SALT LAKE CITY — It was a day of goodbyes at the Huntsman Center — Utah's last Mountain West Conference home game before next year's move to the Pac-12, "Senior Day" for Jay Watkins and, perhaps, after a 78-58 loss to UNLV, Jim Boylen's final outing stalking the sideline up on the hill.
The embattled head coach's job status certainly didn't get a boost on Saturday. The setback dropped the Utes to 13-17 overall and 6-10 in Mountain West play. They'll be the No. 7 seed, facing No. 2 San Diego State, in next week's conference tournament in Las Vegas.
Speaking of Vegas, UNLV led this one 47-22 at halftime. The Rebels trailed only once, at 3-2, before completely dominating things offensively, defensively and on the boards.
A 7-0 run ignited the offense and put UNLV on top for good. The Rebels went on to make nine of their first 10 shots from the field to pull away comfortably.
The defense, meanwhile, put the clamps on in the first half and held Utah without a field goal for 8:25 at one point. The Utes made only one of their first 15 shots and missed 12 straight during the drought.
Point guard Jiggy Watkins was the lone bright spot for Utah. He had 15 points at the break and made six of the Utes' seven baskets.
UNLV shot 61.3 percent in the decisive first half, while Utah was just 24.1 percent. The Rebels also held a commanding 27-10 rebounding advantage.