Utah coach exercises patience with young squad

Always demonstrative and intense in front of the bench, Utah coach Jim Boylen has tried to be calmer this season. His style change is tailored to his team.

The Utes are youthful, with no seniors on the active roster, and Boylen is riding out the growing pains.

"We make a lot of mistakes, but young teams do. I've been very patient with this team," he said. "It's been an up-and-down year."

The Mountain West Conference race is clearly defined at the midway point. San Diego State and Brigham Young sit on top, and Texas Christian and Wyoming are stuck at rock bottom.

Two teams in the middle of the pack meet when UNLV (16-5, 4-3) hosts Utah (10-11, 3-4) at 7:30 p.m. today at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"There's a big clog there in the middle," Rebels coach Lon Kruger said. "You've got about five teams that are bunched within about a game."

Boylen never expected the Utes, who lost several key players from last year's 14-17 team, to challenge for the championship.

"We changed this team over. We kind of rebuilt the team in the spring and summer," Boylen said. "What we planned is to be competitive this season and next year be an elite team in the Mountain West."

If Utah reaches elite status, it will do so in the new Pac-12 Conference. The Utes are departing the Mountain West after this season, and Boylen is preparing for what lies ahead.

"Obviously, we're recruiting some different guys than we would be if we're in the Mountain West. More doors are open to us," he said. "The future is pretty bright."

The recent past, two years removed from winning the MWC regular-season and tournament titles, has been a little gloomy.

Two of Boylen's top players, Carlon Brown and Marshall Henderson, transferred after last season. Brown went to Colorado and Henderson to Texas Tech.

Boylen went to work on a rebuilding plan. He recruited 6-foot-7-inch forward Will Clyburn, point guard Josh Watkins and 6-7 J.J. O'Brien, a promising freshman. Clyburn is the team's leading scorer at 18.9 points per game.

But the Utes dropped seven straight games, including 104-79 to BYU on Jan. 11, when Cougars star Jimmer Fredette scored 47 points.

"We played BYU and they smoked us at home. We didn't play that bad, but they had a guy go nuts," Boylen said. "But even during the losing streak, I think we were improving. I do like our talent level, and we have played hard."

Kruger needs no convincing. Utah beat UNLV in two of three meetings last season, and 7-3 center David Foster was a big reason why. He blocked six shots in the Utes' 73-69 victory over the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack.

"David is a big part of our team, and especially in the games in Vegas he's been a huge part of our team," Boylen said.

Foster, recovering from offseason knee problems, and 7-foot Jason Washburn pose matchup problems for the Rebels.

"I'm not going to go in there with weak stuff because he'll block it," UNLV guard Anthony Marshall said of Foster. "Going against size like that, you've got to go in strong at all times.

"We just can't go down on offense jacking up shots. We've got to get into seams and create for each other for the open looks."

Another change for Boylen is he has the Utes playing at a faster pace, and he plans to run with the Rebels.

"We are scoring more points. We're running a lot. I'm not walking it up," he said. "I've got gunslingers. I've got some confident guys. But if I clip their wings, if I hold them back, we've got nothing.

"We've got a good team. We've got to get some more wins."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.