The first guy was Green, who hit five 3-pointers in the first half including a couple from behind the NBA 3-point line on the court. The next guy was Lawrence Borha, who hit a pair of threes in the first half, on his way to 19 points for the game. Finally it was Cyphers, the true freshman, who sank four 3-pointers, including three during a 1:13 stretch in the second half when the Utes extended an 8-point lead to 13.

"Cyphers plays four minutes all year and against us he makes four threes," lamented Kennedy.

Utah broke away from a 19-19 tie midway through the first half as Green, then Borha, then Green again, sank 3-pointers to push the lead to nine. The lead got as high as 12 before Utah settled for a 46-36 halftime lead.

Green was better covered after getting 17 first-half points, so he just looked for the open man. A couple of key baskets were Kepkay's high floater on the baseline to barely beat the shot clock with the Utes up seven and Borha's drive to make it 77-69 with 5:02 left.

"They have a swarming defense and I was open on perimeter," Borha said. "I saw them rushing me, so I just drove to the rack and hope to get fouled."

Nevill finished with 10 rebounds, giving him his third double-double of the year and the 21st of his career. Carlon Brown led the Utes with 6 assists and also had 6 points and 8 rebounds.

The Rebels, who outrebounded Utah 31-30, got 22 points from guard Chris Warren and 18 from David Heurtas.

When they play Morgan State today, it will be the first-ever meeting between the Utes and the Baltimore-based school.

---

E-mail: sor@desnews.com Utah 83

Mississippi 72 Utes on the air

Utah (2-1) vs. Morgan St. (2-2)

Saturday, 2:15 p.m. MST

TV: None; Radio: 700 AM