It's no secret why the Utah basketball team is so successful year in and year out. While the Utes usually have good players, they rarely get the great, blue-chip athletes.
What always sets Utah teams apart, at least since Rick Majerus became coach nine years ago, is superior rebounding and defense. Majerus' theory has always been that shooting can come and go depending on the game, but you can always out-rebound and out-defend your opponents.That's what the Utes are doing again this year and why they're 14-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country.
The latest NCAA stats show the Utes are far and away the best rebounding team in the nation with a 15.9 rebounding margin over their opponents, compared to 11.9 for second-place Southern Illinois.
Defensively, the Utes are ranked No. 4 in two categories, scoring defense (56.2 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (36.3 percent).
"We don't have great athletes, but we rebound and defend well," Majerus has said over and over.
The Utes had a poor shooting night Thursday against Colorado State (41.3 percent), but because they played good defense in holding the Rams to just 51 points and outboarded them 32-24, they won going away, 65-51, against a team that came in 12-2.
Tonight at 7:30 in the Huntsman Center, the Utes will be facing a team much like themselves in 12-3 Wyoming. The Cowboys were ranked just ahead of Utah in scoring defense before Thursday night's games and are allowing 56.7 points per game. They are also seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense (37.7 percent). However, they're nowhere close to Utah in rebounding, outboarding their opponents by just 4.3 per game.
The Cowboys will come into the game still smarting from that 60-41 thumping administered by BYU Thursday night. Before that game, the Cowboys had looked pretty impressive in beating UTEP handily and knocking off No. 10 New Mexico last week.
Wyoming is led by 6-3 forward Jeron Roberts, a player the Utes once recruited, who averages 19.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Other expected starters are forward Justin French (6.9 ppg), center Jeff Allen (3.5 ppg), and guards Gregg Sawyer (13.9 ppg) and Andy Young (4.2 ppg). The Cowboys have a new coach in Larry Shyatt, who once spent a year on the Ute staff under Jerry Pimm in the mid-1970s.
Even though many observers see the Cowboys a notch below Colorado State, Majerus is still wary.
"I know they will play terrific defense," he said. "I think Roberts is a fantastic talent and gives them a premier all-league player."
UTE NOTES: The Utes are hoping center Michael Doleac is feeling better than Thursday when he was slowed by a viral infection . . . Majerus said he "almost blew the game" by working his team too hard prior to the Colorado State game. So he planned a very light practice for Friday when his players "wouldn't break a sweat" . . . Because of the WAC divisional setup last year, the Utes and Pokes didn't meet last year for the first time since 1943-44 . . . If the Utes get by the Cowboys, they could wake up Sunday morning as the only undefeated team in the land. Stanford, the only other unbeaten team, has a tough test against No. 8 UCLA, although the game is at home.