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Show THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE MONDAY, MARCH MEN ft C H 9 MA continued from page 10 said, remembering the Utes' struggles on the road The win makes Utah 3 in its last five games, with two wins at home, three losses on the road, but the Utes still got a piece of the regular-seaso- n conference championship. Utah and UNLV are of the MWC, each finishing with 4 conference records. For the sixth straight year, Utah spent some time at the end of the r-season finale cutting down the nets. "Four times in four years," Mottola said between postgame autographs. "It's not a bad record." What is different about this year's conference championship is that it is shared, and Utah goes into the MWC Tournament as the second seed. As the No. seed, UNLV draws winless San Diego State in the first round of the tournament on Thursday. Utah gets another game with Air 83 New Mexico 86 BY!J 82 Utah (2W, I MARCH ARCH 10 11 Mountain West 9-- (17-t- Conference Men's Basketbal (18-- Championship 6:00 p.m. ni 6, 2000 13 ) AM j kit force Games Pciflc Tim 7:00 p.m. 84 Colorado St. 85 (18-1- Wyoming Men's Champion 8 6) (16-1- j 10-- regula- 1 Force. Hanno Mottola scored 19 points against the much smaller Air Force defenders in his final home game as a Ute. He has wen four straight conference titles. "It's always hard to play a team three times," Majerus said, but he didn't see much difference between a game with the Falcons and a game with the Aztecs. "You've got to play somebody; it doesn't matter who." Utah has three days off this week before the tournament begins on Thursday in Las Vegas. Utah will have to learn to win on the road to win the tournament. "I don't know what's going on," Harvey said of Utah's road problems. "Hopefully, the Utah fans will come down and support us; they know how much we need them." Utah hasn't lost a neutral-sit- e game this year. Of course, it hasn't piayed one, either. "It's a neutral site, which we haven't played on yet," Jensen said. "It's going to be tough. We have the talent and the personnel to win." 81 UNLV 88 (20-7- , J 9:00 p.m. 1C-- San Diego St. (5 21, Utah Seniors Come Together for Title STERLING CLIFFORD Cnronide Sports Writer Last season was pretty much a one-ma- n affair for Utah basketball. It was Andre Miller who dominated the stats, Miller who dominated the press. And, as the only senior,. Miller who dominated senior night. Partly out of necessity, this year has been more of a team effort for Utah, and more of the team was honored before the final game of the year. Five seniors put on the home whites in the jon M. Huntsman Center for the last time Saturday night, and four of them came from the starting lineup. Alex Jensen, Hanno Mottola, Tony Harvey, Jeremy Kiilion and Brandon Sluga all received a plaque from Majerus and a round of applause before the game, and ail got a standing ovation from the home crowd as they left the game one at a time. It was an emotional evening around the arena, with Majerus swallowing hard before the game, and some in the stands moved to tears during the post- i . game net cutting ceremony. "I'd like to thank all of you for making all my dreams come true," Jensen told the crowd after the game. Jensen left the floor Saturday as the only player in Utah history to never lose a game at home. Dating back to his freshman season, Jensen started 95 consecutive games for Utah, and has never missed one. As a junior, he was Western Athletic Conference Tournament MVP and this year. was preseason Mottola is likely to be the fourth NBA lottery pick in four years for Majerus. Named preseason player of the year by the MWC media, Mottola has been injured for much of his senior year, but has still led the Utes in scoring in 11 games and has recorded two Ail-MW- C double-double- s. Both Kiliion and Harvey came to e Utah after successful seaand both two careers, played just sons at the U. Kiilion told the fans that junior-colleg- see SENIORS, page 15 . WOMEN continued ftotn payc 10 shooting an impressive 49 percent from the field, as every Ute saw playing time with all but one player scoring. Beckman led the Utes in scoring with 17 points, while pulling down five rebounds and picking up three assists and two blocks. Other LTtes scoring in double fig- ures included junior Kristina Andersen and freshman Whitney Sutak, who both scored n points. The Utes crashed the boards and pulled down an amazing 54 rebounds, compared to .the Falcons' 31. Utah's Lindsay Herbert led both teams with 10 boards. Utah also recorded 29 assists, seven steals, six blocks, while committing only 10 turnovers. Since it was senior night, the team honored its two departing seniors, Janna Whitman and Tiana Fuertes, by heaping flowers, pictures and hugs upon them. Whitman was also given her first start in her four-yestay at Utah. Utah would not regret the move, as Whitman scored a career-hig- h 13 from behind points, going the arc and racking up five assists. Utah's point guard, Fuertes, led the Utes with six assists and committed only one turnover in 20 minutes of play, "We're going to miss Janna and Tiana, but, hey, what a way to go out," sophomore Katherine McColl ar said. The only Falcon to score double figures was Thiedman, who had 12 points in 23 minutes of play. Utah finished the season as the MWC regular-seaso- n champion, while Air Force finished in last. Consequently, the No.-- i seeded Utes will face Air Force Wednesday night in Las Vegas to open MWC Tournament play on Wednesday. "We're prepared, and we're going to go in fighting hard," Whitman said. "Our chances are really good; we've just got to play our type of basketball." Although it is unlikely Air Force will rally for a win against Utah in Vegas, history has shown that any- thing can happen in tournament Utah should get a berth in the NCAA Tournament, but would like play. MARCH 8 MARCH 10 Lauren Beckman dominated the Fathe paint Saturday. to win the MWC Tournament to clear up any doubts. "We go down there with the most difficult role again the team to beat," Elliott said. "There will be no policies and no assumptions. We'll just play hard and see what lcons in happens." MARCH 11 Mcleod 83 Colorado St. (19 3, 86 (10-1- 12 Wyoming USA 9-- Mountain West p.m. Conference Women's Basketball 12 (20-7- , 82 BYU 87 San Diego St. p.m. Championship 2:30 p.m. 10-- All 84 Colorado 85 UNLV 81 Utah 88 Utah center Lauren Beckman helped guide the Utes to a first-plac- e finish in the MWC this season. 9:30 p.m. St Women's Champion 6 p.m. (16-1- (20-7- , Air Force Gam$ Pacific Tlmt 2:30 p.m. 11 3) 8:30 p.m. |