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Show POR' TUESDAY 120 TAGfc 7 Daily Utah Chronicle Thorburn shines as Utes top CSU Runnin' Utes beat down Rams Asad Kudiya Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor After taking a beating against the BYU Cougars Saturday night, the Colorado State Rams gave the U basketball team all it could handle Monday night at the Huntsman Center. But the Utes pulled away in the end, as they did against Wyoming Saturday, and won their 12th straight conference 9 on ESPN's Big game, 67-4- Monday. pered with a bad knee all season and barely played against BYU, but turned in a good performance against the Utes. "Their game plan was good and they were very smart," Ute coach Rick Majerus said. In the second half, the tables were turned, as the Utes opened the half with a 0 run and never looked back. Jacobson led the charge in the second half with 12 points, while sophomore Richard Chaney hit three momentous and had 16 total points in the game. Utah shot 63 percent from the field in the second half. According to Majerus, the Utes didn't do anything drase tically different after the break it just came down to making shots, plain and r Tye Smith Chronicle Sports Writer 9-- The U women's basketball team (12-made 4, three-pointe- rs NEXT: Utah vs New Mexico Jan. 24, 1pm, Albuquerque, NM 0 The Utes MWC) were downright pitiful offensively in the first half, shooting only 36 percent from the field, which was a direct result of (15-- 3, 3-- 5, i 55-5- 1. - simple. "Sometimes it's just a matter of the ball going in the basket," Majerus said. "Defensively, we really tightened it up and we the Rams' defense. CSU's (8-took Clark out of the game." Clark only had two points in MWC) defense forced the Utes to waste the entire shot the second half and was never clock on several occasions and allowed to find the rhythm take bad shots under despera- that made him so effective tion. during the first half. On the other end, the Rams However, Nelson kept the Tim Frost had eight points and five shot 56 percent from the field Rams in the game with his fect MWC record intact with a in the first half, led by forward play on the interior, and pulled Ronnie Clark and center Matt his team to within seven of from point guard Josh Olsen Nelson. the Utes with five minutes to to freshman Andrew Bogut Clark led all scorers in the play. with a little over two minutes first half with 12 points and But the Utes kept on firing. to play in the game iced the Nelson was second with eight A from Chaney victory for the Utes. and a half court alley-oopoints. Nelson has been ham Against Wyoming, the Utes pass 'A j h Uv 1 3 three-point- 9 17. Utah vs Air Force r 67-4- at NEXT: 8, 0-- 2-- 0) an impressive bid for reentry into the national top 25 polls with a road win against Colorado State (10-Saturday. The Utes maintained an undefeated conference record by winning their second consecutive road game, this time by a score of In the process, the Utes snapped the Rams' home conference winning streak 1) half-tim- Jan. 22,7pm, Huntsman Center boards as his Utes kept their pervictory over Colorado State. Sophomore er HOOPS superstar Shona Thorburn returned to form against the Rams, leading her team to victory by a margin of just four points in a game that could have gone either way up until the final clearly capitalized on their size and skill advantage in the paint, especially in the first half. Freshman Andrew Bogut, Matthew Ouellette seconds. Thorburn scored a team high 25 points to go along with six rebounds after being held to just five points two days earlier in the team's meeting with Wyoming. "I was just more aggressive going to the hole against Colorado State," Thorburn Chronicle Sports Writer said. SEE p PAGE 8 Red Rocks pound Huskers "The team was altogether U gymnastics The No. team proved once again that it is once again among the nation's elite, as the Red Rocks repeated the runaway success of their first meet in an equally more aggressive, which really opened things up for me personally." 1 5 vicimpressive tory over No. 3 Nebraska at the Huntsman Center Friday night. Annabeth Eberle put on a clinic, winning three events and placing second in a fourth on her way to a blowout victory in the "I was just trying to stay relaxed out there and do the things I do in the gym," Eberle said. Preventing Eberle from a clean sweep was U freshman Rachel Tidd, who scored a 9.925 on the bars, besting Eberle's 9.90. Tidd competed in three events despite nursing shin splints in her left leg. Her performance showed no signs of injury, however, as she tied Eberle for first on the beam with 9.90 and placed third on the vault with 9.85. f The Utes came into the game with a call from head coach Elaine Elliott to play . more aggressively on the offensive side of the ball, and though the Utes shot an ugly 27 percent from the field in the first half, the evidence was clear that they were going to play offense with more intensity. At the half, Utah trailed the Rams by five in a game that had been characterized by runs from each side. At one point in the first half, CSU went on a run, holding Utah scoreless for more than 11 minutes of game time. But the Utes refused to 196.90-194.32- With these strong performances, the meet was never really in question as the Cornhuskers had falls in every event, including two falls on both the bars and the floor competition. "I apologize that this wasn't really Nebraska gymnastics tonight," head coach Dan Kendig said. Although he readily acknowledged his team's shortcomings, Kendig was reluctant to make excuses for the poor performance, despite the fact that there were plenty of them. First and foremost, his team was without 2003 champion Richelle Sampson, who did not compete because of a very rare bone decay injury to her tibia. In addition to the absence of their star, the Huskers had to endure several traveling difficulties that resulted in them having to catch an 8 a.m. flight from Omaha the morning of the meet. "I know they're a much better team than the way they performed tonight," Utah coach Greg Marsden said. Nebraska was not the only team without a star, as Utah senior Veronique Leclerc was sidelined due to an ankle sprain. She was slated to compete on V ! 02-4- AIR FORCE (3-1- ) January 22,2004 7pm Colorado Springs. Colo. : - - i ; 10-- 0 ; i lit .r.f ..... iff t r 1- give up and stuck with the game plan. "You're down by five when the first 20 minutes are over, no reason to but there's panic," Elliott said after the game. "You just have to get to the next play. We finished better and didn't give up scoring opportunities in the second half." The preseason Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, sophomore Kim Smith, added her third double-double of the season in support of the Utes' winning effort Saturday. She finished with 18 11 two rebounds, points, assists and two steals. Her rebounds were critical, considering that six came on the offensive side of the glass, giving Utah important second and third chances. The Utes would need as many chances as they could get, as the team shot a paltry 33 percent from the field on the afternoon. her Elliott applauded team's hustle in pulling out the road win, even in the face of adversity. "I think we really played with great intensity on the boards," she said. With the win, the Utes in conference moved to play, and now have a chance to wipe away the difficulties e they had during the season. "It's a great start for the team," Thorburn said. "Basketball is a mental game and conference games are when tough especially they're on the road." Utah plays its next two games at home in the Huntsman Center, giving Utah fans a chance to see their team in action. Thursday night the Utes will face Air Force at 7 p.m., followed by a Sunday afternoon game against New Mexico. Utah is undefeated at home and hasn't lost at the Huntsman Center since midseaway through the 2001-02-- 0 noncon-ferenc- 2 son. When the Utes host the Falcons and Lobos, they will be looking to extend its conference record to 0 on the year. tsmith schronicle. utah. edu 4-- I s s mii r7 0 Annabeth Eberle came out victorious in three events Friday versus Nebraska. the the bars but injury in warmups and was unable to go. According to Marsden, it doesn't seem too severe, but she will undergo an MRI to "eliminate doubt." Injuries aside, the meet began with the Utes on the vault and Eberle, Tidd and fellow freshman Nicolle Ford performing solidly enough to overcome an uncharacteristic and a half. The beam was the worst event for the Utes and the best for the Huskers but the Utes still prevailed by a score of 49.050 48.925. Things were looking bad for the Red Rocks after Ford fell during her difficult routine, but Eberle picked up the slack by nailing her routine and solidifying the confidence of her team. The Utes finished up on the fall by Melissa Vituj. "I thought we were a little floor, which featured anothnervous on vault because it er flawless performance by was the first meet at home," Eberle, and a Marsden said. "But once we show put on by Gritt Hoffman, got past that first event, I felt who added new elements to her already difficult routine. we just got stronger and stronThe Red Rocks were in conger." The Red Rocks upped the trol from start to finish, and intensity on the bars as Tidd, showed little to no letdown from their season opener Eberle and Ford finished on the apparatus, widening against UCLA a fact that the gap between their Utes the gymnasts and the coaches and the Huskers to a full point recognized as a paramount crowd-rousin- g GYMNASTICS WOMEN'S HOOPS UTAH at ,r, v n null Lb 1 game home MWC win streak U WUfUtU blLUp (2 0) BYU (1 - 1) 23. 2004 7pm d Provo, Utah January I 1 jr--- V Marsden was also very pleased with the effort, especially given the precedent his team had set for itself the pre- vious week. "I'm really growing to love this team," Marsden said. "You don't know what you've got until you get out on the competitive floor, but it hit me in the face after last week that this is a group that loves to compete." Shona Thorburn scored 25 points In the Utes' Colorado State this weekend. mouellettechronicle.utah.eclu UTAH at MEN'S HOOPS (NA) UTAH INVITATIONAL (CC) January 23, 2004 TBA Soldier Hollow, Utah - J from UCLA, come back from the high and do well," Eberle said. "We were excited about beating UCLA, but we didn't let it go to our heads and we kept focused on what we needed to do. Everyone on the team put forth a really good effort." SKIING - UTAH at yV achievement. "This meet was really important, not just because of the score, but mostly to come back (15-3- NEW MEXICO (9-5- 24, 2004 Ipm N.M. Albuquerque, 1 win over MEN'S TENNIS UTAH at January 55-5- ) ) UTAH at (NA) WEBER STATE INVITATIONAL January 24, 2004 TBA Ogden. Utah |
