Utes cruise as expected, look ahead to Las Vegas

As expected, Utah stopped the bleeding Tuesday night, ending its 4-game losing streak with an easy 82-61 victory over a Colorado State team with just slightly more talent than the Lone Peak High School team (or maybe not).
Utah took control from the start and cruised to an easy win with several players contributing.
Shaun Green scored a season-high 20 points and nearly matched his rebound high with 9.
Luke Nevill didn’t start again and only played 20 minutes, but still managed 19 points, albeit against a a lineup with no one within eight inches of his 7-foot-2 height.
Luka Drca matched his season high 10 assists and also pulled down 6 rebounds,
Kim Tillie, in his second start, had a solid game with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Johnnie Bryant had a nice finish to his home career with 14 points, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, and a team-best 2 steals.
Senior Chris Grant finished his career in style, making two shots in the final two minutes, a 3-pointer from the top of the key and a drive up the middle.
Next up for the Utes are a couple of trips to Las Vegas within a week. Coach Jim Boylen said he thinks the experience of playing Saturday at UNLV could help his team in the MWC Tournament following week and that he hopes his team will be playing four games at the Thomas and Mack Center in a week’s time.
With Tuesday’s victory, the Utes are a step closer to gaining the No. 5 seed in the tournament. They can wrap it up with a victory over UNLV Saturday afternoon. Or they can also clinch the 5 spot if BYU defeats TCU and San Diego State beats Air Force Saturday. They can also get No. 5 with a loss to UNLV even if Air Force beats San Diego State Saturday as long as TCU beats Air Force tonight and loses to BYU. In that scenario, Utah, AFA and TCU would all be tied for fifth at 7-9 and the Utes would hold the tiebreaker over the other two.