Utes lose yet another nail-biter

ALBUQUERQUE — If only J.R. Giddens hadn't gotten healthy for Saturday's game, perhaps the Utah basketball team might have picked up its first Mountain West victory.

Instead, Giddens, who sat out the two previous New Mexico games, both losses, with a foot injury, showed up and scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Lobos to an 86-82 overtime victory in The Pit.

That's right, it was still another close loss for the Utes, who have now lost three games in overtime and a bunch more that went down to the final seconds.

The Utes overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and actually had a chance to win in regulation, but botched the possession, getting a wild shot in traffic by Johnny Bryant and a desperation 3-point try by Shaun Green.

Then in overtime, the Lobos scored on six straight possessions to take the win and improve to 12-7 on the year.

As well as Giddens, a transfer from Kansas, played, Ute coach Ray Giacoletti felt like it would have been a victory for his team if it had played better defense and not allowed so many offensive rebounds for the Lobos.

"It's not about one guy going off," he said. "We need to be able to guard possessions without bailing them out with fouls and then be able to rebound balls. That's what wins or loses ball games. One guy isn't going to beat you."

The game was a battle of beleaguered coaches and bottom-feeders in the MWC. Like Utah, the Lobos were 0-3 coming into the game and like Giacoletti, UNM coach Ritchie McKay has been under fire from the local fans. Both teams came in desperate for a win and perhaps the Lobos were a little more desperate, playing at home.

The Lobos led by 15 points early in the second half after taking a 37-25 halftime lead, but like they've done so many times this year, the Utes fought back.

Green, who was scoreless in the first half, sank four 3-pointers in the second half and Johnnie Bryant and Ricky Johns heated up with some threes. The Utes also got huge lifts from a couple of freshmen, center David Foster and point guard Curtis Eatmon, who each had their best games of the year.

While Bryant and Green led the way with 19 and 14 points, respectively, Foster came in for a foul-plagued Luke Nevill and scored eight points, while grabbing nine rebounds in 17 minutes. Before Saturday, he had only played 27 minutes all season.

Eatmon scored 11 points and had five assists and five rebounds in 25 minutes and made one move near the end of regulation that had NBA scouts on press row shaking their heads in amazement.

The Utes were down three when Eatmon drove in from the left side and leapt high over the Lobos inside players and dropped it in the net with a nifty finger roll. Then he made the free throw to tie it at 73-73 with 41 seconds left.