Early-morning practice may wake up Utes

Wow. What do you say after you get beat by one of the worst teams in the league on your home floor?
One thing Ute coach Jim Boylen basically said to his team was, “this is unacceptable” by scheduling a 6 a.m. practice today. If nothing else, it should get the players’ attention.
Except for center Luke Nevill, who had his best overall game of the season with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, the Utes were basically awful Wednesday night in losing to Wyoming, which came to the Huntsman Center with a sorry 7-11 record.
Guard Johnnie Bryant, who had been so outstanding the week before in sinking 16 of 26 shots, couldn’t hit anything, finishing 2 for 15 on the night. And Luka Drca, who had looked so brilliant in passing out 10 assists with no turnovers Saturday against TCU, struggled with 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in only 9 minutes of play.
Lawrence Borha actually played pretty well with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. But Shaun Green was almost invisible, taking just two shots in 34 minutes. Tyler Kepkay made a couple of key baskets to get the Utes back in the game, but he missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
That’s a another question. Why is Kepkay always the guy taking the last-second shots for the Utes? He had two in the final 10 seconds against BYU and one at the end of regulation against New Mexico, none of which fell. Perhaps the Utes didn’t want Bryant, who was 1-for-7 on the night, taking the last shot Wednesday, but Kepkay was 0-for-3 from 3-point range at the time. Borha or Green would have been better choices than Kepkay.
The Utes have a good chance to get back on the winning track against last-place Colorado State Saturday night, but nothing is coming easy for the Utes right now.