Rams -- 70
Utes -- 63CHICAGO -- If the Utah basketball team expects to win basketball games this year, Andre Miller is going to have to get a little more help from his friends.
That was evident Wednesday night at the Great Eight tournament at the United Center, where unranked Rhode Island roared back in the second half to defeat the 21st-ranked Utes 70-63.
Miller carried the Utes (3-3) on his shoulders as long as he could, leading his team in nearly every category. Miller tied his career highs with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting and with six steals. He also led the Utes in rebounding with six and in assists with four and made just two turnovers in 37 minutes. We assume he also drove the team bus back to the hotel after the game.
The senior guard was so impressive that he was named tournament MVP by the assembled media, ahead of players such as Richard Hamilton of Connecticut, Trajan Langdon of Duke and Wayne Turner of Kentucky.
Ute coach Rick Majerus praised his point guard's play and told the large gathering of press covering the game what he's been saying all year -- that his team is young, inexperienced and short-handed.
"I was proud of Andre tonight," said Majerus. "Obviously, he has a frustration out there right now. You need a little bit of help, and we need to get a little more help for Andre."
Then Majerus hinted some changes will be forthcoming in the Ute offense, saying, "Unfortunately we needed this loss for us to employ those ideas."
If Miller was frustrated about not getting enough help from his teammates, he wasn't showing it afterward.
"I'm trying to do the same things I did last year," said Miller. "I'm trying to get everybody involved and not be a hot dog. I try to distribute the ball, but sometimes I have to take extra shots."
While Miller's hot shooting included 2-of-3 from three-point range, the rest of the team managed just 11-of-38 (29 percent) from the field.
Hanno Mottola scored 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting, while Jeremy Killion struggled again from the field, making just 2-of-9, including two of his nine 3-point tries. Alex Jensen was hesitant to shoot as usual and finished with 2-of-6 from the field.
Meanwhile, the Utes couldn't cool down the Rams, who shot 52 percent from the field. Antonio Reynolds-Dean sank 10-of-16 shots for a team-high 22 points. Preston Murphy hurt the Utes with 4-of-5, including 3-of-4 from three-point range and 13 points, while heralded freshman Lamar Odom scored 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
The Utes were geared to stop the 6-foot-10 Odom, who is projected to be a high NBA draft pick, perhaps as early as the end of this season. Five Utes took turns on Odom, including Miller and the 6-foot Killion, who gave up 10 inches to Odom.
"I thought we guarded him well," said Majerus. "I credit Odom with hitting some tough shots."
On the other hand, Majerus blamed himself for his team's lack of defense on Reynolds-Dean, who nearly doubled his 11.7 scoring average Wednesday night.
"I probably did a poor job of preparing them," he said. "I didn't think (Reynolds-Dean) could hit that shot."
Early on, the lead changed hands 10 times before the Utes ran off 11 straight points to take a 28-16 lead with 9:12 left in the half. The Utes still led 36-29 with 3:23 left but couldn't score the rest of the half as Rhode Island closed with a 6-0 run to make it 36-35 at halftime.
At that point, the Utes felt pretty good, considering Jensen and Killion sat out the final 14 minutes because of foul trouble (Majerus won't play a player with two fouls during the first half).
Utah quickly upped its lead to seven at 46-39 early in the second half, but Rhode Island's 2-3 zone started to take its toll as the Utes went six straight possessions without scoring while Rhode Island scored 11 straight points.
A couple of Miller baskets put the Utes back on top 51-50 with 8:29 left, but that was the Utes' last lead. The Rams went on a 14-3 run to go up 64-54, but the Utes stayed alive with three-pointers by Killion, Jensen and Miller to make it 67-63 with 41 seconds left. After Charlie Bell made just one of two free throws, the Utes looked disorganized and Adam Sharp missed a 17-footer to end the Utes' hopes.
"That was a very good win for us and one we needed badly,' said Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick. "In the second half, we went to the zone and quit fouling."
Indeed, the Rams committed only three fouls in the second half, and Utah got just two foul shots after going 11 for 14 in the first half.
The Utes fly straight to California Thursday to get ready for Saturday night's game against Long Beach State. Next week they'll have their first home game in almost a month when they meet Weber State Wednesday, and they'll hit the road again the following Saturday for a game against Texas.
"Sometimes there are some growing pains, and we're certainly experiencing them right now," said Majerus.