Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Utah center Luke Nevill shoots a jump hook over a San Diego State defender. Nevill scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds against the Aztecs - right around his season averages - in a loss last week at SDSU. With the Utes coming to The Pit tonight on a two-game losing streak, Nevill's matchup with UNM center Daniel Faris will be pivotal.

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If there is ever the need to remake "Young Frankenstein," I've got the perfect actor for the title role.

We give you the Utah Utes.

We give you their 7-foot-1, 265-pound Luke Nevill.

He's huge. He's wide. He's strong. He looks down on most villagers.

He likes to throw Lobos down the well.

OK, the "well" thing is a joke. Kind of. But you can bet that Nevill wouldn't mind tossing around a few Lobos tonight, especially that Tom Sawyer-like Daniel Faris.

Which is only going to make University of New Mexico fans in The Pit turn on Nevill even more.

Because the matchup kind of looks like a mismatch: man vs. boy; mean guy vs. nice guy.

Faris is only 6-9 and looks more like the boy next door than the Lobos' answer to stopping a low-post monster.

And Nevill must be stopped.

He is the focal point of the Ute offense much like 7-1 Luc Longley once was for UNM.

The Utes like Nevill to get his touches.

They like to see him dunk the basketball.

They like to see defenses collapse on their big boy and have him kick it out to open Utes on the perimeter.

Only one problem.

The Utes haven't been knocking down those outside shots of late.

The Utes made only 3-of-14 3-pointers in their loss Saturday to Brigham Young in Salt Lake City. Utah shot 38.6 percent overall.

Utah went 2-of-13 from behind the line in an overtime loss at San Diego State.

If Utah shoots like that tonight, the Lobos will mug Nevill by committee and probably get away with it.

But Nevill is also a factor on defense. He can control the middle, allowing the Utah perimeter defense to overplay outside shots.

The Lobos like outside shots. The Lobos need outside shots.

The downside to Nevill is that he's a junior and still learning how to use his muscle and bulk in a domineering way. He averages 13.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

But he is the only Ute to average double figures. That's why the Utes like to control the tempo, like to take high-percentage shots, like to play in-your-face defense.

They held a good BYU team to 33 percent shooting from the floor.

This is a key Mountain West Conference game for UNM because the next league stop is Saturday at Provo against BYU - where the Lobos have lost seven straight.

The Pit should be a factor tonight. Lobos fans hate Utah.

"There is a sense that our fans dislike them," Lobos senior Jamaal Smith said. "I remember a couple of fans saw some of us Lobo guys walking around campus last year, and they told us we had better make sure to beat at least one of the Utah teams."

Said senior J.R. Giddens: "We know our fans want us to beat Õem, but that's what we want, too."

Smith said getting motivated for Utah will be no problem, but the Lobos have to carry that same passion into all league games.

"We try to look at every game as a big game," said Smith. "We can't look at one team and not look at another, because we lost to San Diego State and lost to TCU.

"We have to be ready for everyone, because in conference everyone comes with their `A' game."

Of course, with Utah, the "A" stands for aircraft carrier.