As well as Luke Nevill, the current front-runner for Mountain West Conference player of the year, has played this year, you could say the Utes' most valuable player this season has been ... junior point guard Luka Drca.
The Utes are 14-7 this year, but in games Drca missed or played sparingly in because of an injury and suspension, the Utes are just 1-3.
Drca sprained his ankle in the third minute of a loss to Idaho State and didn't play in the California and Utah State losses. Utah lost those games by four points or less, with each game being decided in the final 10 seconds.
"It was an adjustment when we didn't have him," said coach Jim Boylen. "He's a big part of what we're doing. He brings a physicality and a toughness and has been a big shot-maker for us."
Drca only ranks sixth on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg) and doesn't even lead the team in assists, ranking second behind Carlon Brown. In league play, he's shooting 54.5 percent from 3-point range and he ranks No. 16 in the nation in free-throw percentage at 88.5 percent.
However, Boylen says the Serbian's value to the team goes beyond the numbers on the stat sheet.
"There are player-coach relationships at every level," Boylen said. "I have a connection with the guy. I can look at him and he knows. He can look at me and I know what he's thinking. He doesn't fight me on any type of constructive criticism because he know winning is the bottom line and he really values that."
UTES NOW 15TH IN RPI: As the Utes continue winning, they keep climbing the all-important RPI rankings.
In the latest CollegeRPI.com rankings that came out Monday, the Utes were ranked No. 15, just behind Marquette and Wake Forest and just ahead of West Virginia and Illinois.
The Utes' tough non-conference schedule is paying off as the Utes' strength of schedule is listed No. 12 in the country.
Utah has the exact same numbers for RealTime RPI, another Web site that updates daily and are 15th on the RPI chart on the NCAA statistics page.
In Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology on ESPN, the Utes are listed as a No. 10 seed, playing USC in Dayton, Ohio.
TRAVELIN' UTES: Last year, the Utes had more than their share of travel setbacks with delayed flights and bus problems. So this year, they are taking a more conservative approach, getting to their destinations earlier and not taking charter flights.
Last year when the Utes played at TCU on a Wednesday and at Wyoming on a Saturday of the same week, they got into Fort Worth after midnight when their charter was delayed and had problems busing back from Laramie.
This year, the Utes are arriving in Texas on a commercial flight by 3 today and they are going straight to Wyoming on Thursday before returning home Saturday night.
"That puts a lot of pressure on us in school," said Boylen, who is concerned about missing nearly a week of classes.
Because of an NCAA "48-hour rule," the Utes can't leave Texas until 3 on Thursday, 48 hours before the start of Saturday afternoon's game at Wyoming. They'll fly to Denver and bus up to Laramie in the evening.
Boylen said he learned a lot during his first year on how to approach road trips.
"This is a very difficult league to travel in with the amount of distance you have to cover," he said. "I did not realize it before I got here ... "
UTE NOTES: Nevill won his fourth MWC player of the week honor Monday along with San Diego State's Lorrenzo Wade. Only Roman Martinez of New Mexico, with two, has more than one POW award this season. ... The Utes play TCU at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday and at 2 p.m. Saturday in Laramie. ... Utah has fallen to No. 4 in the nation in free-throw shooting at 79 percent. ... Nevill has moved up to a tie for 12th in the country with 2.7 blocked shots per game and is 13th in field goal percentage at 60.9 percent despite going 2 for 8 against New Mexico on Saturday. ... The Utes are 57th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, but 295th in 3-point defense. ... In MWC play, the Utes have a 7.9 rebound margin, nearly six boards better than second-best BYU.
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