Pictured: Will Clyburn goes in for a dunk in the Runnin' Utes' 80-71 win over Montana Wednesday night.The Utah Runnin' Utes (2-0) defeated the Montana Grizzlies (0-2) tonight in Salt Lake City by a score of 80-71. Will Clyburn led the Utes with 21 points, Josh Watkins had 20 and Jay Watkins had 18. Will Cherry led Montana with 21 points.
The Utes led most of the way and appeared to bust it open early in the second half when they stretched an 11-point halftime lead to 20, largely behind the play of Jay Watkins and Clyburn. However, the Grizzlies were able to cut into the lead by cashing in on some open 3s, being more aggressive, and grabbing more offensive rebounds. The lead got whittled down to as low as six before the Utes put the clamps on. I think Utah might have just lost some focus with such a big lead, but give Montana credit for not quitting either. The thing that stood out most to me was how quickly the Grizzlies were able to get back in the game; Utah needs to maintain focus even with a big lead.
The most important thing is that the Utes are now 2-0 which hasn't been the case the last couple of years at this time. Clyburn looks like he could be a star as he's looked really solid in the first two games. Another JC transfer, Josh Watkins, has also looked good so far at point guard. Sophomore starter Shawn Glover just didn't have it tonight, I don't know what the problem was exactly, but he just made a number of mental mistakes out there and didn't appear to be hustling as much as he should have been. Coach Jim Boylen adjusted accordingly and didn't have him out there much. We'll see if Glover can straighten it out. The Utes next play at home on Saturday against in-state rival Weber State (1-1) at 4 p.m. MT.
A word about some of the fans, in the student section in particular: At least one person at the Utah game tonight was chanting "Jimmer." I think it is stupid to degrade your rival when you aren't even playing them. Utah wasn't playing BYU tonight, there was no reason for that kind of chanting. In fact, the Utes aren't playing BYU for a couple of months. Tonight the focus should have been more on Montana. The "Jimmer" chant just seemed oddly out of place. Also out of place was a large cardboard cut-out of former BYU player Jonathan Tavernari making a funny face. Again Utah wasn't playing BYU and furthermore Tavernari has exhausted his eligibility and is no longer on the BYU team. Again, just very out of place. Utah fans would do well just to focus on the game at hand. To be fair most Utah fans are at least fairly knowledgeable about the team and what to cheer about, etc. and I enjoy associating with most of them at games. There were just a couple of things that irked me tonight, although not enough to ruin the overall experience of watching my team win.
Down the road a ways tonight, the #23 BYU Cougars (2-0) knocked off the Utah State Aggies (1-1) in Provo by a score of 78-72. I didn't watch the game but my understanding is that Jimmer Fredette was a big reason that BYU was able to come out on top, as well as a flagrant foul call late against the Aggies' Tai Wesley. This game sounds like it was tight the entire way; I thought BYU would win by 7-10 points but I didn't expect it to be a one possession game in the waning minutes. To me that shows that Utah State is a very capable team as they nearly pulled the upset in a hostile environment.
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