the Golden Hurricane having attracted 5,365 fans for their opening-round win over Miami of Ohio -- the most of any of the eight first-round games. The Utes played in front of 5,313 extremely hostile fans at UTEP (Boylen said he was even threatened, amid the profane jeers), which ranked a close second.

Other than those two games, though, attendance averaged just 3,303 fans -- with a low of 1,169 attending Brown's game at Ohio. How could you possibly miss that? Even Washington attracted only 3,227 fans for its game against Valparaiso. Is it any wonder the Utes feared assuring $60,000 in gate receipts to the CBI organizers?

So, anyway, there you go.

The last bit until almost April. (Oh, except that point guard Tyler Kepkay is indeed healthy, despite taking a hard blow to the ribs at UTEP. He practiced full bore today, and showed no ill effects.) Enjoy the tournaments, and we'll catch up again either for the championship round of the CBI or the opening days of the offseason.

Cheers!

Good news for the Utes.

Looks like guard Tyler Kepkay might not be hurt as badly as originally feared, after he took a shot to his ribs during Utah's victory at UTEP in the College Basketball Invitational the other night. Coach Jim Boylen said he feared the junior had a cracked rib, but director of basketball operations Jon Dykema reports that post-game X-rays seemed to show that was not the case.

Kepkay is feeling better, Dykema said, and is expected to be evaluated again today by the team doctor.

The Utes are hopeful that Kepkay will be available to play at Tulsa in the tournament quarterfinals on Monday night. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. MT, and will be televised on Fox College Sports, in addition to being available online for $6.95.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are still playing in the NCAA Tournament, but assistant coach -- and former Utah coach -- Ray Giacoletti could be on the move. The Idaho Statesman named Giacoletti today as a possible successor to fired coach George Pfeiffer at Idaho, though the last time I talked to Giacoletti, he gave the definite impression that he would like more than one year away from the pressure of being a head coach.

Still, whatever problems he might have had at Utah, this is one proud UI alum (class of '92) who would love to have him coach the Vandals. Especially since ... you know, Pfeiffer went all of 12-48 for us. Ugh.

Coach Jim Boylen was kind enough to call after the Utes beat UTEP last night, and he sounded awfully excited about how hard his team played -- on both sides of the ball.

"Our offense was really good," he said. "We shared the ball, moved it around, made our free throws. ... And our defense really stymied them."

The Utes broke out the triangle-and-two defense for the first time since the Gonzaga game, in an effort to slow the nation's seventh-leading scorer, Stefon Jackson, who entered the game averaging 23.6 points per game.

And boy, did it work.

The Utes held the Miners to 24 percent shooting for the first 31 minutes, and Jackson -- though he finished with 20 points -- did not crack double-figures until about the final five minutes for an 81-69 victory for the Utes. Not that he gave the Utes much credit for it.

"I've been seeing that all year," he said. "Tulsa did that. Houston did it. We expected it."

In any case, the 18-13 Utes are moving on to play 21-13 Tulsa on the road Monday night, after the Golden Hurricane beat Miami of Ohio in the first round of the CBI last night for its 11th win in 14 games. Both UTEP and Tulsa, by the way, drew about 5,300 fans -- which probably would not have been enough for the Utes to break even on a home game in the tournament.

One other update from the 81-69 victory at UTEP tonight ...

Guard Tyler Kepkay evidently played well in his 25 minutes off the bench, scoring nine points despite suffering an injury that coach Jim Boylen said might be a cracked rib. Kepkay played more tonight than he had, in part because starter Luka Drca has been battling the flu.

Perhaps Kepkay's most important contribution was a three-point play inside of four minutes remaining that helped the Utes regain control, after the Miners had made a run.

Shows what I know.

After speculating that the Utes might not be especially inspired to play in the College Basketball Invitational, they showed some maturity -- near as I could tell from the radio broadcast -- in holding on down the stretch to beat UTEP 81-69 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso tonight.

The victory was the first postseason win in three years for the Utes, and propels them into a quarterfinal game at Tulsa on Monday.

We'll have a full report from our stringer in the newspaper in the morning, but the Utes avoided blowing a 21-point lead in the second half. The Miners used a 10-0 run to get back into the game, and ultimately cut the lead to 72-65 with 1:28 left, but the Utes made 9 of 10 free throws down the stretch to escape for their first postseason victory in three years.

Center Luke Nevill had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and guard Johnnie Bryant scored 17 points in the first postseason game of his career.

Call me crazy, but does it sound like the UTEP Miners are a lot more excited about playing in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational tonight than the Utes do?

"We are not just playing in this tournament," freshman forward Gabriel McCulley said. "We are trying to win it."

Hmmm.

Never heard any of the Utes go quite that far. In fact, although they said all the right things, they seemed just the slightest bit uninspired during their last practice before leaving for tonight's game. Of course, that's just my perspective, and it doesn't necessarily mean anything, even if I'm right. Plus, you'd have to think coach Jim Boylen will have the Utes ready to play.

Certainly, the oddsmakers do, making the Utes only about a 1 1/2-point underdog tonight. But still, I have this sinking feeling that nobody is going to be exactly devastated if the season does not extend beyond the Don Haskins Center. We shall see ...

Just in case you feared you had too much time on your hands, here comes somebody to put those silly worries in their proper perspective.

Namely, somebody calling himself Constable Echelon.

That's the guy who has inexplicably committed to "the Sisyphean challenge of previewing all CBI matchups to prepare you for The Grandest Tournament E'er Conceived." Obviously, this guy needs help.

Most of his observations are pretty obvious, but at least he has seen the Utes play in person. "When I saw Jim Boylen's Utes play at UW in the preseason NIT (sigh ... NIT) he struck me as one of those coaches that can, you know, coach. I believe in Utah's ability to shut down Jackson and let the rest of the Miners try to beat them."

So the Utes have that going for them. Which is nice.

The Utes have landed safely in El Paso, so now all they have to do is find a way to cope with UTEP's dangerous Stefon Jackson in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday night.

Jackson ranks seventh nationally by scoring 23.7 points per game, and is pretty much the engine that drives the Miners -- having amazingly persevered through his brother's murder, a broken jaw inflicted by a teammate, and his paralyzed father's unexpected death.

"He's so powerful, and plays with such force," coach Jim Boylen said. "He's a little bit like Giddens, as far as playing at full speed and being able to make plays at full speed."

But though Jackson is listed as the same height as New Mexico's J.R. Giddens -- just skinnier -- Boylen views him as not quite the kind of player that has really hurt the Utes this season. "He's not that 6-6 guy that we've really struggled with this year," Boylen said. "Wade, Cummard and Giddens ... I'll have nightmares all summer from those three guys."

Not many teams have slowed Jackson this season, however.

Only once has the junior from Philadelphia failed to score in double-figures, and that came when he shot 3-for-12 and scored nine points in a loss at Texas Tech two months ago. He plays almost every minute of every game, and can be unstoppable getting to the free-throw line.

Though Jackson has attempted just seven foul shots in the last three games while shooting 21-for-50, he shot an astonishing 21-for-27 from the line in a victory over East Carolina last month. He also has scored over 20 points 24 times this season -- with a high of 41 and four other 30-point games.

Several readers have asked how the seedings will work in the College Basketball Invitational, and whether the Utes have a chance at playing a home game, should they make a tournament run.

Unfortunately, the best I can answer is that a home game isn't likely unless the Utes reach the three-game championship series, in which each team must host at least one game.

The Utes weren't keen on the financial obligations of hosting a game -- namely, that host teams have to pay the CBI a minimum of $60,000 out of a 50-50 split of gate receipts with the organizers (not the other team, as I'd mistakenly said earlier). That means that even if the Utes sold tickets for an average of $10, they would have to sell 6,000 just to break even (not counting concessions, but also not including overhead such as concession workers). And that seems an iffy proposition, given the attendance during the regular season.

As for the seeding ...

According to the bracket posted on the CBI web site before the field was announced, higher seeded teams would play host to quarterfinal games next week, and the field would be re-seeded for the semifinals. However, once teams were announced, the "at higher seed" notation was dropped from the bracket, and nowhere on the site are seeds listed alongside the teams.

Still, I've found at least a couple of reports that said the Utes are the fourth-seed team in their region (UTEP being the top seed) -- assuring a quarterfinal road game, if those games are indeed to be determined by seeds. But where those reports found that information, I couldn't say. Two officials with the CBI have yet to return messages and explain what's going on, and the UTEP coach has said that the Miners' chances of playing host to a quarterfinal game depend on their attendance for the opening round game against the Utes -- potentially rendering the supposed seeding meaningless.

My guess?

The Gazelle Group that runs the CBI has enough of a challenge getting teams to commit to home games that it was unable to unilaterally say which teams would potentially play home games in the next round, because some still would not want to do so, no matter their supposed seed. So, the organizers were left with just seeing how the opening round proceeded and awarding quarterfinal home games after that (or making sure the teams most willing to entertain home games were the top seeds).

But that's just my guess.

At any rate, the Utes will fare far better financially by going on the road. The CBI picks up travel expenses, according to Utah director of basketball operations Jon Dykema, and provides $3,000 per game for hotel expenses and a $2,200 per diem. That can go a long way, seems to me, in El Paso ...

Senior guard Chris Grant sat out practice today after suffering a concussion in a collision with a teammate who was setting a screen in the Utes' workout last night -- he's not sure who it was -- though he said he still expects to make the trip to UTEP on Tuesday.

Grant said that since suffering a bad concussion as a freshman with the Utes, he frequently has endured subsequent ones almost whenever he has suffered a blow to the head. Even late this afternoon, he said he still felt groggy, as if he was in a fog. He hoped he would feel well enough to potentially play for the Utes in the College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday night.

Just received word that while the Utes won't be on television in the opening-round of the College Basketball Invitational, their game at UTEP on Wednesday night will be available online.

Organizers also announced tip times, and the Utes will go at 7 p.m. MST.

The tournament is offering live streaming video of all the tournament games for $29.95 -- watch those fightin' Monarchs, too! -- and fans also can buy a 24-hour subscription for $12.95, or (I've now been told) a single-game subscription for $6.95 ... all without ever having to say you're in El Paso.

Looks like the only way for fans to see the Utes play UTEP in the College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday night is to buy a ticket for the game at the Don Haskins Center.

They're only $25, but the $450 airfare is not included.

According to the schedule released (finally) by the organizers of the inaugural event, the Utes and Miners will comprise one of the four opening-round games that will not be broadcast on Fox Sports Network.

The tournament bracket also shows that the Utes not only would meet either Tulsa or Miami of Ohio in the quarterfinals March 24, but either Bradley, Cincinnati, Ohio or Brown in the semifinals -- should they make it that far.

Evidently, the Miners feel about the same way as their old WAC rival about the tournament. It might not be the NCAA's, but at least they're getting some needed postseason experience.

"It is a tremendous opportunity for our young team to get its first taste of postseason play, as well as an opportunity for our four seniors to extend their collegiate careers," second-year coach Tony Barbee said. "We are looking forward to competing for the title."

So much for my Nevada prediction.

The Utes are headed to play UTEP in the opening round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday night, with the tip-off time to be announced Monday. They finally learned their destination at nearly midnight, but coach Jim Boylen had long since known his team would be involved in the tournament -- and he was excited about it.

"It means a ton," Boylen said. "I think it's very important for this team to have postseason experience, to feel the pressure of an elimination tournament, where if you don't play well you're out, or if you don't win, you're out. To have the preparation and to go through the process, I think is really helpful."

The Utes have not appeared in the postseason since reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament three years ago -- beating UTEP 60-54 in the first round, along the way.

Now, the Miners are 19-13 after losing in overtime to Tulsa in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament. Junior guard Stefon Jackson led the league and ranked seventh nationally by scoring 23.1 points per game, and was named first team All-Conference USA.

If the Utes win, they will advance to play either Tulsa or Miami of Ohio in the second round of the 16-team tournament. They conceivably could play six games, since the tournament features a single-elimination format through the semifinals and a best-of-three championship series. It's organized by the same company that produces the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer.

All games will be played at campus sites.

Half of the first-round and quarterfinal games, and all of the semifinal and championship-round games, will be televised on Fox Sports Network -- though it was unclear whether Utah's opening game will be among them.

Other first-round match-ups include Cincinnati at Bradley, Brown at Ohio, Rider at Old Dominion, Houston at Nevada, Richmond at Virginia (a team the Utes beat at the San Juan Shootout last season), and Valparaiso at Washington (a team to which the Utes lost at the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament in November). Not sure yet, however, how those teams are arranged in the bracket.

Coach Jim Boylen just told me the Utes are definitely in the College Basketball Invitational, they're just waiting to hear who they're playing, and where.

"We'll play anybody, anywhere, any time," Boylen said.

Boylen said he had heard that the Utes would be matched against Seton Hall, but also that it might be Nevada or UTEP. We'll have more details probably within the hour. Meanwhile, the Utes plan to have a short practice tonight, to shoot a bit and "walk through some things," Boylen said.

Just learned that the Utes have indeed been in contact with the College Basketball Invitational people, and it's looking good that they will be invited to play in the inaugural tournament.

Only downside?

They probably will play on the road Tuesday or Wednesday, though the Utes won't know for sure or have the details nailed down for a little while yet. One probable sticking point is indeed the $60,000 guarantee that the CBI wants home teams to pay it, out the gate receipts for the games. That would be a tough case to make, considering the game probably would not attract a huge crowd at the Huntsman Center.

Ohio and Virginia have confirmed they're in the tournament, and I've been told that UTEP and Nevada are also confirmed in the field, so far. Maybe that Utes at Nevada prediction will actually come to pass ... ;-)

Well, the NIT has announced its 32-team tournament field, which includes New Mexico and San Diego State.

But not the Utes.

And a spokesman said the Utes have not yet heard anything from the College Basketball Invitational, which could be an ominous sign. Then again, it's hard to know how efficiently a new event like that will operate. We'll keep waiting ...

So it turns out the College Basketball Invitational wants schools that play host to its inaugural tournament games to pay it $60,000 out of gate receipts, after a 50-50 split of that money with their opponents.

That requirement already has scared off Missouri, but evidently hasn't dissuaded the Utes.

Coach Jim Boylen has said the Utes will play in any tournament that will have them, and associate athletic director Pete Oliszczak told me again on the flight home today that the Utes are still waiting to hear from either the NIT or CBI after the NCAA Tournament is unveiled here in a little while.

The Utes have always seemed a likely prospect for the inaugural College Basketball Invitational tournament, and though we still don't know whether they're in it, we can at least start guessing about potential match-ups.

According to NITology, the Utes will join Alabama, IUPUI, Rhode Island, Nevada, Seton Hall, San Diego State, Houston, Wright State, Ohio, Tulsa, Valparaiso, Sam Houston State, UTEP, Bradley and Washington in the tournament.

The Utes already have played Washington and San Diego State this season, so those teams might not be considered prospective opponents for them. Which would leave Nevada as the only team in the group that would qualify as a regional opponent; any of the others would require much longer travel for one of the teams involved.

We shall see, in only a matter of hours now ...

While athletic director Chris Hill is hunkered down in an Indianapolis hotel room watching games as part of his duties on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, associate athletic director Pete Oliszczak is keeping an eye on postseason developments for the Utes.

And so far, nothing's cooking.

The Utes have sent information to both the NIT and College Basketball Invitational, Oliszczak said, but heard nothing yet -- not even a hint as to which tournament (if either) would be interested in the Utes. "We're just waiting for them to get back to us," Oliszczak said.

If the Utes wind up in the CBI, which seems most likely, they will play a first-round game either Tuesday or Wednesday at a campus location, possibly the Huntsman Center. The tournament semifinals will be held March 26, with a best-of-three championship series starting March 31.

That will be the most interesting part of the new tournament, that championship series. It's scheduled to feature games alternating at campus sites -- similar to the NBA playoffs -- so it's not hard to see how difficult that could be, if the two competing schools are far apart from one another and teams are forced to travel back-and-forth every other day during that series.

For now, though, it looks like the Utes will have to wait until tomorrow like everybody else, to learn where -- or even, if -- they're going for the postseason.

Don't know if anybody noticed, but former Ute center Michael Doleac did not travel with his Minnesota Timberwolves to their game in Seattle on Friday night because his wife -- former Utah gymnast Shannon Bowles -- is expecting a baby "any day now," according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

And now, we wait.

The Utes are staying in Las Vegas today before flying home on their regularly scheduled flight Sunday -- they flew Southwest, and all of today's flights back to Salt Lake City are full -- and there's no doubt that while they wander the Strip or relax by the pool that they'll be wondering whether they're going to play another game.

I kind of think they will.

A team spokesman said the Utes had heard through the conference office a couple of weeks ago that the inaugural College Basketball Invitational was interested in them, but that was before they finished the season by losing six of their last eight games. Nobody seems to know about the NIT -- even the NITology page has not been updated with the latest speculation yet -- but it does seem hard to imagine that a 17-14 team on such a slide would be quite attractive enough.

Could be interesting to see how this all comes down, too. I'd imagine that the Utes would rather play in the established NIT, but coach Jim Boylen said last night that he would play in any tournament that wanted his Utes. Might the CBI, then, try to secure a commitment from them quickly, thinking that the Utes would probably accept immediately rather than roll the dice on whether the NIT is going to call?

We shall see.

"We'll play in any tournament we can," Boylen said. "I think there's no better proving ground, there's no better place to grow than a one-game elimination tournament where you have to win to move on. My team needs that pressure. We need that development."

So much for the theory about center Luke Nevill establishing himself as a premier postseason player.

Nevill seemed to come out strong and confidence for the Utes in their 61-55 loss to UNLV in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night. But as the game wore on, he seemed to get frustrated with the Rebel double-teams and officiating calls that went against him.

And, of course, by the end, he turned (again) into a target for frustration by allowing UNLV's Rene Rougeau to grab two crucial offensive rebounds on the same possession that essentially allowed the Rebels to win the game.

"I personally just couldn't get a body on him," Nevill said. "He had a nice running start to get rebounds and I just wasn't able to hit him and cut him out, especially at the end of the game ... Ton of rebounds, he got them. Got them extra possessions at the end of the game and that was crucial for their win."

Even his own teammates could hardly hide their frustration, with forward Shaun Green yelling at Nevill after the play, and guard Lawrence Borha imploring coach Jim Boylen to get Nevill out of the game.

And he did, if only for a moment.

But while Nevill was the scapegoat at the finish, his teammates did not all do a great job the rest of the time. Though he played exceptional defense, Green again was atrocious against the Rebels offensively -- he shot 3-for-17 against them in three games this season -- guard Carlon Brown continued a rough introduction to tournament play with another invisible offensive performance, and only Borha and guard Johnnie Bryant reached double-figures in scoring with 10 points apiece.

In all, it was simply not enough.

By the way ... the Utes are 4 1/2-point underdogs against the UNLV Rebels tonight, which seems to me a pretty good bet, after they covered a 4-point spread against New Mexico last night.

And if the Utes advance to the Mountain West Conference tournament championship game, they will be either a 1-point favorite against San Diego State or a 4 1/2-point underdog to rival Brigham Young, according to the Glantz-Culver line that most newspapers run.

For all the frustrating fits and starts in his college career, center Luke Nevill has always done one thing pretty well:

Produce in the postseason.

Granted, his team has never accomplished much on the bottom line -- a 2-2 record and not even a semifinal victory so far, heading into tonight's semifinal game against UNLV in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

But Nevill has seldom been the problem.

In his four conference tournament games, the 7-foot-1 junior has averaged 24.5 points and 10.3 rebounds, while shooting 42-for-68 from the field (that's 62 percent) and 34-for-47 (that's 72.3 percent) from the free-throw line -- though he did frighteningly miss a couple of foul shots down the stretch in the overtime victory over New Mexico last night.

Of course, games like the one tonight are the ones that will help establish whether Nevill is ultimately regarded as a true postseason star or just a guy who piles up stats for teams that don't fare very well. After all, while he did blow up in an upset victory over rival Brigham Young as a freshman, his 26 points and 10 rebounds against the Rebels in the tournament last year ultimately didn't mean much in an 80-54 blowout loss.

Tonight, though, that kind of performance would be huge.

The Utes have plenty to play for against the Rebels this time, unlike the quarterfinal match-up that turned into coach Ray Giacoletti's final game to end last season. And the Rebels have nobody in the post who can handle Nevill one-on-one -- their tallest guys are 6-foot-7 Joe Darger of Riverton and 6-8 Matt Shaw -- meaning the Utes should have a chance to either get their outside shooters rolling or have Nevill dominate inside.

Coach Jim Boylen seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders in the hours after the Utes upset New Mexico last night -- including when he wandered past our blackjack table at 3:30 in the morning (don't ask), having finally finished watching film of the UNLV Rebels in preparation for tonight's semifinal game at the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas.

"I feel like a broken record," he said at his post-game press conference. "I've been saying it all year, we've been in this situation before. Every game, it's a three-, five-point game. In the timeouts and huddles, I just say that to my team. 'We've been here before, we got to get a solid shot. We've got to get a three.' I kind of repeat all the things that have happened to us during the year, put it in their head we can't let it happen again if we want to move to the next level as a team.

"I said on my radio show, I really feel like this team is kind of an iceberg," he added. "There's so many good things, big things, under the surface. We just haven't broken through yet. Maybe this is the win that will give us some confidence for this year, but also for the future."

And the future begins later tonight, when the Utes try to snap a three-game losing streak at UNLV and reach the tournament championship -- potentially against the rival Brigham Young Cougars, with whom the Utes have been quietly hoping for a rematch ever since they lost their second regular-season game against them down at the Marriott Center last month.

Talk about a potential no-win situation.

While the Utes definitely needed at least one victory in the Mountain West Conference tournament to keep alive their hope of their first postseason appearance in three years, they also might have dashed their most promising prospect by beating New Mexico in overtime last night.

See, the Lobos were considered on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, so the loss to the Utes probably dumps the Lobos down into the NIT ... just maybe taking a spot that the Utes might otherwise have been able to claim. In fact, the web site NITology lists the Utes as merely "on the bubble" for the NIT, with New Mexico and San Diego State definitively in.

In other words, a loss to the UNLV Rebels tonight in the tournament semifinals probably means the Utes are looking at reaching only the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, if anything at all. A win, however, and the Utes not only strengthen their case for the NIT, but keep alive their hopes of an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

So the Utes had just won their thrilling overtime game against New Mexico last night, and for a moment there, it looked like coach Jim Boylen was going to add to the mania with another wild reaction.

Facing a smattering of reporters in the post-game press conference, all just desperate for a quote to throw into their stories on an impossible deadline, Boylen was asked for an opening comment by the moderator.

"Well, first of all," he began, a dead look on his face, "I want to say I'm a little disappointed in the media ..."

Oh, God, I thought. Here it comes. What did somebody do, to make him so angry that he was going to start blazing, first thing after the biggest victory of his young career?

We waited.

It seemed like forever.

"I tell my guys when they go to class to sit in the front row, and everybody is sitting way back there," he said.

Silence. I think a tumbleweed rolled across the room.

"That was a joke, guys," Boylen said.

Not a bad one, either, but I told Boylen later that he needs to work on his timing. There were few reporters in the room to begin with, since it was nearly 12:30 a.m. Mountain time, and the ones who were in attendance simply needed quotes fast for their stories. That's why they were all loitering near the back of the room, so they -- I should say "we" -- could dash away as soon as they got the quote they needed and go file their stories.

Probably would have helped, too, if Boylen had been smiling more to indicate he was kidding. But the next game isn't until late tonight, so he has plenty of time to work on some new material ... ;-)

Of course, the Utes and New Mexico Lobos were going to play overtime. That's what they do -- four times in the last five meetings, in fact.

But boy, was it worth it for the Utes.

You could argue that the Utes did not deserve to beat the Lobos, considering the way they finished regulation so disastrously. But for a team that has cashed in its chips down the stretch so many times already this season, they deserve credit for fighting through it all to survive for an 82-80 victory in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament late Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

And who deserves the most credit?

Well, wouldn't you know ... everybody's favorite whipping boy, center Luke Nevill.

The 7-foot-1 junior played one of the best games of his career when the Utes needed it most, making 11 of 20 shots to score 26 points and grab eight rebounds (he played the last 6 1/2 minute of regulation and overtime with four fouls) and offset the spectacular contribution of New Mexico's J.R. Giddens. His dunk with 21.2 seconds left in overtime restored an 81-80 Utah lead, and his spectacular rejection of New Mexico's Darren Prentice at the other end essentially sealed the win for the Utes.

"I just knew I had to do it," Nevill said. "I knew I had to risk maybe getting called for goaltending ... I just went up there and blocked his shot, I guess."

Yeah, he guessed right.

But even before the Utes endured that miserable finish to regulation -- 2-for-4 free-throw shooting with no baskets (two missed lay-ups) and two crushing turnovers in the final four minutes -- I was telling my colleagues along press row that the Utes were going to win.

Why?

Any time they have Lawrence Borha and Shaun Green and Kim Tillie making the contributions they made to the Utes on Thursday night, they are in good shape. Heck, they didn't even really need Johnnie Bryant, who scored 11 points but shot just 3-for-10 and faced that same sort of focused defense that so shut him down in one of the previous meetings with the Lobos.

But Borha had his best game in weeks with 13 points, including three three-pointers, Green had a valuable 12 points and six boards before fouling out, and Tillie had six points, seven boards and some huge plays early in the second half. Even demoted point guard Tyler Kepkay gave the Utes a little something, with two big three-pointers in his 14 minutes.

And while we all know I don't take sides, it was fun to see the Utes finally get to celebrate a big, close victory instead of having to trudge off into the locker room after another depressing loss that probably would have been the end of their season.

So they get to take the court at least one more time -- the win over New Mexico might have earned them an NIT berth, at least -- against the UNLV Rebels, who looked completely beatable in their narrow win over TCU earlier on Thursday night.

And who knows?

Crazy things happen in this town.

Spectacular finish to the quarterfinal game between UNLV and TCU, with the Rebels pulling off an 89-88 victory on a Wink Adams three-point play in the final four seconds.

The outcome means the Utes will face the Rebels -- 11-2 all-time in Mountain West tournament games on their home floor -- if they beat New Mexico tonight. That might not be all bad, considering the Utes beat the Rebels at home earlier this season, and the Rebels might not have the bench to survive in the tournament.

Feel bad for the Horned Frogs, though.

Coach Neil Dougherty's bunch hit 17 of 23 three-pointers, shot 54 percent -- 58 percent in the secnod half -- outrebounded the Rebels 30-19, and scored 50 points after halftime ... and lost. Of course, allowing the Rebs to shoot 68 percent in the second half had a lot to do with that.

Gee ... San Diego State has pretty much doubled-up Air Force in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament today, and the first half isn't even over.

Wonder what possibly could have happened when the Aztecs scored only 43 points total against the Falcons in the regular-season finale last week, knowing they would have met the Utes in the tournament instead, had they won. I'm sure it was just one of those wild and crazy coincidences ...

So ... anybody else thinking the New Mexico Lobos might be a little tight tonight, knowing (or at least, believing) that they need to beat the Utes in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive?

"That is a real possibility," league commissioner Craig Thompson told the Albuquerque Journal. "... I think the biggest game on their schedule is [tonight], the neutral-court game against Utah."

The could really help the Utes, who really don't have any reason to be tight. Sure, they could reach the NCAA Tournament, too, but only if they shock everybody and win the league tournament. Nobody expects that, obviously, and any victories after their dismal finishing stretch will be seen as a bonus, so they can afford to be loose and care-free.

We shall see ...

Maybe it's suddenly a promising weekend for the Utes, considering the upsets that already have rocked the Mountain West Conference tournament here in Las Vegas.

I mean, the Colorado State men and women combine to lose all 32 of their regular-season league games and enter the tournament on a combined 37-game losing streak ... and all they do is each win play-in upsets before the women stun the Utah women last night?

Maybe that's a good sign for underdogs everywhere.

The Utes are down to being 3 1/2-point underdogs against the New Mexico Lobos in the quarterfinals tonight, where they hope to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Lobos away from the Huntsman Center.

If nothing else, the Utes should be mentally prepared to avoid a poor performance, having watched the women's team suffer that shocking loss last night. Not that they would have been predisposed to cruising against the Lobos, of course, having lost two close games against them already this season.

And while the Utes are here doing what they can to reach the postseason, athletic director Chris Hill already is working with the tournament selection committee in Indianapolis, hoping to make sure the "right" 65 teams reach the tournament.

"There is a real team approach to getting this done the right way," Hill said.

You know ... just like the Utes.

Two great items already from the play-in game at the Mountain West Conference tournament here in Las Vegas ...

For starters, the Colorado State Rams snapped a 17-game losing streak by beating Wyoming 68-63 at the Thomas & Mack Center, to which coach Tim Miles spectacularly responded: "Now I know how McGovern felt after he lost 35 straight states and won Minnesota."

Is it any wonder everybody loves that guy?

And is it any wonder everybody thinks Wyoming's Brandon Ewing's a me-first punk? Evidently angry that he was voted only second-team all-conference, the junior guard (who threw the last-second alley-oop pass against the Utes that made coach Jim Boylen so mad) made a point during the game of verbally challenging the Wyoming writers seated courtside whom he believed should have voted him to the first team. Classy.

The Utes are heading out to the Mountain West Conference tournament today, and plan to work out after they arrive in Las Vegas later this morning. Then, they plan to attend the women's game this afternoon and cheer the other Utes as they play Colorado State.

In the meantime, it doesn't look as if anybody's really expecting them to do much on the floor (not that that's a surprise).

One prediction site gives the Utes a 33 percent chance to beat New Mexico in the quarterfinals on Thursday, and only a 6 percent chance of winning the whole tournnament. Meanwhile, a Mountain West Conference blog makes the Utes a 25-to-1 long-shot to take home the tournament trophy, and argues the Utes must win two games to even have a shot at the NIT.

Quick couple of tournament notes that have crossed my radar -- some good, some bad.

The Utes have lost seven straight games to New Mexico away from the Huntsman Center, dating to an 81-51 win in Albuquerque in 2002. That includes six regular-season games and the 2005 tournament championship.

However, they're also 7-1 in opening games of the tournament, and in possession of the most popular upset seed in league history.

Sixth seeds have upset three seeds five times in eight years of the tournament -- including the last three in a row and four of the last five. The Utes were even among them, when they upset Brigham Young two years ago.

The Utes are putting season tickets for next year on sale Wednesday, no doubt hoping that the team can fuel some ticket-buying excitement with an unexpected run in the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas.

Season-tickets cost as little as $100 in the upper bowl, with lower-bowl seats starting at $275 -- with a $125 donation to the Crimson Club. Fans can purchase by calling 801-581-UTIX, logging on to www.UtahTickets.com or visiting at the Rice-Eccles Stadium Ticket Office.

Season-ticket holders also will be allowed to "pre-order" tickets for the 2010 NCAA West Regional that will be held at EnergySolutions Arena downtown.

The 16-13 Utes are playing New Mexico in the first round of the tournament on Thursday night, and could wind up in a postseason tournament for the first time in three years if they beat the Lobos. Senior guard Johnnie Bryant is the only one of the top eight players who won't be back next season, while the Utes will add five freshmen whose teams combined to go 116-19 and win two state championships this past season.

What's more, the schedule includes home games against Oregon, Gonzaga and California.

Senior guard Johnnie Bryant was pleased to hear after practice yesterday that he'd been named second-team All-Mountain West Conference, after ending his first two seasons with the Utes as merely an honorable mention pick.

"It's an honor," he said. "Obviously, it shows that coaches around the league, media, like my style of play. But I'll trade it all in, if we can keep playing in the tournament."

Certainly, Bryant would love to finish his career on a more positive note than the 2-for-14 performance he managed in the Utes' first-round tournament exit against UNLV last season. In fact, Bryant has not yet really blown up in the tournament, having gone a combined 9-for-34 for 29 points in three tournament games in his career.

By the way ... unless we discover that somebody called in sick, we are officially calling a crock the supposed tie for Mountain West Conference Player of the Year.

The league announced that New Mexico's J.R. Giddens and Brigham Young's Lee Cummard would share the award, after voting by two media members in each of the nine league markets (myself included) and each of the nine head coaches in the league. Now, I'm no math major, but I think that comes out to 27 votes -- an odd number. Which means, of course, there couldn't be a tie.

Which also means that, unless somebody failed to vote and there really was an even number of ballots, the league decided that a definitive margin in favor of one player over the other was simply not enough and that it should simply declare a tie.

Who's running this thing, Vladimir Putin?

For what it's worth, various outlets around the league have noted the conference's refusal to disclose the vote count. What a shock.

Good news for those fans who have steadily filled my in-box with suggestions that guard Carlon Brown should be getting more of a chance at the point ...

It looks like he will.

The 6-foot-3 freshman played significant stretches of the loss at UNLV at point guard -- frequently alternating with sophomore starter Luka Drca -- and coach Jim Boylen implied that he plans to continue using that combination in place of demoted junior Tyler Kepkay when the Utes meet New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

"Carlon and Luka have very good chemistry out there," Boylen said.

Clearly, Brown gave the Utes a dynamic element handling the ball against the Rebels that they have not enjoyed all season, often penetrating to the rim and either making shots, earning free throws and finding open teammates. He finished with 10 points and three assists in a season-high 31 minutes.

Boylen also again praised Drca's ability and his "feel" for center Luke Nevill, who has been more productive in the three games since joining Kepkay off the bench while Drca and forward Kim Tillie entered the starting lineup. What's more, having Drca and forward Shaun Green on the floor, "we have our top two assist guys in the game at the same time, and I think that helps us."

"The game was under control when he was in the game," Boylen said. "He's a damn good player and a developing guy that I feel comfortable running my team."

Of course, there's a downside.

Kepkay has all but boarded a bus back to junior college, having been demoted after a season full of struggles and playing only eight invisible minutes against the Rebels. When I asked Boylen whether he feared that Kepkay's confidence is shot, he said:

"I don't fear it is, I know it is."

That's probably to be expected, the way Kepkay's season has gone, and some might wonder what took Boylen so long to make the switch. But my guess is that Boylen knew he risked losing Kepkay mentally by benching him -- effectively reducing an already short bench by one -- so he stood by him as much and as long as he could until it became overwhelmingly obvious that he had to make a change.

Now, he might still have lost Kepkay for this season, but at least there are only a handful of games left to get through, potentially without much of a contribution from him.

On the other hand, benching Kepkay earlier arguably would have resulted in more victories, though wondering about that also requires wondering whether the Utes would have held up even the way they have over, say, the last half of the season if Kepkay had similarly disappeared and Drca had to play 36 minutes every game, the way he did at UNLV.

The only way for Kepkay to overcome his struggles, Boylen said, "is to practice hard, practice well, and get yourself ready to play. Every player in basketball has gone through that, you know -- confident, non confident, feeling good about the game, not feeling good about your game. He has to adjust to coming off the bench, has to get into the flow without the flow getting into him. ... And that's hard. But it's where we're at, it's what I think is best for this team. I think it's been proven that Luka starting at the point has been a good thing for us."

At least, Kepkay seems like a tough and determined kid who's going to keep working at it. Maybe he just needs the break of an offseason to get a fresh start, and perhaps a new role. Wouldn't shock me to see him assume the off-the-bench shooting role that outgoing senior guard Johnnie Bryant has played this season. In fact, he seems nearly tailor-made for it.

Senior guard Johnnie Bryant and junior center Luke Nevill were named second-team All-Mountain West Conference today, which fairly squares with what they deserve -- though I voted Nevill third team, based on his inconsistency and general underachieving for most of the season.

Nevertheless, the balloting reflects the intrinsic value of having a 7-foot-1 center who -- even if he's not always playing like Wilt Chamberlain -- can have a monumental effect on a game, simply because of his height. And Nevill really is quite skilled; if only he can find his way into a weight room this summer and come back next year ready to put some muscle to the opposition.

And just for the record, I voted for New Mexico's J.R. Giddens as player of the year -- based largely on his stretch run and his pivotal role in lifting the Lobos from last place to third, and perhaps into the NCAA Tournament. It's a fair argument that perhaps Brigham Young's Lee Cummard could have provided the same dominating performances as Giddens had the Cougars needed them.

Nonetheless, he didn't.

It's not unprecedented for the league to name co-players of the year, though, the way they did with Giddens and Cummard. It also named BYU's Rafael Araujo and Air Force's Nick Welch co-winners four years ago. I only hope that it was truly a tied vote in this case -- setting aside the relentless stupidity that would be not assuring an odd number of voters -- and not some kind of Katherine Harris Special that allowed a merely close margin to be declared a tie.

For what it's worth, I also voted for New Mexico's Steve Alford as coach of the year, though it's hard to disagree too stridently with UNLV's Lon Kruger winning the award, based on his handling of a team that suffered major losses -- not just since last season, but during this one -- yet still contened for the league title and remains in position for a second straight NCAA Tournament berth.

Looks like coach Jim Boylen is trying to make nice with the Mountain West Conference.

While many of his colleagues have grumbled about the competitive disadvantage of playing the conference tournament on UNLV's home floor at the Thomas & Mack Center, Boylen steadfastly endorsed the notion of holding the tournament in Las Vegas.

"I love it," he said at his weekly press conference today. "I think it's great. It's great for our league that it's in Vegas. I think it's where this league is at right now. Financially, it's better for our league. Exposure, it's better for our league ... it's a good thing."

Even when pressed on whether having to play on another team's floor is a disadvantage -- aside from the attraction of the city for fans -- Boylen wouldn't bite. He seemed intent on avoiding another conflict with the league office, after enduring a public reprimand last week as well as a couple of other conflicts, notably over the league's delayed suspension of guard Luka Drca earlier this season.

"It's good," he said. "You want to play in front of 12,000 or you want to play in front of three? I want to play in front of 12. My team has thrived and played well in front of big crowds, all year."

For a moment, Boylen seemed as if he might want to say something else, but ultimately just sort of shook his head.

"I'll trust the league on that one," he said, drawing laughter from the reporters in the room. "I've had enough stuff."

The Utes have lost both of their regular-season games against New Mexico, but that doesn't mean Lobos coach Steve Alford expects to see a drastically different approach when the teams meet again in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

"If you've been beaten badly back-to-back times by an opponent, you probably need to think about changing things up," Alford said today on the league's weekly teleconference. But while "there might be some fine-tuning" with both teams, "I don't think there will be anything drastic out of either team. ... I think Jimmy knows he's not going to be seeing a lot of 1-3-1 zone out of us. We are who we are."

We can't say we're exactly bullish on the Utes making a run through the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas this week, and we still think they would have had a better shot against San Diego State in the first round instead of New Mexico.

But that doesn't mean they don't have a realistic chance of upsetting the Lobos, despite the seeding difference.

Want three reasons?

1. The Utes know they can do it. They were right there against the Lobos in both regular-season meetings, taking them to overtime at The Pit and losing by one at home on Tyler Kepkay's poor decision to drive for a lay-up at the end of a three-point game.

2. Though they have won eight of their last nine games, the Lobos are no better a defensive team than the Utes, and the Utes have shot well against them in both meetings this season while not allowing New Mexico's J.R. Giddens to overwhelm them.

3. Center Luke Nevill is playing with more confidence. The 7-foot-1 center has been far more productive offensively in three games coming off the bench, and he could dominate against a team that's especially undersized behind 6-foot-9 Daniel Faris.

Judging by the first two meetings, the big key is going to be turnovers.

The Lobos are the highest-scoring team in league play in large part because they use turnovers -- nobody forces more -- to generate their offense. The Utes committed 16 turnovers in the first game against the Lobos and 14 in the next, leading to 23 and 19 points, respectively. That far outpaced the Utes' points off turnovers, and made up for other areas in which the Utes held the edge.

So much for that coveted match-up against San Diego State.

It looks instead like the Utes will get a game against red-hot New Mexico in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament (TCU isn't going to beat Brigham Young tonight, right?). And nobody wants that, especially us newspaper writers, who will have to scramble through that 9:30 p.m. Mountain time start at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday ... :-)

At any rate, the 24-7 Lobos have won eight of their last nine games -- they beat Colorado State 71-52 today -- and have just about played their way into the NCAA Tournament. They also swept the Utes this season, while the Utes split with San Diego State, the team they would have faced, had they secured the fifth seed instead of slipped to the sixth.

Of course, the Aztecs didn't do them any favors.

Even with the loss today, the Utes still would have earned the fifth seed and a first-round match-up with the Aztecs, had the Aztecs beaten Air Force. But they didn't. And that probably shouldn't come as much of a shock. You suppose the Aztecs really would have rather played the Utes, as opposed to the team that has never won a conference tournament game?

Now, I'm not saying the Aztecs tanked it ... but they did score all of 43 points (Lorrenzo Wade had six points on 1-for-8 shooting, and five turnovers) against the team they get to meet again in a few days.

I'm sure that was just the way the ball bounced.

Meanwhile, the 16-13 Utes might have just blown any postseason hopes they had, by losing 70-63 to UNLV today. Sure, they could earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament if they catch fire and roar through the league tourney. But how many people expect that to happen?

Show of hands?

Exactly.

And a very possible first-round loss would leave the Utes just 16-14 overall with six losses in their last seven games, and the only win having come against one of the worst teams in college basketball in CSU. Probably not even the inaugural College Basketball Invitational will be interested in that. Looks like it might be about time to start looking forward to next season ...

Interesting story about how UNLV's Curtis Terry joined the Rebels with a simple, unsolicited phone call to coach Lon Kruger ... and look at him now, one of the leaders of the team going into his final home game against the Utes today.

"You never know how things are going to work out," Terry said.

That's true, and it's why today's game at the Thomas & Mack Center could be so important for the Utes. Presuming they don't make an unexpected run through the Mountain West Conference tournament here next week, this could be the game that decides whether they reach the postseason for the first time in three years or not.

The Utes are 7-point underdogs at many places around town, according to Covers.com, and right on the bubble for the NIT, according to an amusing bracketology-style site that for some reason aspires to predict the field for the biggest tournament that nobody cares about.

Terry, by the way, scored 14 points with seven rebounds and eight assists in the last meeting with the Utes -- an 81-73 Utah victory at the Huntsman Center -- but shot just 4-for-13 from the field. The Utes' biggest accomplishments in that game were holding guard Wink Adams to 11 points on 3-for-11 shooting, and shooting nearly 50 percent while making 23 of 28 free throws -- including 10 straight in the final two minutes.