Many Utah fans are excited and proud of the Utes' home winning streak, which has reached a school-record 48 straight and is No. 1 in the nation. Some are wondering, "How many more until we get the national record?"
Sorry, Ute fans, you've got a long wait in front of you. By the time the Utes get close to the national record, Rick Majerus may not only be long gone from Salt Lake, he might even be retired from his final job at St. Mary's or Air Force or wherever he decides to eventually go.Kentucky holds the national record of 129 straight home wins, almost three times longer than Utah's current streak. The Wildcats didn't lose a home game in 12 years between Jan. 4, 1943, and Jan. 8, 1955.
Twelve years from Utah's last home loss (Dec. 31, 1996) is late in the year 2008. However, since the Utes average about 14 home games per season, they should surpass Kentucky sometime in the middle of the 2006 season.
Of course, that is, unless the Utes happen to schedule their old nemesis Kentucky at the Huntsman Center sometime before then.
MATH-IMPAIRED: Majerus has always made fun of his lack of math ability, joking he had a learning disability when it came to the subject.
"I failed every math class I was ever in," he said. "My secretaries keep my checkbook for me. I haven't written a check in 15 or 16 years."
However, when it comes to basketball, Majerus knows his math.
"The only math I've understand is time and score," he said. "I can count to 35. I can count to 10. I know those situations pretty well."
BILLY BALDY: You have to go back nearly eight years to when Jerry Tarkanian was still coaching, to find a sellout at UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center.
It happened in March of 1992 when the Rebels beat Utah State in Tark's final home game as UNLV coach.
Now UNLV coach Billy Bayno and broadcaster Glen Gondrezick are resorting to gimmicks to try to fill the arena for Saturday's game with Utah.
Bayno and Gondrezick, the former Rebel star from the 1970s, have agreed to shave their heads if the game is a sellout by Friday night (now there's a gimmick Utah's Majerus can never try).
By the way, as of Thursday morning, the Rebels still had 5,000 seats to sell in the 18,500-seat arena.
3-POINT THREAT: Utah's Alex Jensen ranks third in the nation this week in 3-point shooting with a 52.1 percentage. However he's taken more shots than both of the players ahead of him, Montana State's Pete Conway and Syracuse's Preston Shumpert. Jensen also ranks No. 18 in the nation in field-goal percentage at 58.4.
Unless he goes into a giant slump, Jensen will break the Ute season record for 3-point percentage, held by Phil Dixon, who made 45.9 percent of his 3-pointers in 1992-93. However, Jensen isn't likely to beat Drew Hansen's career mark of 45.3 percent. Before this year, Jensen's career 3-point percentage was just 37.3 percent.
TELL ME WHY: Just wondering, how 11 weeks into the season, Jensen still hasn't received Mountain West Player of the Week honors. After all, UNLV's Kaspars Kambala has won it THREE times, for crying out loud.
Maybe the MWC is just waiting to give Jensen Player of the Year honors and doesn't want to waste a lousy Player of the Week award on him.
UTE NOTES: The Utes are No. 3 in the nation in 3-point shooting at 41.8 percent and No. 8 in field goals percentage at 49.8 percent . . . The Utes have won 25 straight league games. Their last loss was at Wyoming in February 1998, although they did lose to UNLV in the WAC tournament that year . . . Hanno Möttölä has been battling injuries all season with the latest being a sprained right thumb and hyper-extended left elbow. He's been practicing all week and should be ready for UNLV Saturday . . . Feb. 10 is the date for the retirement of Andre Miller's No. 24 jersey. Miller will be on hand, since he's off for the NBA All-Star break.