Utah Utes basketball: Utes facing a must-win scenario against Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. — For the Utah men's basketball team, tonight's game is a must-win of sorts.

A victory over Wyoming at the Arena-Auditorium could solidify the Utes' position in the top half of the Mountain West Conference race and almost ensure they don't fall below .500 again this season.

The Utes stand 10-9 overall and 3-2 in MWC play going into tonight's game. They face a Cowboy team that has lost three straight, but has also had a week to prepare for this game.

With a tough game against 20-1 BYU in Provo looming Saturday, the Utes are on the verge of falling below .500 again with a loss tonight.

"Obviously this is a huge road swing for us," said Ute coach Jim Boylen. "This will be a big challenge for our team."

Boylen and the Utes believe they are a better team than they've shown this year because of injuries and still feel they can match last year's 12-4 MWC mark. In order to do that, though, they need to win the rest of their home games and beat the bottom four teams in the league — TCU, Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming — on the road.

Wyoming's third-year head coach, Heath Schroyer, has built a team that likes to speed up the game, pressure opponents all over the floor and use the 7,000-foot altitude in Laramie to its advantage.

"I'm very concerned about their speed, athleticism and quickness," said Boylen. "They're as quick and athletic as anybody in the league. The tempo they like to play at is fast. Their pressure defense concerns me and we cannot have turnovers for touchdowns. We have to get our butts back in transition and make them play through us and not by us."

The Cowboys will be without their leading scorer, Afam Muojeke, who is undergoing surgery today to repair a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee. He injured it during the first half of last Wednesday's loss at BYU. He ranked second in the league in scoring at 17.9 and was last year's MWC freshman of the year.

With Muojeke out, the Cowboys will rely on A.J. Davis (10.9 ppg), Adam Waddell (10.7 ppg) and Djibril Thiam (9.8 ppg) for much of their scoring. Boylen is also wary of Desmar Jackson and JayDee Luster, a pair of what he calls "jet, waterbug-type guys," who the Utes may have a hard time guarding.