SALT LAKE CITY — Luke Nevill scored a career-high 29 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots Saturday, leading Utah past Wyoming 91-67 in the teams’ Mountain West Conference opener.
The victory snapped Utah’s three-game losing streak against the Cowboys.
The victory also avenged a last-second alley-oop dunk that the Cowboys threw against the Utes at the end of their last meeting, infuriating Utah coach Jim Boylen into an angry postgame confrontation with Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer.
Carlon Brown added 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Utes (9-5, 1-0 MWC), who won their third straight game by holding the Cowboys to 35 percent shooting. Wyoming (11-4, 0-1) had been on the road in Utah for six days, following a three-game tournament at nearby Utah State earlier in the week, and looked the part.
Brandon Ewing made five 3-pointers and scored 26 points for Wyoming, but fellow leading scorers Sean Ogirri, Tyson Johnson and Afam Muojeke combined for just 7-of-29 shooting. The Cowboys trailed 40-30 at halftime and fell behind by 19 points in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half.
The Utes led by as many as 25 points.
