Utes' winning streak likely won't end soon

Following Monday night's four-point victory over UNLV, Utah coach Ray Giacoletti was mostly relieved but also happy that his team had played and survived a close game.

"It's good for us," he said. "Let's see what our true colors are going to be through a little adversity and having to go through some tough times."

The (20-3) Utes were able t

o see that Monday night after they seemingly were cruising to another double-digit victory thanks to one of their usual second-half rallies.

They pushed a two-point halftime lead to 11 early in the second half and still led by 10 with eight minutes left. That's when the Rebels fought back and the Thomas & Mack Center crowd suddenly came alive.

A couple of Ute turnovers led to quick baskets by the Rebels, and with a little more than two minutes left, the Ute lead was cut to just one.

However, the Utes stayed poised and never lost the lead amid the din.

They held off the Rebels thanks to some key rebounds by Bryant Markson and Justin Hawkins and with four free throws in the final 30 seconds.

"Our perimeter players did a great job of going to the glass," said Giacoletti. Hawkins (6), Richard Chaney (6) and Markson (5) each outrebounded Ute center Andrew Bogut (4) Monday night.

So now that they've experienced their first close game since December, the question is "When will the Utes ever lose?"

It's been nearly two months since Utah lost, Dec. 11 at Arizona.

Since then, the Utes have reeled off 15 straight wins, the fifth-longest streak in school history and longest since 1998-99 when the Andre Miller-Utes won a school-record 23 straight games.

That team, which also featured Alex Jensen and Hanno Mottola, went more than three months without losing before being upset by Miami of Ohio in a second-round NCAA game in New Orleans.

Looking at the Utes' remaining schedule, it's possible they could duplicate the feat of six years ago and extend their winning streak to the NCAA Tournament, in which case they would shatter the record set in 1999.

With six more MWC wins, the streak would reach 21, and three wins in the MWC Tournament would break the mark at 24. Then the Utes would be in the NCAA Tournament, likely as a No. 4 seed or better.

OK, we're getting way ahead of ourselves, and Giacoletti would be the first to put a stop to such talk. He's a typical "one-game-at-a-time" coach, and he's trying not to look at the whole picture until after the season is over.

The Utes will be favored to extend the streak to 17, which would match the third longest in history, with home games coming up against last-place Colorado State Saturday night and Wyoming Monday night. The Utes are unbeaten in 12 home games this year.