Utah Utes basketball: Utes nearly flawless in MWC opener

After Utah's emotional, gut-wrenching victory over nationally ranked Gonzaga on Wednesday night, the fear for many was that the Utes would forget to show up Saturday afternoon when Wyoming came to town for the two teams' Mountain West Conference opener.

It didn't happen, though, as the Utes jumped on the Cowboys early and cruised to a 91-67 victory at the Huntsman Center.

In winning their third straight game and improving to 9-5 on the season, the Utes actually put up some of their best numbers since Jim Boylen became head coach a year ago.

The Utes shot 60.4 percent from the field, including a blistering 72 percent in the second half, and passed out 20 assists. They also handily won the rebound battle, 39 to 25, and held Wyoming to just 35 percent shooting from the field.

Individually, Luke Nevill had his seventh double-double of the season with 29 points and 13 rebounds as well as a career-best five blocked shots. Carlon Brown barely missed a triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, while Tyler Kepkay and Shaun Green each came up with two steals in addition to scoring 16 and 12 points, respectively.

"I'm proud of my team for responding from a big home win to getting another big home win," Boylen said. "This league is as tough as it gets and league play is a grinder. I love winning the rebound game, I love winning the free-throw attempt game and I love having 20 assists on 32 baskets."

Boylen didn't mention last year's game at Laramie, Wyo., where he became upset with a last-second lob for a dunk after the game had already been decided, but one of his players did.

"It was a little bit of a revenge game," said Brown. "Coach showed us a clip of the lob at the end up in Laramie, and that kind of motivated us and helped us get off to a good start."

Boylen and Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer have apparently buried the hatchet from their confrontation after that game last March, as they talked amiably on the court after the game and walked down the stairs of the arena together after each had finished their radio shows.

But any motivation helps, and the Utes may have used it to get rolling early, grabbing leads of 17-6 and 32-18 before settling for a 40-30 halftime advantage.