Utes’ Cullen displays a hot hand

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 | 10:34 a.m.

Dalron Johnson did what he had to do.

But playing off 6-foot-9 Utah forward Phil Cullen to help contain 6-11 Nate Althoff inside produced the desired result -- for the other team.

Cullen made all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half to help Utah gain control of the game en route to a 85-77 victory over UNLV Monday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"The main thing is they're very big on the inside," Johnson said. "They use Althoff who is huge and once you double down it gives good shooters like Cullen open looks.

"Being a (power forward), I'm not used to coming off all of those screens, especially on the perimeter. My man got open a lot. That was my fault in the first half when they hit some of those big buckets."

Cullen made 7-of-9 field goals to lead the Utes with 19 points. He hit his first 3-pointer to tie the game 28-28 with 5:42 remaining in the first half.

Later he made consecutive treys capping an 8-0 run by the Utes which snapped the sixth tie of the game less than three minutes before halftime.

"He wasn't getting a hand up so he wasn't respecting me as a shooter," Cullen said of Johnson. "I was just shooting over him.

"It was about time I kind of got my confidence back a little bit to shoot the ball."

Cullen entered the game averaging 9.1 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Until he scored 13 points during Utah's first Mountain West road victory of the season at San Diego State last Saturday, to say Cullen was in a shooting slump would have been a gross understatement.

At BYU Cullen made 0-of-7 field goals in 30 minutes. Against Air Force at home he made 1-of-8 shots for two points. Before both of those stinkers he made 1-of-10 attempts at Wyoming.

"The other guys have been really supporting me, telling me 'You've got to keep shooting, Phil. They'll fall. They'll fall,' " Cullen said. "Sure enough, they did."

In the first meeting between the teams, Cullen shot 50 percent from the floor and made 2-of-3 3-pointers for 11 points and seven rebounds. Last year at Salt Lake City, Cullen made 5-of-5 3-pointers for the bulk of his 19 points.

"Cullen is a great shooter," Johnson said. "He lit us up the last game.

"I respect everybody, like they are all Michael Jordan, and I'm going to get a hand in your face. But he made some big shots."