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Maybe that tough schedule wasn't such a good idea, after all.
The Utah Utes couldn't even handle the alleged pushover that visited the Huntsman Center for the season opener Saturday, shockingly losing 80-79 to Southwest Baptist - a Division II team from Missouri that no doubt cannot compare to the heavyweights such as Oregon, Cal and Gonzaga that are lined up to swing by later.
"Anytime you lose a game and don't play well at home, it's a problem," coach Jim Boylen said. "It's not good."
The Utes certainly had plenty of trouble with the Bearcats, in their second season-opening loss in three years against a team that was supposed to be vastly overmatched. Two years ago, Southern Utah shocked the Utes to open former coach Ray Giacoletti's final season.
Things probably won't go so badly the rest of the way for the Utes - they endured their worst season in 25 years, after the SUU loss - but it was far from the way they wanted to begin a season in which they aspire to challenge for the Mountain West Conference championship and return to the NCAA Tournament.
"It's still really early in the season," forward Shaun Green said. "Guys are still getting used to playing with each other again. But we definitely didn't expect to come out and play the way we did tonight."
Center Luke Nevill scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but he had six of his team's 11 missed free throws - "inexcusable," he said - while Southwest Baptist threw in 16 three-pointers and controlled most of the game. The Bearcats trailed only briefly midway through the second half, but recovered from a five-point deficit with back-to-back three-pointers and never trailed again.
"If we hit 16 threes every time, we're probably going to go undefeated in Division II," coach Jeff Guiot said.
The Utes still had a chance at the end, after Southwest Baptist's Tomas Brock missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 10 seconds left.
Out of timeouts, guard Lawrence Borha raced the ball up the floor, but missed a desperate runner in traffic with about three seconds left. Time expired as the players fought for the rebound, and Boylen later said that guard Tyler Kepkay was wide open on the play.
"I'd like to say it was my young guys making mistakes," Boylen said. "It wasn't. It was my veteran guys making mistakes."
Most disturbing to Boylen was watching his supposedly defensive-minded team allow the smaller Bearcats to squeeze off 64 shots and score 80 points on its home floor. What's more, they played the final 9 1/2 minutes without their best player, 6-foot-11 center Matt Rogers, who fouled out with 12 points in 17 minutes, and bothered the Utes with their speed and quickness.
"Our missed free throws, their made threes, and 'small-ball' were a big part of this game," Boylen said.
Green scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first game of his career off the bench, but Borha was the only other Ute in double-figures with 10 points. The Bearcats, meanwhile, had five players reach double-digits, with Brock leading the way with 16 points.
"Give them credit," Boylen said. "I'd like to sit here and rip us - 'we didn't do this, didn't do that.' I thought we did some good things. We didn't make enough plays to win."
"This might be just what we needed," he added, hopefully. "Adversity is what this level is all about, and we'll see how we handle it."