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Show TUESDAY PAGE 113 Daily Utah Chronicle Rimnin' Utes knock off Rebels in MWC opener Asad Kudiya Utes 0 in the contest, but Utah kept getting good jump shots and hitting key three pointers to keep the Rebels at bay. Along with the jumpers, Utah hit the boards hard and outrebounded the Rebels 6-- Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor The U basketball team fi- loss nally avenged its 64-4- 1 to the UNLV Rebels in the Mountain West Conference Tournament last season, as .r - i Las Vegas Monday night. It was the hot shooting of senior shooting guard Nick Jacobson that lifted the Utes. Jacobson scored 27 points for the game, 14 of which came in the first half. The Utes (13-MWC) took an early lead which they 3, -0 never relinquished, even 1 though the Rebels (9-MWC) seemed to capture the momentum at several points during the second half. It got especially close with 2:59 left, where the game was all square at 63 apiece. Down the stretch, it was a free throw shooting contest, and the Utes, who have had problems all season at the stripe, hit their shots and went on to win their seventh straight contest. Utah got off to a very hot start in the game, hitting shots and jumping out to an early lead. But the Rebels stayed close thanks to their full court press, which gave the Utes problems. Not only did the Rebels' press make up for the Utes' hot shooting, but point guard Jerel Blassin-gam- e consistently broke the Ute defenders down to give his teammates easy shots. Blassingame finished the 17 game with a team-hig- h points and six assists. 4, ?' - ih ;L - i Andrew Bogut and ' i, the Utes won Is ! i - - sJ ' u irv i j , V f ( i 'i j their first conference game of the year, knocking off UNLV. Besides Blassingame, Shots by point guards Josh Olsen and Tim Drisdom, along with several easy by Andrew Bogut, allowed the Utes to withstand the Rebels' pressure. Even with the contributions from the other players on the team, the Rebels looked as if they would break through a with a big three pointer from Blassingame, which stunned ps Utah. In addition to the big three pointer, Bogut, who finished with eight points and five boards, fouled out with little over two minutes left to play in the game. But the Rebels also were in foul trouble and J.K. Edwards, who had scored 14 points, fouled out as well late in the game. lead With only a two-poiwith very little time left to play, Ute center Tim Frost, who had missed three of the last four games, made one of two free throws. With a chance to tie it up, Blassingame hoisted up a three, but was off. Jacobson then iced the game with two free throws. The win was the biggest of the season for the Utes, as they finally proved that it could beat a quality team. All six of the previous opponents 0-- nt that the Utes had defeated were teams they should have easily beaten, but the win on the road sets the team up well for the rest of the conference for- ward Odartey Blankson was the offensive leader for the team, as he also finished the game with 17 points. In the second half, the Rebels really tightened up their pressure, especially in the defensive paint where UNLV swatted some pivotal shots. The Rebels outblocked the Matthew Ouellette The U gymnastics team turned in an impressive performance over the weekend, toppling then No. i UCLA in Los Angeles. Yesterday, the Red Rocks realized the magnitude of their victory when the national rankings were released and they were sitting comfortably ahead of the pack in the No. i position. "I'm proud of our performance," heci, pjfr.cb Greg Marsden said, "but now we have a big target on our backs and No. 3 Nebraska coming in so we still have a lot of work to do." In NCAA gymnastics, the rankings are based on high score and the Utes turned in the best score by more than of a point. Although that may seem like a small margin, the average margin between top 25 teams is less than two-tentof a point. Though it's too early in the season to tell who is going to be among the nation's best by six-tent- season's end, it's worth considering that U junior Anna-bet- h Eberle has the score and the best vault score (10.0) in the nation, and senior Melissa Vituj has the third best score on the balance beam. In addition, freshman Rachel Tidd turned out a 9.975 on her collegiate vault, which was good enough for third place nationwide. "Our returning leaders, A.B. (Eberle), Mel (Vituj), V (Leclerc) and Gritt did what I expected fifth-be- first-ev- st er (Hof-man- n) against UCLA," Marsden said. "What I didn't know was how big Nicolle Ford and Rachel Tidd would step up in their first collegiate competition." Coming out of the first week ranked No. 1 is a giant boost for confidence of the U gymnastics team, but it could be a pitfall as well if the Red Rocks can't maintain the same level of intensity. The coaching staff, however, will probably have something to say about season. Not only did Jacobson lead the team with 27 points Monday, but he also passed the mark in school 1,300-poi- nt history, SEE which is good MEN'S HOOPS for PAGE 8 NEVADA January Sugar 2004 TBA Bowl, Calif. I """" ,) national championship. They took a major step toward that promotion last Saturday in their win over UCLA. i v O J ui j o " T O a . . Melissa Vituj and the Ute gymnasts are now the No. (4-- 2004 7pm Laramie, Wyo. 15, n O t y -- , V (10-4- January performance last season, finished third in their opening weekend, just behind New Mexico and Denver. Only alpine events were featured at the invite, which took place in Park City. The second half of the Utah Invitational will be Jan. 4 in Soldier Hollow, Utah, and will feature the cross country events. e finish While a might not seem indicative of a national champion, U head coach Kevin Sweeney couldn't have been more pleased with his team's showing, especially given the number of newcomers to this year's roster. "I definitely look at it as a very good performance. It's the first meet of the season, we're the host, we're the defending champions, so I think there's a lot of pressure 23-2- third-plac- there," Sweeney said. "Added to that, we've got quite a few new skiers to the college circuit. In a way, things unfolded the way I expected them. My returning skiers skied great. They had a really solid weekend. And my new skiers all performed really well." Still, the Utes couldn't quite match the performances of the Lobos and Pioneers. "I think the reason why we didn't end up on top is we made a few mistakes. It wasn't a perfect weekend for us by any means," Sweeney said. "To me, it seems like we skied half to three-fourtof our potential. But that's not something I'm really concerned about." ing. "For the first race of the season, we skied great," Atkins said. "We saw flashes of Center. Any letdown in intensity against the Cornhuskers could result in only the Utes' second home loss in 24 years, but this meet is also an ample opportunity to prove that they are legitimate contenders for the WYOMING INVITATIONAL ; 1 at defending national champion U ski team finally opened its 2004 season, playing host to the first half of the Utah Invitational on Sunday and Monday. The Utes, winners of n national titles following their Utah couldn't get any higher in the rankings on Monday, as the team remained in third position. "I think maybe our concentration waned a little bit on a couple of the runs, and the athletes got into a little bit of trouble," Sweeney said. But head alpine coach Aaron Atkins remained pleased with the U's downhill team, regardless of the final rank- tential is." The Utes will get their first opportunity to manifest their potential into proven talent and defend their No. ranking this Friday against No. 3 Nebraska at the Huntsman UTAH After spending most of the fall training on dry land, the place after the first day of competition, thanks in large part to top-1- 0 finishes from junior Ben Thornhill and sophomore Andi Weiser. :" j I "", WOMEN'S HOOPS (NA) UTAH at v "As well as we competed against UCLA, there is still a lot of work to be done for us to be in a position to contend for the national title in April," Marsden said. "I think the performance gave our athletes a taste of what their po- SKIING Chris Bellamy Chronicle Sports Editor The Utes were in third that. "That win was big because it was reflexive of upsetting UCLA at their place," Marsden said. "But it's early. There's a lot of season left to go, and what's really important is to be there at the end." The Ute gymnasts are pretty good at being there at the end the best, in fact, as they have won more NCAA titles (nine) than any other program in the nation. They also have the most top-thrfinishes (15). This Ute squad seems to have the necessary potential to fortify the legacy of Utah gymnastics with yet another title, and they have taken a big first step at achieving that goal by beginning the season at No. 1. mouellette chronicle. utah. edu finish - Red Rocks jump three spots to national No. 1 Chronicle Sports Writer third-plac- e ,32-2- 2. they won the conference opener on the road, 72 67 in x Skiers open season with ) 1 squad In U the nation. GYMMASTICS SEE MEN'S HOOPS NEBRASKA at (1-- 0) WYOMING UTAH (1-- UTAH January 16, 2004 7pm Huntsman Center ,J brilliance through the events and many of our skiers really broke out and skied well... we will definitely be in the hunt for the national title." The second day of competition saw one of the best stories of the weekend, as junior April Mancuso completed a triumphant return to the slopes after being forced to redshirt last season due to a back injury. Mancuso won the giant slalom with a time of 2:06.51, while teammates Rowena Hyldahl and Elisha Stevens finished with her in the top 10. "One of the absolute highlights of the weekend has to be April coming back," Sweeney said." I knew she had been training well, and she's a great talent, but I can't say I would have expected her to win. I know she has the ability to win, but maybe I thought it'd come after getting a few more races under her belt." The Ute men once again performed well Monday, as sophomore Will McDonald at (7-6- PAGE 6 MEN'S HOOPS ) (12-3- January 17, 2004 3pm Huntsman Center SKIING WYOMING ) UTAH at (8-6- ) (13-3- January 17, 2004 3pm Huntsman Center ) |
