SALT LAKE CITY — It was a day of goodbyes at the Huntsman Center. Question is, how many?
What is known, however, is that Utah's 78-58 loss to UNLV was the Utes' final Mountain West Conference home game. They're moving to the Pac-12 next season.
It was also Utah's senior day. Lone honoree Jay Watkins, who has been sidelined since early January with a back injury, played briefly in his final appearance up on the hill.
While those farewells were certain, the future of embattled head coach Jim Boylen is not. The Utes finished the regular season with a 13-17 record, including a 6-10 mark in conference play.
After the game, Utah athletics director Chris Hill offered his usual response to questions about Boylen and any other coaches on campus.
"As always, we evaluate at the end of the year," he said.
The loss drops Boylen's overall record to 69-59 overall and 32-32 in the MWC.
The latest setback was swift and decisive.
"They hit us in the mouth and we just didn't respond well," said Utah guard Chris Hines. "They were hitting everything, so it was hard to defend them."
UNLV made nine of its first 10 shots to pull away comfortably. The outburst included three 3-pointers.
Utah, meanwhile, started off sluggish and stone cold. The Utes were 1-of-15 to open the game. They missed 12 straight shots at one point while going 8:25 without a basket.
"After they made a couple of shots and hit that barrage, they staggered us a little and we were kind of tentative after that," said Boylen, who noted that the Utes ran into a "buzz saw" against the league's hottest team.
The drought allowed UNLV (23-7, 11-5) to overcome a 3-2 deficit and take the lead for good. The Rebels led 47-22 at halftime. They shot 61.3 percent in the decisive first half, while the Utes connected on just 24.1 percent.
"It was really frustrating. I wish we could have hit all the shots," Hines said. "We tried hard. We played hard. Sometimes it's just not your night."
Point guard Jiggy Watkins was the lone bright spot early on for Utah. He had 15 points at the break and made six of the Utes' seven baskets in the half.
Watkins, though, didn't think Utah's offense was the problem.
"We slacked on defense in the first half," he said after finishing with a team-high 18 points.
Rebounding also proved to be a problem. UNLV won the battle of the boards 27-10 in the first half and 47-26 by game's end.
"We came out dead. They are the hottest team in the league right now and they came out like it," said center Jason Washburn. "In the first half, we just didn't have any energy."
The Utes now enter what Boylen considers the "third phase" of the season. They enter next week's conference tournament as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 San Diego State on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Utah does so with a two-game skid.
"This momentum is not going to carry over to this week. We've got a new season. It starts right now," Boylen said. "We still have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. We still have a chance to win games."
That's the beauty of college basketball, he added.
"We've got a new season and we've got to pull up our bootstraps. We've got to button it up, tighten it up and grow," Boylen continued. "It's all you can do. You can't feel sorry for yourself. You've got to get better."
GAME NOTES: The attendance was 9,959. ... Boylen said that Will Clyburn's bruised heel has not healed properly and the forward's availability for Thursday is unknown. He did not play in the second half after going 0-for-6 over 12 minutes in the first. ... Utah center David Foster blocked six shots and forward J.J. O'Brien swatted away three. ... Nine players scored for UNLV. Quintrell Thomas, Oscar Bellfield and Tre'Von Willis led the way with 12 apiece.
e-mail: dirk@desnews.com