Utes lose rivalry game

My Utah Runnin' Utes (10-15, 3-8 MWC) lost yesterday afternoon at #7 BYU (24-2, 10-1 MWC) by a score of 72-59. BYU's Jimmer Fredette led all scorers with 23 points and Charles Abouo added 22 for the Cougars. Will Clyburn led Utah with 18 points and Chris Kupets came off the bench to add 14.

I was proud of the Utes for playing so hard and thought they really executed their stuff well for most of the day. I was impressed with how well they got back on defense to prevent transition baskets for most of the game as well as with the way they slowed up the pace of the game and made it more of a grinder. Utah played really played good defense and showed a lot of energy on both ends of the floor. I thought freshman J.J. O'Brien did a really good job on Fredette.

However, the Utes ran out of gas after having the game tied with under 10 minutes to go and BYU came through with enough plays to win, which is what good teams do. I was happy the Utes played so hard, but at the end of the day, it's still a loss. It doesn't appear that Coach Jim Boylen has lost the team and they still seem to be playing hard. If they play this hard the rest of the year, I would probably be cool with having him back next year. It certainly was a much better effort yesterday, than it was earlier in the week when the Utes were pounded by 32 points at #6 San Diego State (25-1, 10-1 MWC). Utah has five games left in conference play and they really need to take the bull by the horns and compete in all of them -- they definitely have the talent to do so. The Runnin' Utes next host Wyoming (9-16, 2-9 MWC) on Wednesday night.