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Show DAILY THE J -- ,.,.... . . ,., . CHRONICLE UT AH a is ZZJ f i mm m 'flWB' , mm ;si art ,rm m m7 ., s c m i n mam m it . ...- - - 'J f.irrz 16 RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor The table was set for the Utes to get into the Sweet 16. North had topped Southern 9 in overtime in the game Cal preceding Utah's contest. All Utah had to do was get past Indiana not quite a pushover. Plagued by turnovers and an insurmountable Hoosier lead due to shooting, the No. 12 streaky first-hasaw its season seed Utah (21-come to an end as No. 5 Indiana handed the Utes their worst loss in the first round of the year, of the NCAA Tournament at, Sacramento's ARCO Arena. "Indiana played terrific and took it to us and they whooped us. They beat us up physically," coach Rick Majerus said. "We've beat ourselves in other games, but tonight they beat us." Indiana advanced to the second round for the first time since 1998, Carolina-Wilmi- ngton 93-8- 9) (21-1- 75-5- A i Phil Cullen scored a 25 points as Utah lost career-hig- h 75-5- 6 to Indiana in the NCAA Tournament. .,..J.. a r i. jHti'MMiiifl I ill miMIWI"" ill and will play the Seahawks for a berth into the Sweet lf O , .. Indiana Bounces Utes From First Round of NCAAs Jff'iJ ?; an "wr ;?jPW?sW ! 'ft,, m pssao-- .vfflgfeMt- - -- m 1) Saturday. "I'm confident they'll go on here with success," Majerus said. the In Thursday night's match-up- , knew before Utes were behind they what hit them. Following a Travis Spivey turnover on a cross-cou- rt pass, Indiana's Tom Coverdale hit a three. The next time down, Big Ten Player of the Year Jared Jeffries hit a d Another hook. turnover, this one by center Cameron Koford, resulted in a deuce by Jarrad Odle. Utah found itself down 0 before Nick Jacobson got the U on the board with a high arcing jumper. Utah cut the lead to"7-4- , but the Hoosiers worked it back up to seven turn-aroun- 7-- at 11-- 4. senior Cullen got Then 6, Phil forwardcenter involved. s, hit consecutive after fluid ball movement and assists by Trace Caton and Brit-to- n Johnsen. Cullen followed with another long y range bomb, this one a Cullen three-pointer- fade-awa- see MEN'S HOOPS, page 9 U Softball Loses to Utes Host Hanked Gators Top -- 2 5 Opponents RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor LANCE GAMERO Chronicle Sports Writer At the Kia Classic in Fullcrton, Calif., the Utes were looking to get some quality wins against Top 25 teams. It didn't happen in the first day of competition. Against No. 18 Louisiana-Lafayettthe Utes didn't come out with any fire and lost U head coach Mona Stevens said the Ragin' Cajuns capitalized on Utc errors to get the win. The Cajuns scored nine runs on eight hits, while the Utes scored only oncrun off seven hits. U pitcher Jennifer Purscll took the loss, allowing eight earned runs and d three home runs in 5 and innings pitched. Kelsie Lewis, who came off the bench as a pinch runner, scored the U's only run in the sixth inning. In the second game of the double header, the Utes were looking for revenge against No. 13 Washington, who beat them in the Desert Classic in St. George, Utah, earlier this season. Instead, it was more of the same. The Uics lost to Washington The Huskies scored two runs in the e, 9-- 1. one-thir- 4-- 0. SOFTBALL at Utah (10-23- All Day Fullerton, Calif. aggressively." Stevens said this tournament was one of the toughest anywhere, noting there is a "ton of talent." Even though the Utes still haven't beaten a Top 25 team, Stevens says the team isn't thinking about those teams, but themselves. "We're in a rut and we can't seem to get out of it," she said. She said the season so far has "gone ridiculous." Utah will get another shot at it today against No. 10 Fresno State. Igamerochronicle. utah.edu ) at Utah NCAA Zone Qualifier 315 All Day Palo Alto, Calif. CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR Whereas the road has given the fits this Utah gymnastics team (7-season, the Huntsman Center has pro2) vided a safe haven for hefty U scores. So what is coach Greg Marsden's plan for keeping his gymnasts focused for their meet with No. 16 Florida March 16, running the regular season home winning streak to 169 straight meets? "We're just going to perform, have a good time," the coach said. "We've been trying not to put so much pressure on ourselves, and we're going to continue with that attitude. It's never been a question of if we can compete, we just need to relax." However, relaxing will be a little difficult with the possibility that junior standout Theresa Kulikows-k- i will be unavailable. Kulikowski has won three of the last four competitions and has 19 overall wins (the next closest is Shannon Bowles's eight). Kulikowski has not practiced all week because of an illness, which may be mono. "We're hoping she can get better, but if it is mono, she may not be available," Marsdcn said. If Kulio is out, it could mean a more substantial role for Dcidra Graham, who's been limited to bars in the last (11-- tXlj,) WOMEN'S DIVING Kia Softball Classic 315 first inning off Utah errors, when Ute infieldcrs threw the ball off Husky runners more than once. The Huskies scored four runs, two off errors, and had seven hits to the U's five. The difference was Utah's three errors, whereas Washington didn't have any. Heather Bowlin took the loss at pitcher for the U, as she threw all seven innings, allowed two earned runs, seven hits and one home run. Even with the losses, Stevens maintains the team's caliber and says the losses arc not because they're getting beat by better teams. "We just didn't play well," she said. "I'm not sure why. We're not playing 8) ..JiLL,,,! ljjM"f TENNIS vs Rice Utah 6-- 9) (6-6- ) Veronique LeClerc and Utah have two home meets before four meets due to bulging back disks. Graham has been getting more involved in practice, but has been led along with "cautious optimism." However, Graham may be called upon should Kulikowski not compete. At least there's the comfort of the Huntsman Center. Saturday's competition with the Gators (start time 7 p.m.) Eccles Tennis Center is the postseason. the second of three straight home meets for the U before NCAA Regional begin April 6. The string of home meets came at the right time. Utah had hit the road five consecutive weeks prior due to the Olympics, and weren't the same see GYMNASTICS, page 10 Tii GYMNASTICS vs Florida Utah 316 at 7 315 at 6 p.m. ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN "7 (11-(7-2- 8) ) GOLF at Utah San Diego Invite 318-1- p.m. Huntsman Center EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU 9 All Day San Diego, Calif. 581 - 7041 |