Utes Face BYU In Deseret Duel Matchup Wednesday

Feb. 18, 2008

University of Utah Runnin' Utes

(15-8, 6-4 Mountain West Conference)

vs.

BYU Cougars

(20-5, 9-1 Mountain West Conference)

Game No. 24 ? Wednesday, Feb. 20 ? 8 p.m.
Marriott Center ? Provo, Utah

Game Information
Series: Utah leads, 124-122
Series Streak: BYU has won 4
Last Meeting: BYU 55, Utah 52 (1/19/2008)
Last Meeting in Provo: BYU 85, Utah 62 (3/3/2007)

Television: The Mtn.

Radio: Utah Sports Radio Network
Mike Lageschulte (play by play), Mark Rydalch (color analyst)
UtahUtes.com: Audio/live stats

Complete Release in PDF Format

Utah Faces BYU In Deseret Duel Matchup Wednesday
The University of Utah men's basketball team will take a four-game winning streak into the Marriott Center at BYU Wednesday night. Meanwhile, BYU will put a 44-game home winning streak on the line. Wednesday's game tips off at 8 p.m. and will air on The Mtn.

Utah enters Wednesday's game with a 15-8 overall record and a 6-4 MWC mark. With Saturday's win vs. San Diego State, Utah has moved into the top half of the MWC standings. Junior guard Lawrence Borha scored 22 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead Utah to a 72-66, come-from-behind victory over the Aztecs in the Utes' last outing.

BYU comes into Wednesday's matchup with a 20-5 overall record and a 9-1 mark in MWC play. The Cougars are coming off a 74-48 home win over UNLV Saturday. The Courgars are riding an eight-game winning streak, which started back on Jan. 19 vs. Utah. BYU's only MWC loss came to UNLV on the road. Its only other losses were to North Carolina, Michigan State, Boise State and Wake Forest.

Runnin' Ute Fast Breaks
? Two Utah players are averaging double-digit points per game, while three more average 7.6 or more.
? Utah scored 28 points off the bench Saturday, while San Diego State's reserves were shut out. It was the 20th time this season that the Utes held the advantage in bench production.
? Utah has held six different opponents to 54 points or less this season. The Runnin' Utes did not hold a single 2006-07 opponent to less than 55 points.
? Utah holds a 511-325 (.611) record against current members of the Mountain West Conference. The Utes have a winning record against every other member of the league.
? The Utes currently rank No. 1 in the MWC in field-goal percentage. Utah is converting at a .488 clip from the field.
? Utah is No. 2 in the MWC in scoring defense, allowing 61.4 points per game. The Runnin' Utes also rank 34th in the nation in that category this week.

Take Two, They're Free
Utah had perhaps its best outing at the free-throw line all season Saturday vs. San Diego State. The Utes hit a season-high 24, while shooting a season-best 27 from the charity stripe against the Aztecs. The .889 free-throw percentage they enjoyed in that game boosted their overall mark to .749 for the season. That moves Utah in front of UNLV (.745) as the best free-throw shooting team in the MWC and ranks 39th in the nation.

Borha's Big Day
Going into Saturday's game with SDSU, junior guard Lawrence Borha had only scored in double figures once in his previous 16 games. But he took care of that in the first half against the Aztecs, putting 10 points on the board in the first 20 minutes. As is often the case with Borha, when he reaches double figures, he often goes off for 20 points or more. L.B. has tallied double-digit points five times this season and he has now scored 20 or more three times. Saturday's 22-point effort was his best since a career-high 24 vs. UC Irvine on Dec. 1.

-UU-

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