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Show Friday, January 12, Sports 1990 The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Thirteen Lbs 79 U to on on Ion r--T with 2:51 left in the contest, By Dirk Facer Chronicle Sports Editor 0 when Rob Robbins nailed a trey from the left corner. New Mexico guard Darrell McGee canned a shots in the pair of three-poias the Lobos span attempted to back in the get game. He went on to finish with a team-hig- h 16. Despite the run. New Mexico was forced to foul down the stretch and the Utes capitalized by hitting 10 free throws to ice the victory. Utah shot 50.9 percent in the contest and limited the Lobos to just 36.8 percent from the floor. "Obviously it was a great win. nt What a turnaround. In Canada,-weathe- conditions r can change in a matter of minutes due to a warm westerly as a Chinook. However in the Huntsman Center Thursday night it was defense that helped the Runnin' Utes come from behind and blow an ice-col- d New Mexico team away wind known 79-6- 0. "I thought we played good defense. Their shots were not going in and ours were. It's a simple game." Utah Coach Joe Cravens said. "When it gets down to the nuts and bolts, you n have to play good defense. I think in the course man-to-ma- the ball game we did. That's bread and butter defense." 16-- 8 Trailing with of our" 13:09 remaining in the first half, Utah put the defensive clamps on the the visiting Lobos and held favored guests without a. field, goal the rest of the half.' Furthermore the'Utes put its offense into gear and posted a 15-- 0 run later in the half to pull 9 with comfortably ahead at left stanza in the 3:26 opening after Josh Grant, who finished 30 points and with a game-hig- h a pass.from took 12 rebounds, teammate Justin Brooks and scored on a layup. Grant scored seven points during the run; 29-1- New Mexico ended its drought; at the 2:37 mark on a pair of free throws by former Ben Lomond star Kurt Miller. The charity tosses ended a stretch of almost six minutes of scoreless basketball by the Lobos. The Lobos, who shot a dismal 29 percent in the half, managed just two more free throws in the half while Grant scored twice from the field for Utah as the Utes took a advantage at halftime. Grant got things started in the second half with a slam dunk inch over New Mexico's center Luc Longley, who was held to just 10 points in the contest, to commence a 2 run to increase the Utes' lead to 54-3- 5 with 9:22 to play. Ironically it was Grant, who ended the blitz, this time with a cold-shooti- ng 33-2- 3 21-1- - three-pointe- r. The Lobos scrapped away and closed the gap to 10 at 63-5- 3 thought with a 10 point halftime lead they would make a run at us and they did make a little one," Cravens noted. "But we kept focused and retained our patience. Josh Grant hit some big time shots for us and everyone ' I who got b I m&ss? Jim 'contributed." The Utes were aided by senior Jon Hansen's 12 points along with Keith Chapman and Walter Watts, who both added 11 points for the. victors. New Mexico's contributors included Robbins, who was limited to 12 points and Miller, the Utah native, added f 10. "I was actually more worried about (Rob) Robbins than (Luc) Longley. I didn't think we could stop (Longley). But Robbins is the type of guy who could hit four shots in a row and. hurt ; you," Cravens said. --"Jon Hansen did an outstanding job (covering , " Robbins) As. for Longley, who was restricted to 10 points well below his 19 point average, the Ute coach gave credit to Watts, who like Hansen, did a good job defensively. - "As Walter continues to improve, we will continue to improve as a team," Cravens added. Such a concept was echoed by Grant, the Ute scoring leader. "Our coaches really scouted them well. We knew most of their sets and we took it to them," Grant said. "The key word is team. On defense we helped each out and on offense we just found who was open." Teammate Tommy Connor, who added eight points and five assists, summed up the upset victory with cautious optimism. "I don't know if was so much our defense or the fact that they were out of rhythm. They are still one of the better teams in the WAC. They will bounce back. , This was not the same New Mexico team that I am used to seeing," Connor said. "I think it was a little of our defense and a little of New Mexico being out of rhythm that made the difference. I think we are finding ways to win. Every game we'll play with heart and give it our all." in WAC Utah improved to with the overall and play Utes the for will Next up victory. 2-- 1 9-- 5 be the UTEP Miners, who lost to BYU 69-6- rx-v.-. 7 in overtime Thursday By Jim Burton Chronicle Sports Writer r V 1 Kurt Miller came back to Utah Thursday night and lost. But don't feel too badly for the junior from Ogden, his high school buddy was there to pick him up afterward. i - That buddy is Utah's Larry center who spent in celebration with time of plenty Miller and the rest of the Ben Cain, a Lomond High School's 1986 state championship team. "That was a great team," Cain said following Utah's win over the Lobos. "There was a ' lot of chemistry on that team. It seemed like whenever we needed it, someone did what had to be 19-poi- 1 4 - K nt done." Miller saw it the same way. "We Ashcraft c;hnmiile I'hoto by Aaron I'licXo by A:iron AsIkt.iIi Utah sophomore Josh Grant scored 30 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and garnered five assists en route to the Runnin' Utes' 79-6- 0 win over New Mexico. It was the Lobos' worst loss to Utah in 20 years. New Mexico's Kurt Miller (No. 23) and Utah's Larry Cain (No. 31) were once high school teammates at Ben Lomond in Ogden. NEW MEXICO (60) night. The game will feature a Millor 3- pair of acting head coaches squaring off against each other. Cravens is subbing for the recovering Rick Majerus, while Mexico head coach Ellenberger, who is filling In college however, their careers have taken different paths. Cain, who's the first to admit Miller, quite deservedly, got most of the attention from the championship season, committed to Utah while still at Ben Lomond. "I didn't get as much attention as Kurt did," Cain said. "I wasn't recruited all that much, but I signed Utah my senior year. I didn't go through the recruiting stuff Kurt did." While Cain had already committed to Utah and was in the midst of preparation for a church mission, Miller had some decisions to make. As a senior he was recruited heavily by Utah, Utah State, New Mexico and 0-- 0 KolIi 3 ns 2 4 12. 10. Hanks 5. McHurniws o 0-- 0 3-- 0-- 0-- 2.-- 8 1 0 5, 0. ()-- () Cray Cain 70. 0-- 1 0-- 0 0-- 1 0-- 0 0-- 1 0-- 0 0 4 4 4-- 5 0. Solo 0-- 1 0, lirooks 0-- 0 O-- O 5-- 0. C. Kydulrh 2-- 5 2-- 2 2. Tolals 2H-)i- 5 1 5, 1H-2- 1 Ilalftiiiio Now fmls Utah 33. Niiw Mexico 23. nl Moxioo 0 K(ilbins (I). Mod 1, Millor 0-A. McCoo Honks I.ilxinilnm ). Ulah 2 (Cninl 3-- 5. Chapman Ilonson Kydalch 0-- Connor 0-- 1 ). Nono. KisIxiiiikIs I'oulod onl Now Moxico Now 2H (ljnnli:v ). Utah 40 (Cmnl 12). Assists Moxicn 10 (Kolihins 3). lltoli 1H (Cmnl. Connor 5). Now Moxii:o 21, Ulah 13. Allondanco Toliil louls 11.704. teapmates ! 2 12-2- 0 be about it." That championship season saw Miller averaging 32.5 points and 15.3 rebounds a game; Cain wasn't too far behind with a 15 point average and eight boards a game. McC!! 4- televised regionally with tipoff slated for 3:05 p.m. had a pretty good team," he understated. "Larry and I were pretty close, I'm sure we'll get together pretty soon and talk 10. McCoo 2 7 Norm in for game will 4-- fi 10. i). 0-- Haskins, who has been sidelined . with a throat ailment. Saturday's 4-- 0 0. Nowton 0. Criisj-I.ihomlore 4 2. Totals 00. UTAH (79) Cmnl 11. Willis :(). CHapmnn - !l 1 H. Hanson 7 4 5 12, 11. Connor Miner coach Don long-tim- e - 10 A. UTEP will be led by former New High school - k- - Chronn re unite Connecticut. In the end Miller chose the Lobos in what many saw as a controversial decision that was as much the fault of Utah Coach Lynn Archibald's as anyone's. to Miller quickly put that notion rest. "1 came to New Mexico on he stated. "It had do with Utah or the nothing to way Coach Archibald recruited me. Sure I thought about staying home and being near my family, but in the end I made the decision on my own and I'm glad I made it the way I did." Against Utah, Miller scored 10 my own," points and pulled down and six boards. Though he improved his personal averages, he refused to accept any accolades. "It doesn't matter how well I did as an individual, when the team loses, nobody can be happy. 1 hate to lose. It was fun to come back here and see my family and friends again, but losing the game tonight takes away from that," he said. Not to worry though, Cain and Miller were last seen shaking hands and talking over old times. |
