Utah Utes basketball: Boylen says Drca's not dirty player

Utah coach Jim Boylen would never say he has a favorite player on his basketball team, but you can bet guard Luka Drca would be near the top of his list.

Boylen often says he "loves" the 6-foot-5 junior, particularly because of his toughness and the way he runs the team from the point. In fact if Drca hadn't sat out for nearly all of the Idaho State game and all of the California game because of a sprained ankle, the Utes would likely be 7-2 right now instead of 5-4.

So it was obviously difficult for Boylen to choose to be without his starting point guard for two important in-state games. But he felt he had no other choice but to suspend Drca for two games after Drca's flagrant tripping of Oklahoma star Blake Griffin in Saturday's game at Oklahoma.

Boylen didn't play Drca much the rest of the game after the incident and didn't say anything afterward, because he didn't realize the seriousness of it.

"I saw the tape Saturday night and knew I had to do something," Boylen said.

As often happens in these cases, Drca was retaliating for something, getting smacked in the face by the Sooner big man on the previous play.

"That still doesn't make it right," Boylen said. "He blatantly tripped the guy. He could have been hurt."

While most people on newspaper boards in Utah and Oklahoma applauded Boylen for the two-game suspension, some wondered why one game wasn't enough.

"I didn't think one game is a strong enough statement," he said. "That was a deliberate play."

Boylen pointed out that Drca isn't a dirty player, even though he was suspended by the Mountain West Conference last year for an elbow to a TCU player that was picked up on tape afterward.

"He's never had an incident in practice of any kind," Boylen said. "But sometimes in games he gets too competitive."

HIGH IN RANKINGS: The RealTime RPI still loves Utah, despite its three-game losing streak.

The Utes are ranked No. 35, ahead of both Utah State (37) and BYU (43), because of their tough nonconference schedule. Utah's schedule ranks No. 16 in the country in RealTime RPI.

The USA Today Sagarin rankings aren't quite as kind to the Utes, putting them at No. 49 with a schedule ranked No. 28 in the nation. In those rankings, BYU is the best in the MWC at No. 21, while Utah State is No. 44. The next best MWC team is UNLV at No. 66.

POOR SHOOTING: The Utes recent three-game slide has dropped them in national statistical categories.