From Deseret News archives:
Utes finish in familiar fashion
The Utes got off to a promising start and stayed with their opponent for nearly a half. But in the end, they were done in by too many defensive lapses, too many turnovers and too many scoreless stretches.
The result was an 80-54 UNLV victory in front of a raucous Rebel-loving crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday in the first round of the Mountain West tournament.
For Giacoletti and his young team, it was a disappointing, though not unexpected, end to a dismal season that saw the Utes finish with their worst record (11-19) in 23 years.
The Rebels, who improved to 26-6, shot 53.4 percent from the field, made 13 steals and went on a couple of scoring runs that the Utes couldn't answer.
"I think (their) pressure just absolutely wore us down throughout the game," Giacoletti said. "We got off to a good start, but the pressure is something that for 40 minutes we did not handle very well."
The Utes finished with 21 turnovers, which resulted in several easy baskets for the Rebels in the second half when the game got away.
"It was a ballgame early on and Utah had us on our heels a little bit," said UNLV coach Lon Kruger. "I thought midway through the first half we got a little bit of rhythm defensively and started converting some turnovers into transition opportunities. We gradually built on it in the second half."
Utah sophomore center Luke Nevill had one of his best games of the year, finishing with 26 points and 10 rebounds, reminding Ute fans what they should have to look forward to for two more years.
However, Nevill received little help from his teammates.
Freshman Daniel Deane was the only other Ute to finish in double figures with 11 points. He added six rebounds.
Otherwise, Johnny Bryant went 2-for-14 from the field for seven points, Shaun Green managed just one 3-pointer in 27 minutes with five turnovers, and senior Ricky Johns scored just two points on 1-of-5 shooting. As a team, the Utes had just six assists all night.
The Rebels were led by the coach's son, Kevin Kruger, who scored 21 points, including 16 in the first half, when he made four 3-pointers. Wink Adams and Wendell White each added 15 points, and Gaston Essengue scored 10.
After trailing 35-25 at halftime, Nevill scored seven straight points to pull the Utes within seven at 39-32. However, the Rebels countered with seven straight points to make it 46-34 and kept increasing the lead from there.
Even with a 20-point lead, the Rebels kept running and pressing and forcing Utah turnovers that pushed the lead to 26, the final margin.
The first half was very similar to the Utes' previous game against BYU, as they took an early lead before faltering. Nevill got inside with several baskets and the Utes still led after his follow shot at 23-22 with 5:29 left.
Then Kruger hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Adams followed with another to push the lead to 31-23.
After his final game as Ute coach, Giacoletti said he thanked his team for their effort and told them the tough season will help them in the future.
"You find out about yourself during the tough times," he said. "We had an opportunity this year to find out through a number of tough times. I think it shows their character to keep working hard. They're going to be better for it down the road."
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