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Show Jl f CHRONICLE UTAH DAILY THE ij m Women Bounced in MWC First Hound Majerus Says Utes Aren't a Lock for NCAA Tournament ERIC WALDEN ClifOnu.lt- - f d.tor Sports 1 While (he youth ami nu xju i ii iu c of tin supporting cist h.iJ hicii .1 banc of the U women's hoops te.nu all year long, it was just as ofkn the inconsistent and uneven eifoit of the entire roster the quad ol hall) hooed seniors included that detonated the Dies' season into mediocrity. And with one such lackluster performance on Wednesday night, the U defeat at tumbled its way to a the hands ol UNI.V at the MWC Tournament, and, in the course of one year's time, went from NCAA conSweet 16 entrant to ference tourney casualty. Now, with that ignominious loss, comes the end of the season. After winning five of its last six g.imes to conclude the regular season vic tory over the (including a 60-6Kebs 111 Wg.is in the (male), the U appealed poised to pose problems for ail comers in the tourney. The swagger, apparently, stayed home in Salt Lake t.'ity. The difference between this week and last? "We didn't shoot well and we turned the ball over. That's pretty different," said U coach Maine Mliott. The Utes were awful from the outfield goals set, hitting just over the game's first l.v.50, and notch- - RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor Although the Utah men's basketball team has reached the magic win number at 20-- 7 and are owners of the highest RPI ranking in the conference (21, a formula heavily considered by the NCAA Tournament selection committee), coach Rick Majerus contests the assumption of hoops analysts that the Utes already have a spot locked up in the NCAA Tournament. "I don't know that. The press can say whatever they want because they have no accountability," Majerus said. "I don't believe that 57-3- first-roun- d ; fV " " . ff - v ''' v ' k myself." 5 women's hoops, see ' page Furthermore, Majerus thinks neither his No. 2 seed Utes, nor the No. seed Wyoming Cowboys, are y the favorites in the postseason extravaganza this weekend in Las 1 5 Vegas. 1 n- - - rrnt, 1 grfW - Carley Marshall came off the bench to score a 7 & 10 team-hig- h L......, - points for Utah. 1 "I would favor UNLV, because home is where you want to be at 2 tournament time," Majerus said, o "This is not a tournament for Vegas, c it's home games." ; UNLV opens up the MWC Tour- 5 namcnt with a nationally televised mmi rn FPM nciincf New MpYirn at 9:00 p.m. PST. U Men Open MWCs f With ; Colorado State RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor jT ' ( JJ J '" ''y AmvC - 1 Iff v- - , With the U men's basketball team's NCAA Tournament bid in question, there's only one thing the Utes can do at the Mountain West Conference Tournament this weekend in I.as Vegas to raise their stock. "We should be able to go down there and win three games," said forward Britton Johnsen. Well put. The only way the Utes are guaranteed a spot into the Big Dance is to win the conference tournament. The first step begins tonight. 4 No. 2 seed Utah (20-MWC) takes on No. 7 seed Colorado State 3'1') in the opening round at 6:00 p.m. Utah's game will be televised on KJZZ. Should the Utes advance, they would face the winner of the No. 3 UNLVNo. 6 New Mexico matchup. Other first round match-up- s include No. Wyoming versus No. 8 Air Force and No. 4 BYU versus No. 7, (12-1- & W' MEN'S HOOPS 37 vs Colorado St Utah All Day Anchorage, Alaska ( 02-17- ) (20-7- ) 37 at 6 p.m. Las Vegas, Nev. CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR 7, San Diego State. But before the Utes can look ahead, they must take care of business with a team they beat both times during the teams' two previous meetings. Britton Johnsen now has two Player of the Year awards to his credit. at Utah NCAA Championship 10-- 1 5 SKIING "I " i Brit Gets More Hardware WOMEN'S TENNIS Idaho State ) vs (3-4- Utah 38 (5-5- ) at 2 p.m. PT & The Sports Mall ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN don't like playing teams we've already beaten twice," said Britton Johnsen. "But I'm glad we do have this game instead of Air Force." In Colorado State, Utah draws a 2 in Salt Lake team it edged 67-6- City Feb. 2 and 72-6- Feb. 28 in Fort 2 Collins, Colorado. "We've had difficulty with them, we expect a hard fought contest," said coach Rick Majerus. "They have size and quality players." One of those quality players is forward Brian Greene. Greene aver16.3 points per ages a team-hig- h game (eighth in the MWC), and is active on the glass (7.6 rpg, third in the MWC). In Salt Lake City, Greene lit up the Utes for a game-hig- h 29 points on 9 shooting to 6 go along with rebounds. However, Greene was held to 11 points on shooting in the sequel in Fort Collins. "Greene is active, he goes to the boards, and Andy Birley is a good shooter," said Ute sophomore Nick Jacobson. The Rams will try to free up Birley, who led the MWC in three pointers per game (2.72 per contest). 13-1- 4-- see MEN'S HOOPS, page Although both Britton Johnsen and Majerus were skeptical of Johnsen's selection as MWC Player of the Year, the honors didn't cease for the junior forward. Johnsen was named the United State Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District VIII Player of the Year yesterday. Johnsen has scored in double figures in 25 of 27 games this year and shot 50.2 percent from the field. The award comes just days after Johnsen's naming as the best player in his conference, despite ranking 13th in the MWC in points (13.2 ppg) scored and seventh in rebounding (6.5 rpg). Altogether, four Utes garnered MWC honors, but Britton felt there needed to be more love for his teammates. "Nick and Jacobson Jeff deserved more. And so Johnsen did Travis Spivey," Britton said. Jacobson and Jeff Johnsen both were and Spivey was named honorable mention. Although the accolades were nice, Jacobson said it wasn't his primary focus. "It means a lot, but my goals are more said the sophomore guard, who averages 13.2 points and ranks second in the MWC in three point shooting. "But it's nice to be seen in that respect by the coaches in the league." third-tcamer- s, team-oriented- rbrunnerchronicle.utah.edu 7 BASEBALL vs Southern Utah (M7) Utah (10-8- ) 38 at vs GYMNASTICS Oregon State Utah 39 at 2 p.m. (5-5-- 1) (6-2- ) 7 p.m. Huntsman Center Franklin Covey Field EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU ," 581-704- 1 r. |