Utah's Luke Nevill has enjoyed some of the biggest games of his college basketball career against rival Brigham Young, but the 7-foot-2 senior center said he doesn't necessarily have to have another one today in order for the Utes to beat the Cougars at the Marriott Center.

"It would be great," he said, "but we just need a few guys to step up -- make shots, make plays -- and we should be good."

The 20-7 Utes can clinch a share of the Mountain West Conference title and the top seed in the league tournament next month with a victory, and almost certainly ensure a place in the national polls next week. But the 21-6 Cougars can keep alive their hope of tying the Utes for the league title, and strengthen their case for a potential at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.

"It's a huge game," Utah coach Jim Boylen said. "It's a huge game for them, it's a huge game for us. … I've never strayed from it being a big game, and I never will. It's a different game than any game you'll play, and that's the beauty of it. So, they'll be ready, we'll be ready."

The Utes have won eight straight games, including a 94-88 overtime decision against the Cougars at the Huntsman Center last month in which Nevill scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

But Boylen said he's not sure whether to expect the Cougars to play more of the zone defense that helped them come back and win at San Diego State the other night or double-team Nevill more often than they did last time. He's mostly concerned with defending the big three -- BYU's Jimmer Fredette, Lee Cummard, and Jonathan Tavernari -- and hoping their supporting cast doesn't "step up and kill you -- which they're all capable of doing."

"What the BYU games come down to, it seems to me," Boylen said, "is we know each other so well and do such a good job of stopping first options -- at least trying to defend first options -- that the second-option plays, the open threes, the free throws, those kind of become the difference."

The Utes can clinch the top seed in the tournament with a victory because even if they lose their final two games and tie New Mexico for the league title, they would win all of the tiebreakers. Even if they lose, though, they can still claim the league title outright by winning at New Mexico next week and beating TCU at home.

"We have to play all 40 minutes," Nevill said. "We can't get down if they make runs or make tough plays. They're great players, so they'll do that. We just have to keep playing hard."

mcl@sltrib.com