DENVER — The Utah basketball team's unlikely path to a Mountain West tournament title and NCAA berth was blocked — in a big way — by Wyoming's Justin Williams in Friday night's MWC semifinals at the Pepsi Center.
Williams blocked a tournament-record 12 shots in recording the first triple-double in MWC tournament history with 10 points and 15 rebounds in leading the Cowboys to a 60-47 victory.
Wyoming, which improved to 14-17 on the year, will meet San Diego State (23-8) tonight at 8, with the winner getting an automatic berth to play in next week's NCAA tournament. The Cowboys will be trying for their first NCAA berth since 2002.
With the loss, the Utes finish the season at 14-15, their first losing record in 17 years, and will not have any postseason tournament to play in for the first time since 1994. Coach Ray Giacoletti said he plans to hit the recruiting trail next week. He said he was proud of his young team and looks forward to next year.
Besides blocking a dozen shots, Williams intimidated the Ute shooters, who managed an abysmal 26.9 percent from the field, by far their lowest percentage of the season.
A night after getting career-highs of 29 points and 14 rebounds in the win over BYU, Luke Nevill finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Bryant Markson added 11 points and four rebounds in his final game as a Ute.
Brad Jones led the Cowboys with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while Brandon Ewing added 17.
Before Thursday's upset win over Air Force in the first round, Wyoming had lost six straight games and 10 of its last 11. One report Friday had McClain being fired at the end of the season after eight years in Laramie.
However, the Cowboys played inspired basketball for the second straight night to advance to the MWC finals for the first time.
"We had a very nice effort out of everybody," said McClain. "We got a nice lead and the kids fought through it when they made their run."
Nevill was plagued by early foul trouble, which limited him to seven first-half minutes and looked tired much of evening. Most of his points came from the foul line where he hit 11 of 14.
The Cowboys opened up a 27-19 halftime lead over the cold-shooting Utes and extended the lead to 10 before Utah came back.
The Utes pulled within three at 41-38 on a Johnnie Bryant layup with 9:44 left and had a chance to tie it a minute later, but Green's 3-pointer from the top of the key bounced away.
Following a timeout, Steve Leven scored his first basket of the night with a 3-pointer to increase the Cowboys' lead to six with 7:37 left. The Utes didn't score for nearly five minutes and the Cowboys extended the lead to nine.
With 1:30 left, the Utes trailed by just six, but Bryant's entry pass into Nevill was picked off, ending the Utes' hopes. Nevill got two fouls within a minute early in the first half. He left with 14:24 left and stayed on the bench until the 3:04 mark with the Utes down six.
Without any inside presence, the Utes tried driving to the basket only to have their shots swatted away by Williams. The Utes shot just 25 percent in the first half as Williams blocked seven shots.
The Utes hung close and tied the game at 15-15 on a 3-pointer by Markson but went nearly five minutes without scoring.
Nevill re-entered the game for a couple of minutes and broke the drought with a pair of free throws and a hook shot, but Jones, who had 10 first-half points, scored with 39 seconds left to give the Pokes a 27-19 halftime lead.
The Cowboys shot 59 percent in the first half and could have had an even larger lead if it had not been for 11 turnovers.
GAME NOTES: The Cowboys shot 59 percent from the field ... For a change, turnovers weren't a big problem for the Utes as they finished well below their season average with 10 ... Williams didn't play against the Utes in Laramie because of an ankle injury and only had three blocked shots in the game in Salt Lake, although he did have 22 points and 10 rebounds ... In the two previous meetings this season, Utah won 71-63 in Laramie and 79-70 just last week in Salt Lake ... Utah holds an 89-71 advantage in the all-time series with Wyoming.
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