Knowing coach Jim Boylen, you'd figure he would be jumping out of his suit after a landmark victory like the 66-65 win his Utes delivered over No. 16 Gonzaga at the Huntsman Center tonight.

Yet he was remarkably composed in his post-game interview, though he hardly downplayed the victory's value.

"It's big," he said. "I just think it talks about progress. Guys, we're a developing, growing program. It talks about the progress we've made, it talks about my guys winning a close game, and it's growth. When you beat a quality opponent and it's a Top 25 team, it's a national game. And for Utah to win a national game is what we've been striving for. It's why we built the schedule. It's what I want this program to be, is a national program. So it's a big deal."

In their first home game against their old coach -- several former players such as Tim Drisdom and Johnnie Bryant attended the game, and visited with Ray Giacoletti afterward -- the Utes delivered the biggest victory for their new one by playing good defense and making free throws down the stretch.

The Utes made but a single basket in the last nine minutes, in fact, but hit their last 10 free throws in a row and hold Gonzaga's two leading scorers, forwards Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye, to 18 points on 8-for-29 shooting. In all honesty, they both looked terrified to venture into the lane against 7-foot-2 Luke Nevill, and the Bulldogs made just 2 of 13 free throws amid their 35 percent shooting.

"We kind of got in their heads a little bit, and they were hesitant and they weren't playing their game," Nevill said. "That was because of our defense."

The Utes also took a big step in winning a close game against such a highly regarded team. They had been 2-10 under Boylen in games decided by five points or less or in overtime.

Amusingly, the Utes made sure the public-address announcer did not introduce the assistant coaches, as usual, presumably to avoid giving the fans a chance to boo Giacoletti. But Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, who made it to the game a few hours before tip-off, his pregnant and overdue wife having still not given birth back home in Spokane, defended Giacoletti against the general perception that he ruined the Utes in his three seasons coaching them.

"He is a very, very, very good basketball coach," Few said. "I don't know that that's understood around here. It needs to be. I don't think it was easy for him [to come here], but he handled it like he handles everything, with incredible class. He only knows one way, and that is to work hard. He doesn't really focus on the other peripheral things."

Next up, Heath Schroyer and the alley-ooping Wyoming Cowboys. Happy New Year!

So how's this for a bizarre scenario -- former coach Ray Giacoletti returns to the Huntsman Center for the first time since effectively being fired nearly two years ago, only to wind up taking charge of the Gonzaga Bulldogs against the Utes tonight instead of just working as an assistant coach.

Impossible?

Well, probably.

But considering that head coach Mark Few evidently did not come to town with the Bulldogs on Tuesday because his wife is pregnant and ready to give birth at any time back in Spokane, it's not out of the question that he won't make it for the game. In that case, one of his assistants would have to take over against the Utes, who are generally about 5-point underdogs in their pursuit of back-to-back home wins.

That probably would be associate head coach Leon Rice ... but wouldn't it be something if Rice somehow did not assume that role, and Giacoletti wound up in charge?

Talk about intrigue!

One thing working against that delicious possibility is the fact that the Bulldogs travel on a chartered airplane -- they're in their second year of doing that -- meaning that Few isn't beholden to any commercial schedule. That's an unusual (and expensive) perk for a college basketball team, but one that obviously has its benefits in situations precisely like this one.

Still, it's fun to dream ...

The Utes play the No. 16 Gonzaga Bulldogs at home on Tuesday, so maybe forward Shaun Green will pull out of his shooting slump.

Green has had a hard time making shots lately, particularly on the road. He's shooting just 36.4 percent in the last five games overall, and a miserable 26.3 percent -- including 4-for-15 from three-point range -- in the three road games in that span.

Which means he has hit 50 percent in two home games.

Coach Jim Boylen said part of the problem is defenses refusing to leave Green (and point guard Tyler Kepkay, for that matter), knowing how well they can shoot. Consequently, Boylen said, that strategy has allowed forward Carlon Brown more room to drive to the basket -- something reflected in Brown averaging 12 points and 5.6 rebounds in the last five games, while shooting 55.8 percent.

"Teams would rather give up a two than a spacing three to Kepkay or Green or [Jordan] Cyphers," Boylen said. "What we try to do is read the defense, read the coverage, and make plays out of it. What we hope they can't do is stop Carlon Brown, and stop Luke [Nevill] and take away threes. They have to pick their poison, and our job is to make those decisions and find the open guy."

For the first time since he was effectively fired from the Utes nearly two years ago, former coach Ray Giacoletti will return to the Huntsman Center as an assistant with Gonzaga when the No. 16 Bulldogs visit on New Year's Eve.

But coach Jim Boylen is downplaying it – "this is not going to be about Ray Giacoletti coming back," he said -- at the same time he praised Giacoletti as a "good man" and "nothing but classy."

"He's never had a negative thing to say about my players here or what we're trying to do," Boylen said. "He has said a number of times to me, over the phone and in person, 'I want that group of guys to be successful.' He has been nothing but classy, with everything, and I give him a lot of credit for that."

Boylen said he most recently spoke with Giacoletti in the fall, perhaps two months ago, and "it's a good relationship. Every time I've talked [to him], it's, 'How my guys doing? How are they doing? How are they doing? Are they getting better? I like what you're doing with them.' He has been very, very supportive."

Admittedly, it wasn't an ideal time to ask Andre Miller about the Utes, after his Philadelphia 76ers lost badly to the Jazz last night at EnergySolutions Arena. But still, Miller was surprisingly -- to me, anyway -- reluctant to talk much about his old team.

He did say that it's hard for him to follow the team -- "I might click on the Internet now and then," he said -- and has not seen them play this season. He also said that he did not know coach Jim Boylen when Boylen was an assistant coach in the NBA, but has met him a couple of times.

The verdict?

"He's cool," Miller said.

And there you have it. Maybe if the Sixers weren't riding a four-game losing streak ...

The Utes can't enjoy a record any better than last season, before playing their first Mountain West Conference game. But coach Jim Boylen does believe they have endured enough adversity so far that they will be ready for the league.

"We've been through some adversity already," he said today during his weekly press conference. "And looking at other teams' schedules and their records, I think there are some teams in our league that haven't been through a whole bunch of adversity yet."

Hello, Wyoming?

The team the Utes will meet in their league opener at the Huntsman Center on Saturday -- in the first meeting since Boylen angrily confronted coach Heath Schroyer over a meaningless alley-oop dunk last season -- has a pretty impressive 9-2 record, but the Cowboys have played only the 327th-ranked schedule, according to RealTimeRPI.com.

There are 343 teams in Division I.

But Boylen wasn't picking on the Pokes. He named no names, in fact, though it wouldn't be hard to notice 7-3 Air Force, playing the 339th-ranked schedule, or even the rival Brigham Young Cougars -- getting votes in the AP Top 25 with a 10-1 record against the 174th-ranked schedule. Wake Forest will help the Cougs this weekend, at least.

"Every good team, every quality team, championship team, has to go through some of that [adversity] at some point in the season," Boylen said. "We"ve been without one of our better players for basically four games. That's a big deal. I don't know how may teams have been through that. We've played on the road, a ton. I don't know how many teams have done that. We've played ranked opponents, when maybe we weren't picked to win. I don't know how many times teams have done that. All those things add to your toughness, your psyche.

"Every team goes through moments of doubt, moments of, 'How good are we?'" Boylen added. "We've found that out. We've had to clean things up that we don't do well. We've had to get better at things that got exposed against maybe a quality opponent, where maybe they wouldn't have against somebody else. I don't know how many, if all of the teams in our league have been through that. And I think that's important at this point in the year. ... All the things that we're going to see in the next three months, we've seen."

Certainly, we could have seen it coming, but the Gonzaga Bulldogs will be coming to visit the Utes with a lot less national luster than if their upcoming game had been played a week or two ago.

The Bulldogs plummeted nine spots to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 released today, after losing 77-70 at home to Portland State last week. Evidently, the Bulldogs didn't have anybody who could guard 5-foot-6 guard Jeremiah Dominguez, who buried seven three-pointers and set up a deciding three-pointer for a teammate in the final minute.

Gonzaga has lost three of four games since a 7-0 start that conjured speculation that it might have the best team in school history.

"We've got to tighten everything up," guard Steven Gray told reporters. "We've been letting things slide. We've been getting away with things. ... We have to get back to the basics that got us where we were at."

You know, you sort of forget what a terrific all-around game center Luke Nevill enjoyed in the victory over UC Irvine last weekend, until you look at the numbers again … say, in the release announcing Nevill's second Mountain West Conference player of the week award of the season?

Nevill earned the honor today, after recording back-to-back double-doubles against Utah State and Irvine.

The 7-foot-2 senior had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the 66-64 loss to the Aggies, which is obviously a tremendous performance. His work against the Anteaters, on the other hand, might not have been as dazzling, but showed how much he can do in all phases of the game, even in spite of a few ugly possessions in the post early in the game.

Nevill scored 11 points in the 60-52 victory, and grabbed 10 rebounds. Not only that, he blocked a career-high four shots -- a couple of them with particular savagery -- and handed out three assists and made a steal. Talk about a good night's work.

We were just about finished interviewing guard Lawrence Borha about his 18-point performance in the win at UC Irvine last night when center Luke Nevill called his teammate back into the locker room, along with everybody else.

He wanted to apologize.

Nevill had lost his cool a bit late in the 60-52 victory at the Bren Events Center, yelling at forward Shaun Green for not getting him the ball, then angrily flipping a folding stool into the air when he reached a timeout huddle. Green was barking right back, and teammate Luka Drca stepped between the players just to make sure the spat did not escalate.

"I got kind of frustrated," Nevill said later. "I wasn't getting the ball, and I was just afraid the team was kind of like separating from me" after his outburst. "I just wanted them to realize that I care about them, and I want us to be successful and sometimes I get frustrated when I don't get the ball when I think I'm wide open. We're working on that, and I just wanted to kind of bring the guys together."

And that's growth, as far as coach Jim Boylen is concerned.

Ever since he took the job, he has been urging all of his players to play with more fire and passion -- something Nevill was definitely doing, even if he misdirected his fury somewhat at a teammate. That Nevill was demanding the ball was a promising sign, too, illustrating how much he believes he can do the job for the Utes at crucial moments.

But it's a two-way street, too.

While the Utes occasionally have difficulty getting the ball inside to Nevill, the 7-foot-2 center doesn't always do great things with it when they do, turning it over or forcing bad shots just often enough to sometimes give his teammates pause. He's not always as open as he believes, either, and probably doesn't post up often enough as deep as coaches would like.

Nevill acknowledged all of that, though, and impressed his coach by responding after the game the way he did, after scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and having short one-on-one meeting with the coach.

"It was growth," Boylen said. "It's leadership. It's supporting guys. It's pulling people together."

Touch of bad news for the Utes.

Highly regarded prep guard Allen Crabbe, who visited campus recently and was high on coach Jim Boylen's wish list, has committed to Cal of the Pac-10 Conference, instead, according to several recruiting services.

Crabbe is a 6-foot-4 star for Price High School in the Los Angeles area who's regarded as one of the premier shooters in the West. Coincidentally, he picked a team that beat the Utes 72-69 on a late three-pointer nearly three weeks ago.

It's probably worth noting that the Utes did not get a great deal of benefit from beating UC Irvine 60-52 last night.

The Anteaters were the worst team the Utes have faced this season, ranking 301st in the Ratings Percentage Index, according to RealTimeRPI.com. As a result, the Utes actually fell in the ratings, to 43rd, with the 34th rated strength-of-schedule.

It's a problem the Utes won't face again for while; they play No. 7 Gonzaga next at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, followed by Wyoming, LSU and San Diego State -- teams with a combined 36-8 record, at the moment.

It's hardly a mystery that the Utes started to wobble this season when starting point guard Luka Drca was hurt, then suspended. So it was a relief to finally have him back in the starting lineup for a 60-52 victory at UC Irvine on Saturday night.

"Everyone wants to talk about his offense, and his contribution there," coach Jim Boylen said. "But that's never been the issue with me. It's been the defense -- a big guy, who takes pride in his defense. Length, toughness, and you see what it does."

The Utes held the Anteaters without a basket for 10 minutes of the second half, and ultimately kept them to just 35 percent shooting -- something they had not done since winning at Missouri State a month ago during their five-game winning streak.

In fact, the Utes have held teams to just 37 percent shooting in the games in which Drca has played, while allowing 43 percent shooting when the junior has not been on the floor -- including most of the previous five games, which included four losses.

And though offense is not Boylen's top concern, Drca delivered it, anyway, against the Anteaters. He scored 12 points, handed out four assists, grabbed two rebounds and committed just one turnover in 27 minutes. With that kind of production, freshman Jace Tavita can probably expect a lot more four-minute nights until next season.

Better still, Drca came through in the clutch by making four straight free throws in the final 80 seconds, after UCI had cut the lead to six points. That was huge for a player who missed crucial one-and-one free-throw opportunities last season in losses to New Mexico and San Diego State.

"He's been in those situations a few times where we can win the game -- up four, up five -- and he missed those," Boylen recalled. "Today, he made them. That was a big step for him."

We're only a few minutes from tip-off between the Utes and UC Irvine here at the Bren Events Center, and the red-clad Utah fans are making a pretty good showing in a mostly empty arena.

One big reason is probably forward Carlon Brown, who played at nearby King High School in Riverside and will be going against a former prep teammate tonight. UCI's Eric Wise is a freshman -- a year behind Brown -- and leads the Anteaters by scoring 11.6 points per game, while fellow King grad Rashaad Ubah is a walk-on who has yet to play in a regular-season game.

That probaby explains all of the King High School sweatshirts I saw on the way into the arena, as well, and the big cheer Brown enjoyed during pre-game introductions.

Welcome back, and we hope everybody had a wonderful holiday!

Now, the Utes will resume their pursuit of the kind of consistency that helped them win five straight games earlier this season, especially with Mountain West Conference play right around the corner.

They're favored by about 12 points at UC Irvine tonight, where they meet a team that is only 2-9 after losing its first six games.

Normally, you'd say that's a sure thing for the Utes, who have never lost in eight tries against the Anteaters. But there are no sure things for any team that can lose to both Southwest Baptist and Idaho State.

The Utes are hoping that the return of junior point guard Luka Drca helps steady the team, and that they can rediscover their shooting touch -- both from outside and the free-throw line in the clutch. A few more rebounds wouldn't hurt, either; the Utah State Aggies beat them for three offensive boards that led to their last seven points in a controversial, two-point victory in Logan five days ago.

It might not be quite a must-win, with the entire league schedule still ahead. But a loss tonight could really mean trouble for a team that still have No. 7 Gonzaga and LSU coming up in the next two weeks.

One final thought before putting the blog on holiday hold until the weekend ...

Forward Carlon Brown continues to show that he's by far the Utes' best play-maker. Not only did he throw down another hellacious dunk in the loss at Utah State last night, but he basically took over point guard duties down the stretch, and made an absolutely clutch driving lay-up to tie the game with 30 seconds left.

"He continues to make play after play after play," coach Jim Boylen said. "I'm proud of him. He's a big-time player."

Brown finished with 11 points, and it should also be noted -- after wondering what had become of him the past few games -- that forward Kim Tillie pulled down 10 rebounds to help the Utes win the rebounding battle for the first time in five games, though they really could have used a couple more in the final two minutes.

And just so you know, the Utes are all planning to have dinner at Boylen's house on Christmas Day -- catered, he said, because he did not want to volunteer his wife to cook. "I want to keep my marriage together," he joked. Inexplicably, though, he refused to tell me what time to be there. Better show up early, just in case ...

Happy Holidays!

So, you're bummed out about the loss, right? Needing some holiday cheer? We have just the thing.

Looks like at least one influential commentator thinks quite highly of the Utes and their challenging schedule, with ESPN's Joe Lunardi figuring them for an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament against Villanova in Kansas City, Mo.

Wouldn't that be something?

Obviously, Lunardi believes that playing what so far has been the 14th-toughest schedule in the country counts for a lot -- Lunardi has six of Utah's opponents reaching the tournament -- and that the Utes will reap some benefits once they enter Mountain West Conference play. Four of their five losses have come by a grand total of 10 points, too, and their opponents have a combined winning percentage of .659, presuming you count league opponents twice, to account for both upcoming meetings.

Given all of that, it's instructive to remember that the Oregon Ducks, for example, reached the NCAA Tournament last season with only 18 wins, the 38th-strongest schedule and a Ratings Percentage Index ranking of 61. Right now, the Utes are 36th in the RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com, suggesting they might be a lock for the tournament if they can win another dozen games, even if they fall short of the conference tournament championship.

Now, don't you feel a little better about things?

Nobody could have missed the shouting match between coach Jim Boylen and counterpart Stew Morrill of Utah State during the game last night, but neither of the principals was willing to talk seriously about it after the game.

Asked about him and Boylen getting into it, Morrill asked reporters: "Did we get into it?"

For his part, Boylen facetiously described what was said during the heated exchage in the first half and forced referees to call the men together and tell them to calm down. "I said to him, 'Man, we had a hell of a storm, driving up here today,'" Boylen said. "He said, 'I'm glad you guys made it in.'"

In the aftermath of the controversial finish to the Utes' 66-64 loss at Utah State last night, it's worth noting that the Utes had lobbied the referees to add time back on the clock during an Aggie timeout with 17 seconds left.

The refs gave them about one second, resetting to 18.

But it's dubious to suggest that extra second cost the Utes a victory, just because Utah State's Tai Wesley made a tip-in with -- evidently -- only 0.1 seconds left at the Smith Spectrum. Rather, the Aggies probably would have simply allowed that extra second to run off the clock before beginning their final play with the same time remaining that they did.

What mattered more, no doubt, was the missed free throws in the final 90 seconds.

The Utes missed two that could have turned into three points -- guard Lawrence Borha missed the front end of a one-and-one -- and forced the Aggies to try a lot lower-percentage play at the end, just to force overtime. The different time-and-score scenarios that would have resulted from that almost certainly would have dictated a different sequence of events over the final minute, too, and certainly could have played out even more strongly in favor of the Utes.

Not long after rowdy fans chanted that he should be in anger management, coach Jim Boylen did not want to let his obvious fury get the better of him in the moments after the Utes lost at Utah State tonight.

First, he waved off waiting reporters. Then, he paced the hallway, and consulted with his assistants. Finally, he steadfastly declined to say much of anything about the final play in a 66-64 loss in the Smith Spectrum that had so infuriated him on the sideline that he appeared ready to leap over the scorer's table and strangle the clock operator.

"Great game," he said, resolutely. "Great rivalry game. That's how it should be played. Glad I was a part of it. Disappointed we lost. Not discouraged. I have a good basketball team, I've said that all along. I have a good basketball team. We're going to get better, we're going to keep growing. I like my team. I like the way we battled."

Indeed, the Utes impressively fought back from an 11-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes, just when the Aggies and their pulsing crowd seemed to have them on the run. Center Luke Nevill led the way, scoring eight of his 25 points in less than three minutes to tie the score 59-59 with 3:36 remaining, and the Utes put the finishing touches on a defensive effort that held the Aggies to 41 percent shooting -- a season-low at home for a team that had been leading the nation by hitting 52.9 percent of its shots.

But then the Utes missed crucial free throws that Boylen said would have won the game.

Nevill missed one with 1:29 left that would have cut the lead to one, and guard Lawrence Borha missed the front end of a one-and-one just 20 seconds later when he could have tied the game by making two shots. "We make our free throws, the game's over," Boylen said.

Instead, of course, it got away.

Utah State's Tai Wesley scored a putback in the final 2.4 seconds of a tie game -- even though the game clock failed to start, nearly sending Boylen into cardiac arrest as he screamed at the clock operator on the sideline and the fans roared in celebration.

Referee Randy McCall and his colleagues Tom O'Neill and Eric Curry said they pushed the buttons on the timing devices they wear on their belts to start the clock on the decisive play, but they didn't work. "Sometimes, there are malfunctions," McCall said. The courtside clock operator, who is supposed to back-up the electronic system, did not start the clock, either.

Referees then consulted the video replay, with McCall saying he timed the final play five times. The first three times, he said, he stopped his stopwatch at 2.3 seconds. "I couldn't do that if I tried to," McCall said.

That meant the Utes would have just 0.1 seconds to try to work a miracle with a tip-in at the rim, and Shaun Green's long inbounds pass came up far short, and the Utes were left to digest a sixth straight loss in Logan, and a fourth in five games overall this season.

"We shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with," Nevill said.

With point guard Jace Tavita due to make probably his last start for awhile tonight against Utah State, it's worth noting that he enjoyed his most productive performance in the victory over Weber State on Saturday.

The freshman handed out a career-high four assists (though he committed three turnovers), grabbed two rebounds, blocked two shots and made a steal in 18 minutes of the 74-64 victory at the Huntsman Center. That was more than he had done in his previous three games combined, in place of injured and suspended Luka Drca.

Drca is serving the second game of his two-game suspension tonight, and should be back in the starting lineup when the Utes play at UC Irvine on Saturday.

Oh, and if anybody has seen Kim Tillie, will you please call the number on the back of the milk carton?

Though the 6-foot-10 forward had started the season well, he has all but disappeared lately, averaging just 1.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in his last five games -- including a scoreless and reboundless 17 minutes against the Wildcats.

It should be interesting to see how coach Jim Boylen feels about playing Utah State in the Spectrum tonight in Logan, after asking reporters during his weekly press conference “is it really tougher?” than some of the other places the Utes have played so far.

"A lot of guys in the profession tell me don't schedule that game," Boylen said with a laugh. "Don't play up there. That's what I've heard most about that, don't ever play up there."

For good reason.

The Aggies are 146-12 at home under coach Stew Morrill, and the Utes have lost five straight to them in Logan, even with some of their best teams. They're 4 1/2-point underdogs tonight, too, in their second straight game without suspended point guard Luka Drca.

"We have been talking about this Utah game since the beginning of the season," Utah State's Javon Williams said, because the Aggies remember their embarrassing 72-48 loss to the Utes last season in the Huntsman Center.

The Utes will be facing former assistant coach Chris Jones for the first time, after Jones left Boylen's staff after last season to join coach Stew Morrill. In their last game, the Utes beat former assistant Randy Rahe, who's now the head coach at Weber State.

"We watched Utah some in preparing for Idaho State," Morrill said. "We're well aware of the challenge with their athleticism and size. They will come in geeked up. It should be fun. There is always a great crowd for that game. I think our fans and kids will be excited."

Well, look who's the latest No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index.

It's the Oklahoma Sooners, who beat the Utes last weekend in Norman. Not only that, but Gonzaga -- which will visit the Huntsman Center next week -- remains No. 9, even after choking away a victory against UConn on Saturday. And Cal, which beat the Utes at home, checks in at No. 10.

No wonder the Utes are holding steady at No. 35, with a schedule that ranks 24th in the country (as opposed to 243rd, like the Utah State Aggies who they will play on Monday). Now, if they can just start beating some of these higher-ranked teams, they will really take off.

It's arguably the most challenging stretch of the season until the league tournament, when the Utes get only today between their last game against Weber State and their next one at Utah State.

But you have to fit the games in, somewhere.

That's basically what coach Jim Boylen had to say about the unusual scheduling, in the wake of finals week last week. The Utes really couldn't play a game during that week -- they had played mid-week games the previous few weeks -- and needed to wedge the Aggies in before Christmas.

"It's just hard to fit them in," Boylen said. "I can't play a game, legally, during finals week. And other people have scheduling conflicts and they have different finals weeks, and you just try to fit them in."

Boylen said the Aggies did not want to play the game Tuesday because they wanted a chance to have a little longer break for Christmas -- not really a concern for the Utes, Boylen said, since many of their players live too far away to go home, anyway -- so they settled on Monday.

And it's not as if the Utes aren't getting a slight benefit out of it.

While they played the Wildcats on Saturday, the Aggies played at Idaho State -- they easily did what the Utes could not do, beating the Bengals 67-57 -- a couple of hours later than the Utes, and had to bus home late in the night. Plus, the Utes get the Aggies on a day when school is not in session, potentially mitigating the home-court advantage by reducing the number of raucous students who will attend the game.

Admit it, when Carlon Brown hoisted that three-pointer to start the game against Weber State -- again -- you thought, what are you doing? The sophomore forward is anything but a strong long-range shooter, having made just 2 of 10 three-pointers last season and none of his first six this year.

But down it went, starting the Utes on a 9-for-20 performance from long range that helped them beat the Wildcats 74-64 at the Huntsman Center tonight and validate Brown's reasoning for his recent three-point splurge -- including five attempts in the last four games, one of them to start the game at Oklahoma last weekend.

"I just feel if I'm open, I need to shoot, to keep the defense honest," he said. "I just can't have them sag off me and kind of sandwich [center Luke Nevill] with one guy in front and one guy behind him. So if I shoot it, you have to come out" and defend him.

Makes sense.

After all, not only do the Utes need to keep opposing defenses from smothering Nevill inside, but they need to keep opponents from playing off of Brown in an effort to limit his slashing and playmaking ability. If he can make some threes, defenders will have a lot harder time doing that, which could make a big difference.

Even as it is, Brown scored a career-high 19 points against the Wildcats -- had 12 of them in the first half -- and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds after coach Jim Boylen had emphasized repeatedly the need for Brown and his fellow wings to rebound better. Brown also had just two turnovers in 35 minutes.

"We feel we have a heck of a system for Carlon Brown and we feel he does a heck of a job," Boylen said. "Ten rebounds from the wing position, to me, is really, really important for us to win. That's as big a stat as there is on the stat sheet. He's a developing, improving player, and I think he's one of the better sophomores around."

Point guard Jace Tavita says he's just going to try to "do what he does" when he makes his third straight start for the Utes against Weber State at the Huntsman Center today, and the Utes are hoping they can just do what they do against the Wildcats, as well.

Which is, win.

The Utes have won seven straight in the series, and are favored by at least 14 points against the Wildcats today.

They won by 20 on the road last season, and have won 15 of 18 meetings at home -- including three straight since WSU's Jermaine Boyette dropped 27 on them eight years ago in a 79-77 decision.

Nobody has succeeded against the Wildcats like center Luke Nevill, either. The 7-foot-2 senior has averaged 17.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in three career meetings with WSU, and made 24 of 36 shots against the Cats, including an 11-for-12 shooting performance in the last meeting at the Huntsman two years ago -- though forward Shaun Green buried six three-pointers for 18 points against the Wildcats last season.

The Utes play Weber State and former assistant Randy Rahe at the Huntsman Center on Saturday in the first of three winnable games that could determine the course of the rest of the season, and coach Jim Boylen had plenty of good things to say about the Wildcats.

"Weber's improved, across the board," he said. "Panos is better, Davis is better ... McCoy is better. Hansen has come from junior college and shoots it. I think they've done a nice job with their team and playing real good basketball, so it's going to be a real good challenge for us."

The players Boylen noted are the top four WSU scorers, all between 10 and 12 points per game.

Aside from McCoy, center Steve Panos is a junior from Highland High School who also leads the team with nearly six rebounds per game, while forward Daviin Davis is averaging nearly 15 points in his last three. And Hansen is a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, where he played for current Utah assistant Barrett Peery.

In an odd coincidence, the Wildcats have players from the last two places where the Utes have lost – Hansen is from Pocatello, home of Idaho State, while Davis is a native of Norman, Okla.

The Utes have beaten the Wildcats seven straight times, and probably should expect to win two of their next three -- including trips to Utah State and lowly UC Irvine. Of course, any team that has lost at Idaho State (the Bengals have not beaten any other Division I team) probably can't count any gimmes, but the Utes will be really teetering if they can't win more than one of them, having already lost three straight.

Judging by practice, Jace Tavita is still trying to remember every page of the voluminous playbook.

But the freshman point guard said he is appreciating the "big-time learning experience" that he's enjoying as the starter in place of point guard Luka Drca. Tavita will make his third straight start for the Utes when they play host to Weber State at the Huntsman Center on Saturday.

"It's been fun," he said. "It's not often freshmen come in and start, but I've learned a lot."

The 6-foot-3 former Brighton High School star unexpectedly enjoyed his first substantial playing time of the season after Drca sprained his ankle at Idaho State – he had played only 16 minutes, to that point -- and has started against Cal and Oklahoma since then. He will get the nod against the Wildcats and at Utah State on Monday because Drca is suspended for those games.

Coach Jim Boylen said Tavita has been working hard on improving, something the player himself acknowledged he must do.

"It's such an adjustment," Boylen said. "You go from playing at Brighton High School to starting against Oklahoma, in the same year. We all go through it. We all played, we all had our first start, we all had starting to play as a freshman. There's a million things going on in your mind. What we try to do with him is keep it as simple as possible."

Tavita is a good passer who can create open shots for others, his coaches and teammates agree, but also remains prone to getting too anxious or manic when trying to run the offense.

"But when he gets his mind set to what he has to do, when he knows the play and he's comfortable with the play, he really runs it quickly and he really runs it efficiently," center Luke Nevill said. "We just have to get him more comfortable with all the plays."

Boylen said he has not considered using senior point guard Tyler Kepkay as the starter instead, in part because he believes that Tavita can benefit more from the increased reps he enjoys in practice as a starter. "Is it better for Jace to be sitting over there saying, 'When am I going in? When am I going in?'" Boylen said, "or to say, 'I'm starting the game, I have to prepare that way.' And I believe in that, for a freshman."

Coach Boylen points to his experience last season with forward Carlon Brown, who became a starter as a freshman after the injury and subsequent departure of Stephen Weigh. "Look at the dividends that is paying right now, for that guy," Boylen said.

Coach Jim Boylen has received at least one public endorsement for his suspension of point guard Luka Drca, reflecting a sentiment that his staff said has resulted in a handful of calls and e-mails from Oklahoma supporting his decision.

Boylen "deserves an attaboy for standing up" against boorish behavior, a wrtier from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote today in a piece detailing the cheap shots that Oklahoma's Blake Griffin has had to endure this season.

Drca was suspended for flagrantly tripping the star forward during a game last weekend.

Utah's director of basketball operations, Jonathan Dykema, said he and Boylen have received several phone calls and e-mails from OU fans and others applauding the coach for his stance on the incident. Drca will not play for the Utes when they play host to Weber State on Saturday, or when they visit Utah State on Monday.

During his weekly press conference today, coach Jim Boylen emphasized that his team -- particularly center Luke Nevill and wings Lawrence Borha, Carlon Brown and Jordan Cyphers -- must improve their rebounding for the Utes to return to playing the way they did during their five-game winning streak.

So I asked him whether the Utes have been outrebounded in three straight games -- all losses -- because of a lack of focus, or a lack of effort, or something else.

Boylen was quiet for several seconds, clearly deliberating his answer.

"I think you covered it," he said finally.

Boylen noted that the 7-foot-2 Nevill is grabbing more than nine rebounds in the Utes' victories, but fewer than six in the losses. He also said forward Kim Tillie needs to rebound and defend better than he has, lately.

"Luke and our wings have to rebound better,” he said. "Carlon Brown and Lawrence Borha and Cyphers have to rebound at the defensive end, and Luke has to get the balls he's supposed to get. ... I've said that since day one."

The Utes are all but finished with their final exams, and for the second straight season, coach Jim Boylen is not expecting any midseason academic casualties.

"We don't have that problem here, thank God," he said. "I'm expecting another real positive semester in school. My guys have been very respectful and attentive to [the] pressure I put on them in school. My guys go to class. My guys study. Obviously, everybody needs a kick in the butt once in a while, and I try to pick the right times to do that in school."

Boylen said the travel schedule the past few weeks, as well as his regular practice and workout demands, has made classwork challenging -- especially for the five freshmen still adjusting to college. Still, all of his players have handled their coursework well.

"I expect a solid, solid semester," he said.

Looks like Marty Wilson has one heck of a rebuilding project on his hands at Pepperdine.

The former assistant coach who left the Utes at the end of last season to become the associate head coach -- and head-coach-in-waiting -- at his alma mater is really having a hard time this season, with a team that was decimated last season by player departures and a coaching change. The Waves are 0-9 against Division I opponents so far, and are being outscored by an average of 13 points per game.

And it's not as if they're playing top competition; the Waves rank just 177th in strength of schedule, according to RealTimeRPI.com. (The Utes are 15th.)

If the Waves can't win at Cal State Northridge on Thursday night, it might be awhile before they crack the win column. Their next two games are against top-100 teams Georgia Tech and Buffalo, with two other games to follow at a tournament in Hawaii, before opening West Coast Conference play Jan. 10 against Loyola Marymount -- which is 0-10 against Division I teams this season.

Coach Jim Boylen does not believe suspended guard Luka Drca has an anger problem, and the player himself said, "I don't get angry," despite what it might have looked like when he flagrantly tripped Oklahoma's Blake Griffin last weekend -- less than a year after getting suspended for throwing an elbow into the chest of a TCU player.

"He's never had any of those things in practice," Boylen said. "He's never cheap-shotted anybody in practice, never tripped anybody in practice. And I want that said, because this is not a guy who needs anger management. People are saying, 'Well, does he have a problem?' He doesn't have a problem. … Bad judgment, twice."

Just back from an ankle injury, Drca will not play for the Utes when they host Weber State at the Huntsman Center on Saturday, or when they visit Utah State on Monday night, leaving inexperienced freshman Jace Tavita to continue as the starter at point guard for a team that has lost three straight since a five-game winning streak.

Drca acknowledged he did not like Boylen's decision to suspend him, which Boylen issued in no uncertain terms, saying he cannot condone that kind of behavior in his program. But "it was a coach's decision," Drca said, "so I have to agree with him."

It's that kind of maturity and respect for authority that Boylen believes helps illustrate that Drca is not a bad guy.

Having grown up in war-torn Serbia, the 6-foot-3 Drca is a well-liked member of the team who's a good student and a chemistry major. Boylen repeatedly has praised him as a tough player whom he loves for his steady demeanor and competitive fire, who now at least expects to recover completely from his sprained ankle before returning to the court.

"Didn't fight me one bit" on the suspension, Boylen said. "Understood that he can't do that at this level. Can't do that at any level. Can't do that. Luka's not a difficult guy to coach. He's not a guy who fights me on things. He understands that I'm the boss, and we're going to do it my way. And you know, for him, my way has been pretty good. I put the ball in his hands."

Though the incident with Griffin was especially glaring for its premeditation -- it occurred long after Drca took a shot from Griffin, as the players ran downcourt, unlike the heat-of-the-moment exchange with TCU's Brent Hackett last season -- Drca said he apologized to the Sooner superstar after the game.

"He said, like, everything's all right," Drca said.

In the hours after the incident, Boylen said he thought back to whether he had missed any previous indications of a problem "when I could have squelched it a year ago, three months ago." He remembered, he said, that Kermit Washington had a reputation for cheap-shotting teammates in practice before he savagely punched former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich -- Boylen's former boss -- during a brawl in 1973. He could not recall anything.

"I don't think it's a problem," Boylen said. "It's not."

Legendary Cal coach Mike Montgomery spent two years in the NBA as the head coach at Golden State, in addition to his spectacular college career, so he can quite reasonably be viewed as an expert -- even if his Warriors team was pretty bad during his ill-fated tenure.

With that in mind, I asked Montgomery last week what he thought about center Luke Nevill's prospects in the league. Nevill is leading the Utes by averaging 18.5 points and 11 rebounds in his senior season, but has long frustrated fans with what sometimes appears to be a lack of strength or desire.

"Everybody likes size," Montgomery said. "He's obviously not as strong as you'd like him to be in the NBA, but you're going to move him away from the basket with the NBA lane.

"He'll get drafted by somebody," the coach added. "I don't know [who]. ... A lot of people in the league aren't playing with big guys. It's just not the way the game is being played so much in the NBA anymore -- unless you're just a dominating size guy that can block shots and is so strong. The game is being played with more perimeter, spread out, shoot the ball, draw-kick type of thing. But there will be a place for him, and if it's the right place, he'll have success."

Point guard Luka Drca has been suspended for two games by coach Jim Boylen for intentionally tripping Oklahoma's Blake Griffin in Utah's 70-52 loss to the Sooners on Saturday.

Drca will not play when the Utes play Weber State at home on Saturday, or at Utah State on Monday.

"Luca is remorseful for his actions, but I feel that suspending him is the only thing to do," Boylen said in a statement. "His behavior was unacceptable and does not represent what our program is about."

Quick update on incoming recruit Marshall Henderson.

The 6-foot-2 shooting guard is leading all Dallas area scorers in the large-school 5-A classification this season by averaging 25.8 points per game for L.D. Bell High School in Hurst, according to the Dallas Morning News weekly rankings. Meanwhile, fellow U. recruit Shawn Glover, a 6-6 forward, ranks 15th with a 16.5-point average at Cedar Hill High School that leads his district.

The Sooners did not make a big deal about it after the game, but the Utes might have to worry about point guard Luka Drca getting disciplined for his cheap trip of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin during the Sooners' 70-52 victory on Saturday.

The players were running up the floor early in the second half when Drca clearly stretched out his leg to trip Griffin from behind, leading to an intentional foul after Oklahoma's Willie Warren confronted Drca in defense of Griffin. Fans at the Noble Center instantly turned on Drca, booing him every time he touched the ball for the rest of the game, and the incident received specific attention on ESPN.

"I just made a mistake," Drca said. "I tripped a guy. I didn't mean to, but like, I just wanted to win the game."

That's basically what Drca said when he threw an elbow into the chest of TCU's Brent Hackett last season -- "it's a bad time," he said at the time, "but I messed up" -- yet he still earned a one-game suspension from the Mountain West Conference despite not having been called for a foul.

Obviously, he was called for a foul this time, and might not escape the glare of the spotlight. The league is reviewing the play, a spokeswoman said.

If Drca is suspended again, he probably would miss only the game at Weber State next weekend, though he would hope to learn about it sooner than last time. Coach Jim Boylen was miffed that the league waited several days before announcing Drca's suspension last year, giving the Utes less time than they believed they should have had to prepare for their next game without Drca.

Have to wonder whether the Utes are going to enjoy some good national publicity in the near future, for the defensive job they did on Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin last night.

A writer from Sports Illustrated attended the game as part of her research for a piece on Griffin, and noted with astonishment how the Utes seemed to be confounding the 6-foot-10 superstar and managed to all but take him out of the game.

Griffin scored a season-low 11 points in the 70-52 victory over the Utes, did not make a basket for the first time all season and acknowledged having to battle frustration at not getting more involved. Don't be surprised if the Utes get some high-profile credit for doing something no other team has been able to do, so far.

Call me crazy, but the worst loss of the coach Jim Boylen era actually seemed fairly encouraging.

Sure, the 70-52 loss at No. 5 Oklahoma today it was the third straight loss for the Utes, and put them in further jeopardy of packing a losing record into Mountain West Conference play.

But against by far the best team they have faced all season, the Utes contained superstar Blake Griffin -- he did not make a single basket, and scored just 11 points -- fought through an atrocious start, and battled back from a 16-point deficit in the second half on the road to put themselves in position to make something happen in the final minutes.

Of course, it didn't.

The Sooners used a 12-2 run over the last five minutes to pull away, while the Utes returned to the abysmal shooting that plagued them early. But there's no shame in that. It wasn’t Idaho State they were playing. And the fact that they were able to recover from the brink of a real blowout certainly seemed to suggest that despite their recent troubles, they have not lost confidence or interest.

Shooting touch, maybe.

But not confidence or interest, and that is going to be a real key going forward.

"I'm proud of my guys," Boylen said.

He says that after every game, but it was much easier to believe tonight. The Utes now have a week off after four games in 10 days, which should have them ready for Weber State next weekend. The larger question is when they will rediscover the shooting touch that has so badly betrayed them, after a fantastic start.

The Utes made just 2 of their first 12 shots against the Sooners, and 6 of 26 in the first half, before finishing with 34 percent.

"Usually, when we shoot 34 percent, we don't win," Boylen said. "That's easy to say, you have to give them credit for that. But I think we missed a ton of lay-ups. We had 14 at our last count. Missed 14 lay-ups. So, I mean, the game was there to be had."

Good news for the Utes -- injured point guard Luka Drca returned to practice Friday for the first time since spraining his ankle last weekend at Idaho State.

Don't know whether that means there's a chance that he will play at No. 5 Oklahoma today, but either way, it's a good sign for a player who coach Jim Boylen expected to miss 10 days, at least. You'd have to guess that even if Drca doesn't play today -- the Utes are 12 1/2-point underdogs -- he would be ready for Weber State at home next weekend.

Just as encouragingly, center Luke Nevill practiced at full speed, after aggravating a hip injury during the loss at Cal three days ago.

Presumably, that means he will be able to play, just as Boylen suspected, and will be a huge help against an Oklahoma team aiming to handle its success after being picked to win the Big 12 Conference by the league's coaches for the first time this season. The 9-0 Sooners need just one more victory to equal their best start in program history.

"It's a big challenge, but it's also a big opportunity," forward Shaun Green said. "I just think a lot of us are ready to finally start playing like we did when we won five games in a row. We've had a couple of setbacks, but I think the team is still really confident in our abilities, and we just need to go in there and play."

Don't talk to forward Shaun Green about missed free throws, errant shots or flawed execution in the final seconds. To him, the Utes have suddenly slumped after a promising five-game losing streak because of poor defense.

"We need to rely on our defense," he said, heading into the game at No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday. "Our defense was so good during that five-game wininng streak, I think we just relaxed and thought it was just going to be there. We need to get back to the point where we need to bring it -- and make sure it's there, instead of just trying to fake it, I guess."

Fake it?

Wow, that's a pretty raw assessment -- though probably not incorrect, after watching the Utes allow Idaho State score 54 points in a half, among other things.

But getting healthy defensively against the Sooners is going to be a tough chore, in no small part because of superstar power forward Blake Griffin. The Utes will be fortunate, it seems, to have the same chance to win at the end that they did against ISU and Cal.

Speaking of which ...

Green also echoed several of his teammates in saying he doesn't fear that the team is falling into a pattern of failing to win close games, the way it did the last couple of seasons.

"I don't think so," he said. "I still think the team is really confident. A lot of last year and the years before was just like ... we just had a mindset, 'Oh, we're in the close game again, oh shoot, here we go again.'

"But now, we've won a couple of close games since coach Boylen has been here, and we've got a veteran group of guys who have won those close games," he said. "I feel like we understand that it was basically our mistakes that cost us the games [against ISU and Cal], and it wasn't just the fact that it was a close game and we got nervous or anything. It was just dumb, stupid mistakes that we just need to stop making."

Coach Jim Boylen did not seem to be in the most festive of moods today, as his Utes wrapped up a brief walk-through and film session -- and with good reason. It hadn't even been 24 hours since they lost another close game, and they were about to embark on perhaps their most daunting challenge of the season:

A trip to Oklahoma.

The No. 5 Sooners are unbeaten and one victory short of their best start in five years, and boast one of the best players in college basketball in power forward Blake Griffin. Stopping him figures to be a huge challenge for the Utes, who aren't yet certain who will be first in line to defend him.

Though he praised freshman point guard Jace Tavita and sophomore Morgan Grim for the way they played (albeit, scorelessly) in the first starts of their careers against Cal last night, Boylen said he's not sure whether he will stick with the same starting lineup against the Sooners.

My guess is that he puts junior Kim Tillie back in there, if only because the 6-foot-10 forward wouldn't be as physically overmatched as Grim. Regardless, both Grim and Tillie -- along with forward Shaun Green -- figure to get plenty of chances against Griffin.

"It's a huge challenge," Grim said. "Ranked team, great big guys. We're going to their place. There's no bigger challenge than that. I'm just going to go in there and do my job and work as hard as I can every second."

Didn't it seem like just a minute ago the Utes were riding a five-game winning streak and looking good?

Well, life suddenly is not so rosy.

Not only have the Utes lost back-to-back games in the final seconds, after falling 72-69 to Call at the Huntsman Center last night, and lost their starting point guard to injury, but they're headed to meet unbeaten No. 5 Oklahoma on Saturday after watched center Luke Nevill limp out of the locker room on an injured right hip.

"We can't hang our heads," forward Carlon Brown said. "We have a bigger and better opponent on Saturday that we have to focus [on] and compete against."

Nevill said he took a hit in the second half that aggravated the injury with which he's been dealing for some time, and wasn't sure whether it would affect his availability against the Sooners. "It's pretty sore right now," he said. "But we'll see how it goes. I should battle back pretty soon."

The 5-3 Utes need another hurdle to clear the way they need a hole in the head.

Judging by the way they've played the last week or so, very little seems assured with an upcoming schedule that includes home games against Weber State and Gonzaga sandwiched around road games at Utah State and UC Irvine. And if the Utes can't change their luck a little bit, they conceivably could have a losing record for the start of Mountain West Conference play next month.

So, might the Utes be turning into the team that has to win handily, if it's going to win at all?

It's certainly looking that way ... again.

For the third time this season, they lost in the final seconds after having the ball with the chance to win or tie -- falling this time 72-69 after Cal's Jerome Randle buried a three-pointer with 6.1 seconds left at the Huntsman Center tonight.

Coach Jim Boylen declined to use his final timeout at that stage, choosing instead to catch the Golden Bears back on their heels with a rush up the floor. Didn't work. Just as guard Lawrence Borha couldn't come up with big plays late in the losses to Southwest Baptist and at Idaho State, point guard Tyler Kepkay missed his desperation three-point attempt with about one second left from far beyond the arc.

"It shouldn't have come down to that, in the first place," Kepkay said.

Indeed, the best free-throw shooting team in the Mountain West Conference -- ranked 10th in the nation, in fact -- inexplicably missed 11 of its 31 free throws, and missed seven of its first eight three-point shots, as well.

But it is the end-of-game situations that continue to haunt the Utes, despite their routine practice of them.

And this latest shortcoming was ripe for second-guessing. Should Boylen have used his final timeout, to give his players a chance to set up something specific rather than be forced to create on the run -- a crunch-time skill they've never really mastered?

What about the defense on Randle?

The Utes switched on the pick-and-roll to put the athletic 6-foot-10 Kim Tillie on the 5-foot-10 point guard, but why not trap the little guy with a double-team -- especially if "everybody in the building" knew he was going to try to squeeze off a shot, as Boylen said? After all, Randle did enter the game a 62-percent three-point shooter who'd already scored 18 points on the Utes. Maybe making somebody else beat you would have been a better strategy.

Alas, those are the kind of questions that will persist, when you can't win a close game. The Utes have suffered their three losses by a total of eight points now, while their wins have come by an average margin of 17 points. Last season, they won only two games by five points or less, while losing seven either by six or less or in overtime.

So for everybody's sanity, let's hope they can turn the corner and finally start mixing in a few close victories, along the way.

Coach Jim Boylen had plenty of compliments to pay the Cal Golden Bears who visit the Huntsman Center tonight, even if counterpart Mike Montgomery has said that they’re "not out of the woods" and still working to improve their defense.

"Cal has terrific perimeter players," Boylen said. "They have athleticism and speed. Their big guys are physical. I haven't seen too many teams go down to Vegas and win by 18. ... This is a well-coached team, this is a team that's going to come in here with a lot of confidence, and they'll be ready to play."

All that, after the Golden Bears lost high-scoring forward Ryan Anderson -- the guy Boylen regarded as probably the best player the Utes faced last season.

Oh, but one frightening statistic that could make a difference tonight?

The Utes rank last in the Mountain West Conference and a miserable 292nd in the nation in defending the three-point line, allowing opponents to shoot 38.6 percent.

Even without the 16-for-32 performance that Division II Southwest Baptist hung on them in the season-opener, the Utes would be allowing 35 percent three-point shooting -- same as last season, which is harrowing because the Golden Bears lead the nation by making 50.5 percent from long range.

He's not expected to start against Cal tonight, like freshman point guard Jace Tavita. But seldom-used sophomore forward Morgan Grim is expected to see more playing time.

At least, that's what coach Jim Boylen said.

Asked this week why the former Riverton star has played only 21 minutes this season, Boylen promised that "he'll play more this week." That didn't exactly answer the question, but it's probably at least in part because starting forward Kim Tillie has not given the Utes much reason to keep him on the floor lately.

Though Boylen regards the ability of his 6-foot-10 junior so highly that he has wondered whether an NBA team might want to draft him next spring, Tillie has been all but absent the last two games, against Idaho State and Oregon. He played only 26 minutes combined, scored but one basket and two free throws, and grabbed seven rebounds total. He's shooting just 38.5 percent for the season, and commits more turnovers per minute than anybody on the team except injured point guard Luka Drca.

So look for Grim to get a little more of a chance to show what he can do.

Just a gentle reminder that tonight's game between the Utes and California really does start at 6 p.m. at the Huntsman Center, as part of a doubleheader on The Mtn. that will conclude with Boise State’s visit to Brigham Young.

But more importantly, the Utes are 5 1/2-point favorites over the Golden Bears, who are trying to shake off a blowout loss at Missouri last weekend.

"We just have to be a little tougher, we need some leadership on the floor in terms of guys getting guys where they need to be," coach Mike Montgomery said.

Sounds a little like coach Jim Boylen, doesn't it?

We profiled Montgomery -- once a potential candidate for the Utah job -- and his return to coaching in the newspaper today, and have noted all of the odd connections involving the Utes and the Montgomery coaching tree.

Speaking of which, it looks like former assistant Trent Johnson -- whom the Utes tried to hire to replace former coach Rick Majerus -- is off to a strong start at LSU, where the Tigers are 6-0 for the first time in five years.

Meanwhile, coach Ben Braun -- whose dismissal from Cal led to the hiring of Montgomery -- has Rice at 5-3 after the Owls went 3-27 overall last season, with an 0-16 record in Conference USA and a 20-game losing streak to end the season.

Talked to Cal's Mike Montgomery today, and he had some good things to say about coach Jim Boylen and the Utes.

"They play like Utah kids," Montgomery said. "And I don't know that they're all from Utah or anything like that, but they all shoot the ball, they're pretty fundamentally sound, they play hard. Jim's got them where they know what they're trying to do."

One big challenge for his young Golden Bears, Montgomery said, will be 7-foot-2 center Luke Nevill.

"If you try to do too much with Nevill, in terms of bringing too much help, they're going to find the open guy and they can shoot the ball," Montgomery said, clearly having overlooked the Idaho State film. "They look like a typical Utah team to me, with good solid kids who know how to play the game, and they play hard."

It's worth noting that Montgomery tried to hire Boylen twice as an assistant coach with the NBA's Golden State Warriors, but the circumstances never worked out.

And that was only one part of a fascinating coaching web that involves the former Stanford coach and the Utes -- who appeared in the same Final Four back in 1998.

Montgomery probably could have had the Utah job if he wanted it after former coach Ray Giacoletti was fired last year, but he told athletic director Chris Hill he wasn't interested. Hill then turned his attention to Larry Krystkowiak -- who played for Montgomery years ago at Montana -- who also spurned an offer, in order to become head coach of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.

That's when the Utes went after Boylen.

Just as coincidentally, the Utes tried to hire former Montgomery assistant Trent Johnson to replace the departed Rick Majerus three years earlier, but Johnson turned them down to stay at Nevada -- though he left just a few weeks later, to replace Montgomery at Stanford after Montgomery moved to the NBA.

Now, Johnson is head coach at LSU, which visits the Huntsman Center on Jan. 6 -- a week after Giacoletti returns for the first time, as an assistant with No. 4 Gonzaga.

It's worth noting, in the wake of coach Jim Boylen's decision to start freshman point guard Jace Tavita against Cal on Wednesday night, that Tavita will be thrown in against one of the hottest players around.

Point guard Jerome Randle has been spectacular for the Golden Bears so far, leading them by scoring 20.3 points per game.

The 5-foot-10 junior also shoots 53.6 percent from the field, an amazing 62.2 percent from three-point range, and 86 percent from the free-throw line -- in addition to averaging 4.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game, as one of five players who have started all eight games so far.

Not bad, for a kid who scored only four points and missed all four of his three-point attempts in the 67-65 home loss to the Utes last season.

Clearly, it’s going to be a big challenge for Tavita, though it might not be inconceivable that the Utes switch defensive assignments and put senior guard Lawrence Borha on Randle. On the other hand, though, that likely would put the 6-3 Tavita against 6-5 junior shooting guard Patrick Christopher, who's hardly a slouch. He scored 19 against the Utes last season, and ranks second on the team with a 13.9-point average so far this season.

Maybe that loss at Idaho State wasn't as bad as everybody thought. It earned the Utes a vote in the AP Top 25, after all.

That's right.

The Utes picked up exactly one vote in the poll that was released today, a surprising development that either suddenly gave the Utes a lot of credit for their five-game winning streak -- despite its being snapped by the Bengals -- or suggested that some voter hasn't been paying close attention.

But still, a vote's a vote -- and most fans probably would have accepted a 5-2 record at this point, even if the way the Utes have achieved it certainly was not what most people would have expected.

Coach Jim Boylen had been hoping to play point guard Jace Tavita more than he had.

But not this way.

The seldom-used freshman will start in place of junior Luka Drca when the Utes play Cal at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Boylen said, with Drca expected to miss at least 10 days after suffering a sprained ankle in the loss at Idaho State over the weekend.

"Not good," Boylen said. Drca "is a big part of our team. He's a big part of our depth. He's a big part of our decision-making process on the floor."

A former Brighton star, Tavita has played only 26 minutes this season, including 10 after Drca was injured at ISU.

But Boylen chose to use him rather than return senior point guard Tyler Kepkay to the starting lineup because Kepkey and senior forward Shaun Green "have been very productive ... very comfortable" in their new roles as substitutes.

"We brought him here to play," Boylen said of Tavita, "and he’ll be ready."

While the 5-2 Utes are trying to recover from the surprising loss that snapped their five-game winning streak, the 6-2 Golden Bears are coming off a 93-66 loss at Missouri under new coach Mike Montgomery.

Not quite a year ago, guard Lawrence Borha was suggesting the Utes turn to somebody else to win close games down the stretch, since teammate Tyler Kepkay had struggled so mightily to do so.

Well, Borha has had his chance -- twice now, this season -- and not fared any better.

The senior guard who missed a desperation runner in the final seconds of the season-opening loss to Division II Southwest Baptist, also had the ball in his hands at the end of the 72-68 loss at Idaho State last night, yet could not come through with a clutch shot.

Borha had a pretty hard time all night, in fact, getting worked over by ISU's Matt Stucki -- dude was one rebound and one assist from a triple-double -- and making his only shot of the night with 9.3 seconds left to cut the lead to one. But with the Utes down three in the final seconds, he missed another three-point attempt -- he finished 1-for-6 -- and the Bengals held on at Holt Arena.

Of course, Borha was hardly the only one who couldn't buy a basket last night, and Kepkay, in particular, looking frighteningly similar to the guy who just could not make a play at the end of close games last season.

Once the Utes had taken their 61-60 lead with about five minutes to go, in fact, Kepkay was responsible for several of their next four straight empty possessions. First, he missed a runner to beat the shot clock that would have restored the lead.

Moments later, he missed a jumper.

And with the Utes down three, Kepkay airballed a three-point attempt with 19 seconds left -- a brutal miss that would have sunk the Utes had Stucki not suffered his only missed free throw of the night seconds later. That allowed Borha to give the Utes that faint glimmer of hope, only to come up short at the end once again.

Fans should hope it's all just an aberration, after both Borha and Kepkay had started the season looking so much more confident, decisive and effective than they had been last year. If it's not, though, this season could be just as tumultuous as last year.

You knew it was going to happen.

The Utes fell hard in the Ratings Percentage Index rankings today after losing 72-68 at slumping Idaho State last night, from an impressive sixth to a less impressive 18th.

The Bengals, meanwhile, soared from 211th to 140th -- with the fourth most-difficult schedule so far, and learned to really appreciate senior guard Matt Stucki, who scorched the Utes with 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in his first game back after missing one to attend the birth of his first baby.

Of all the rotten things that happened for the Utes in their shocking 72-68 loss at Idaho State tonight that snapped a five-game winning streak -- and there were quite a few -- certainly the worst was the ankle injury suffered by starting point guard Luka Drca.

The junior was injured when he came down from a collision with ISU's Matt Stucki not even three minutes into the game at Holt Arena, and did not play again. Coach Jim Boylen called it a "big loss" because Drca was his best player against the zone defense the Bengals were using much of the time.

"That's not an excuse," Boylen said. "It's a fact. It's a big loss. Against the zone, he's our best guy. ... He was our best guy against their zone last year. He was the one guy against the zone we couldn't lose. But I'm not going to hang this one on offense, I'm going to hang it on defense in that first half."

That's certainly justified.

The Utes allowed the Bengals -- shooting only 40 percent for the season and riding a five-game losing streak -- to shoot 62 percent before halftime and surge to a 15-point lead while the Utes missed all but two of their 15 three-point attempts in the first half.

Their aim only slightly improved after halftime, and the Utes clawed back into the game by defending better, driving to the basket and looking for center Luke Nevill inside. Nevill finished with 22 points -- but none in the final five minutes, when the Utes reverted to their mostly fruitless long-range ways after taking a one-point lead.

“We fought our way back going inside,” Nevill said. “But then we settled for outside shots again and they started pulling away. So we just have to have a game plan and do things that work. ... When our shots aren’t falling, we have to do things that are solid and give us points.”

That sounded almost like a criticism, considering that Boylen had said that he did not mind his team attempting so many three-pointers -- the Utes finished 5-for-24 -- because "they weren't bad shots." The Utes entered the game making 42 percent from three-point range, second in the Mountain West.

"Hey, we're going to take those shots," Boylen said. "We're going to shoot the ball. We've got a good shooting team, one of the better shooting teams in the country. We didn't make 'em."

Still, you have to wonder whether the Utes might have fared better had they stopped bombing away after missing nine of their first 10 three-point attempts. Maybe get a little closer to the basket?

At any rate, the loss ranks as another embarrassing one for the Utes, after the season-opener against Division II Southwest Baptist. They had not lost to ISU in six tries since the 1959 NCAA Tournament, and the Bengals were ranked 211th in the Ratings Percentage Index in which the Utes had been sixth.

That figures to take a hit, now.

And Drca?

He spent most of the game watching from behind the bench with his ankle packed in ice, and Boylen said later that the injury looked fairly serious. It's just a sprain, the coach said, but it could keep Drca out for several weeks.

Incidentally, coach Jim Boylen had nothing but praise for his boss, athletic director Chris Hill, when we discussed the new practice facility the Utes are planning to build.

Having learned the benefits of such facilities in the NBA and at Michigan State, he came into his job with the Utes armed with a lot of ideas for one, and Hill has backed him at every turn. One major thing they agreed upon during Boylen's job interview, he said, was that "we both thought we could be great."

"The support of Dr. Hill in rebuilding this program has been unbelievable," Boylen said.

While you might have seen that the Utes are planning to build a fancy new practice facility soon, they have some business to take care of tonight at Idaho State.

The Utes are shooting for their sixth-straight victory against a team that doesn't figure to give them much trouble. They're listed as 12-point favorites, while the Bengals are riding a five-game losing streak -- which includes a 20-point home loss to Brigham Young last month.

Still, coach Jim Boylen is expecting to see all kinds of defenses from the Bengals at Holt Arena.

"Man, zone, full-court press, three-quarter-court trap," he said. "They have a lot of weapons in their defensive arsenal, and we're going to see them all."

Certainly, the Bengals have to try something.

The Utes rank ninth in the nation by shooting 54.2 percent, and ISU has been allowing 77 points per game. Desperation is probably the order of the day.

At least, coach Joe O’Brien will have Matt Stucki back, after the senior guard -- one of four returning starters from the team that lost 68-51 in the huntsman Center last season -- missed a 60-41 loss at Washington State a few days ago to attend the first of his and his wife's first child.

Even on the road, though, the Utes have been playing well enough that they should be able to handle this one pretty easily -- not that Boylen is taking the game lightly.

"They're going to be very physical, very tough," Boylen said. "They play very competitively. They're similar to the way we were last year. ... They're a good team that has played competitively that hasn't won, and I thought we were a good basketball team that played competitively but hadn't won. So we're expecting a hard-fought, tough, physical game."

The Utes have been playing awfully well lately, going into their game at Idaho State on Friday night riding a five-game winning streak that ranks as the longest since the Sweet 16 season four years ago.

But Jim Boylen -- coach that he is -- remains worried about perhaps the only aspect of his team's game that seems to be lacking.

"I'm still concerned about turnovers," he said. "We've had too many."

The Utes rank last in the Mountain West Conference, committing 15.5 turnovers per game. They're last in turnover margin, too. Point guard Luka Drca has been the worst offender, with 19 turnovers -- though he has 24 assists, too. Forward Carlon Brown has been the most sure-handed, with 24 assists against just seven turnovers. Brown and Drca are the only regulars with positive assist-to-turnover ratios.

"If you took away our careless turnovers -- meaning just non-focused plays -- we haven't really had any turnovers, besides charges," Boylen said. "Our non-focused turnovers are the ones that are hurting us. Other than that, we're not really turning the ball over. We've played some halves where we've turned it over three times, five times -- against a pretty good schedule."

Part of it, though, might be a product of how well the Utes have been shooting -- a league-leading 52.4 percent.

"I think sometimes we have so much confidence offensively, we play casual," Boylen said. "You can't do that, if you want to be a championship team."

Many fans might be waiting to see if the Utes are for real in their second season under coach Jim Boylen.

But a dynasty might be right around the corner.

Overstating it? Perhaps. But consider the startling similarities to former coach Rick Majerus' second season with the Utes back in 1990-91 -- so striking, they're almost creepy.

For starters, the Utes were coming off a 16-14 season in which they went 7-9 in the WAC. The current Utes were 18-15 last year, and 7-9 in the Mountain West Conference. Under Majerus, the Utes beat Oregon at home in their sixth game of the season to improve to 5-1 -- by the exact same score, 95-81, that they beat the Ducks the other night to improve to 5-1 this season.

Weird, huh?

But it doesn't end there.

Under Majerus, the Utes played Wisconsin-Milwaukee, while the current Utes beat Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Utes soon will visit UC Irvine and play Weber State at home, too, just as they did back in 1990.

On top of all that, the Utes wound up advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament that year -- but only after winning a double-overtime game in the second round of the tournament against ... none other than Michigan State and Boylen himself, then a young assistant to legendary head coach Jud Heathcote.

ESPN.com has rated the Utes as having the third-best "mid-major" recruiting class, behind George Mason and Rice and ahead of conference rivals UNLV, San Diego State, Brigham Young and New Mexico.

The network was particularly high on 6-foot-11 center Jeremy Olsen of Collins Hill High School near Atlanta. "He has outstanding mobility, agility and a high skill set for a center," ESPN.com wrote. "Olsen could become a major force in the Mountain West."

Junior-college transfers Joe Watkins of the College of Southern Idaho and Matt Read of of Collin County Community College in Texas "have the talent and experience to be major contributors for the program next season."

Tyler Kepkay, Shaun Green and Luke Nevill had the gaudy numbers, combining for 62 points in the Utes' 95-81 victory over Oregon last night at the Huntsman Center.

But Luka Drca and Carlon Brown made quite an impression, too.

While Brown had six rebounds and five assists to go with his only basket, Drca produced one of the most amazing stat lines you'll ever see -- eight points, six rebounds, nine assists and six turnovers in just 23 minutes.

And he didn't make a single basket.

Instead, Drca made all eight of his free throws, contributing to a 19-of-23 performance at the line that was just as dominating as every other part of the game for Utah. The Utes buried a dozen three-pointers, outrebounded the smaller Ducks 41-23 and scored their most points in five years.

Drca "gets pleasure from assists," coach Jim Boylen said. "Carlon Brown gets pleasure from getting an assist. That's why we're winning, because those guys enjoy making other people better. It's what we've fostered, it's what we've tried to grow. And I give them credit for accepting coaching and understanding how we want to play."

Nobody was ready to call it a "statement" victory, not with Oregon playing without its leading scorer and a slew of even tougher opponents coming up fast on the schedule.

But center Luke Nevill did allow that the Utes' 95-81 victory over the Ducks tonight was a "building block" to bigger things in the future.

"I don't always buy into the 'statement game' thing," coach Jim Boylen said. "Our season is so long, there's so many peaks and valleys. This is a step in the right direction, against a quality basketball team."

Maybe not as good as in years past.

But still, beating the Ducks was a promising achievement for the Utes. The victory extended their winning streak to five games -- longest in nearly four years -- and showed once again that they can play well at any tempo. Even without 6-foot-10 Michael Dunigan, the Ducks tried to push the pace, only to have the strategy blow up in their faces.

The Utes nailed a dozen three-pointers. They crushed the Ducks on the boards. And though freshman guard Garrett Sim erupted for 28 points, nobody else did much of anything as the Utes scored their most points since a 98-63 victory over Montana-Western almost exactly four years ago.

"We have a team that can play in a 42-40 game, or we can play in a 95-81 game, and I thought you saw that tonight," Boylen said.

Boylen said he needs to improve on giving his team credit for strong offensive performances, since he tends to focus on the defensive end, and noted the way the Utes assisted on 21 of their 32 baskets -- reasonably close to their goal of assisting on 75 percent of their hoops.

"I just like teams that share the ball," he said. "We have a willing team to pass the ball. We have a willing team to help each other, and to me, that's what it's all about. That's why I got in this business, to do that -- to play with somebody and make them better, and they make you better and you share it, open man gets the ball. I love it."

Here’s one more look from the other side on Oregon’s visit to play the Utes tonight at the Huntsman Center.

The highlights?

With their injured big men, the Ducks might have to give 6-foot-8 freshman Josh Crittle the first start of his college career, while they try to add some “new wrinkles” for diminuitive point guard Tajuan Porter, who’s shooting horribly to start the season.

Porter is hitting just 31 percent so far, and was a miserable 4-for-20 from three-point range during a two-game stretch at the Maui Invitational.

“Some of it gets to be frustration,” coach Ernie Kent said. “We put some more things in for him … to help him out a little bit, but again, as you put them in, there’s five more new plays for those freshmen to learn and have to remember again.”

By the way, speaking of the Oregon State Beavers ... a quick glance suggests former Utah forward Daniel Deane is faring pretty well for them.

After all, the 6-foot-8 sophomore from Park City is playing about 25 minutes per game as a starter and averaging 9.2 points -- that's fourth on the team -- and enjoyed a solid game with 19 points and 10 rebounds at Nevada.

Not bad, you might think, for a guy who clashed with former coach Ray Giacoletti over his role in the offense and left the Utes after one season when he and new coach Jim Boylen battled over the degree to which Deane was living up to his expectations.

But look closer.

The former Judge Memorial star is shooting just 40.5 percent from the field and 53 percent from the free-throw line. Take away his 7-for-12 shooting effort against Nevada (in one of four losses to start the season, by the way) and he's only 8-for-25 from the floor, and had a potential game-winning three-pointer blocked against Yale. He also has committed 19 turnovers in five games.

But after attempting only four three-pointers in his freshman season with the Utes, Deane has attempted 18 his 37 shots from behind the three-point line, suggesting coach Craig Robinson is allowing him to play the kind of offensive role that Giacoletti resisted. For obvious reasons, perhaps.

Are you ready for your spotlight, Luke Nevill?

The 7-foot-2 center could be poised for a big night tonight when the Oregon Ducks visit the Huntsman Center for the first in a series of big games against marquee opponents. That's because the Ducks -- who held Nevill to nine points with a double-team strategy last season -- could be without two of their biggest big men because of injuries.

Senior Frantz Dorsainvil will be out at least eight weeks with a broken bone in his wrist, which might not be such a big deal since he was playing only three minutes a game. But 6-10 freshman Michael Dunigan, who has started every game and leads the Ducks in scoring (and almost rebounding), is questionable because of a hyperextended right elbow.

Maybe that's why the Utes Utes are 9 1/2-point favorites in their pursuit of their first five-game winning streak in nearly four years.

"We've got to go play," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "It gives an opportunity for other guys to step up in the rotation."

All that having been said, the big basketball news in Oregon clearly isn't really the Ducks. It's the Oregon State Beavers who finally snapped a 25-game losing streak under coach Craig Robinson -- the brother-in-law of President-elect Barack Obama.

The Utes have started to use an interesting statistic to monitor how well they're shooting and playing defense, called "true" shooting percentage.

Basically, the stat reflects the greater value of making or preventing three-point shots -- something coach Jim Boylen likes to see in assessing his team.

For example, say a team shoots 12-for-20, but also 4-for-10 from three-point range. Its overall shooting percentage is still 60 percent, yet it has scored 28 points -- the value of 14 conventionally converted two-point possessions.

To score those 28 points conventionally, that team would need to shoot 14-for-20, thus making its "true" shooting percentage 70 percent. Obviously, the fewer three-point baskets a team makes, the closer to its normal shooting percentage its "true" shooting percentage is going to be. Conversely, the more three-pointers a team makes, the more effective it's going to be in extracting points from its offensive possessions.

To get the "true" shooting percentage, then, you divide the total number of made three-pointers by two -- reflecting the number of conventional two-point baskets their "extra" points represent -- then add that to the total number of made field goals and divide by total attempts.

Boylen picked up the stat while working as an assistant coach in the NBA, where he said teams were considered terrifically efficient if they could manage a true shooting percentage of 50 percent or so -- which puts his Utes in good territory.

So far this season, the Utes are shooting 51.2 percent overall. But because they also have made 32 of 82 shots from three-point range, they have scored points equivalent to a team that shoots 57.5 percent conventionally.

Coach Jim Boylen sounded almost apologetic at his weekly press conference today, as he explained why freshman guard Jace Tavita has not played as much as Boylen would like. But veterans Lawrence Borha and Carlon Brown have just been too "awesome" the past few games to allow Tavita much time.

"My veteran guys, my guys who have been here, have played well," Boylen said.

Hard to say which has been better, though.

While Borha ranks second on the team by averaging 12 points per game and has played a major role as defensive stopper -- he's also shooting 19-for-21 from the free-throw line -- Brown has done everything well since a sloppy first half to the season-opening loss to Division II Southwest Baptist.

Brown is averaging a modest 9.0 points, but he's leading the Mountain West Conference by shooting 67.9 percent from the floor and compiling an astonishing 5.25-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. "Borha and Brown have been awesome the last 10 days," Boylen said.