Utes lose Drca to 1-game suspension

After losing at home to Wyoming, the last thing the Utah basketball team needs is to lose a key player going into Saturday night’s game at Colorado State.
However, the Utes will be without backup guard Luka Drca, who was suspended by the Mountain West Conference Wednesday for one game for throwing an elbow against Brent Hackett in Saturday’s win over TCU.
Utah coach Jim Boylen accepted the suspension, saying, ‘It is the rule and obviously we’ll abide by the rules. One of the life lessons I try to tell my team is you’re accountable for your actions. He did elbow the guy. We’re going to take the suspension and move on.”
Boylen said he was aware of Drca’s elbow to the midsection of TCU’s Brent Hackett (from which no foul was called) and said he reprimanded Drca in front of the team after the game. However he questioned the timing, saying he wished he would have known about it earlier, so he could have practiced differently.
Apparently the complaint didn’t come from TCU, rather from a television station that turned in the video of the incident.
Boylen said the Utes would compensate for Drca’s loss ‘by committee’ and that senior Chris Grant would likely see more action in place of Drca.

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