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Show Saturday, December JO. 2000, BYU Continued from B 1 30 seconds left, but the Jaguars' Brett Gravitt responded with a runner to give USA the win. On the Cougars' final possession, Wesley's shot and tip attempts by Terrell Lyday and Michael Vranes all failed. 12-fo- ot "We actually played really well," Cleveland said. "It was really diffi cult, because we had the game in our hands and kind of gave it away." Sound famil iar? hi similar problems last weekend at the 1 Yahoo! Sports Invitational in Hawaii, giving up A second-hal- f leads against Iowa State and Southern California.. The Cougars seemed to right the ship with a strong second half performance in their win over Weber State on 84-7- 5 Thursday night. Still, South Alabama will provide another test. The Jaguars return four starters from last year's Sun Belt regular-seasochampionship team. Foremost among that group is senior Virgil Stanescu, a center. n 275-poun- d SAINTS Continued from nament, they weren't even invited to the NIT. A "They've got to prove," Cleve- land said. "That M was a reauy Dig IK injustice. When you win your conference, you expect to go to the postseason. I know that didn't sit well with them." BYU can only hope South Alabama goes home feeling similarly depressed after tonight. This is the first of five straight homes games for the Cougars, who are 0 this year at the Marriott Center. Idaho t something n ijT 5-- s and Texas Christi will visit town next A&M-Corpu- weekend. at sbellheraldextra.com or 344-255- their fifth trip. 0 While St. Louis is in postseason play, New Orleans is "This isn't a team you've learned to expect a lot of," Carol Otis said as she bought playoff tickets this week. "My family has followed them from the start and it's been one heartbreak after another." Years of doubt built up the staunch skepticism, and doubt lingers for many. The Saints have been called the "doormats of the NFL," the "darlings of the downtrodden," the "divas of doze," and the "Aints." The image is so strong that even a winning record doesn't seem to dispel it. "People think of the Saints and think of the old 16-2- B 1 0-- 4. tations, people pick the Rams over the Saints on history alone. Even when the Rams made their trip to the NFL championship last year, they at least had past performances to point to. Although they had finished last in the NFC West the year before, they also had a history that included 20 winning seasons over 34 years. This is New Orleans' sixth winning season in that period. The Rams will make their 24th playoff appearance on Saturday, third most in the NFL. The Saints are making AP Sports Writer MIAMI Jim Mora is 65 but looks younger, surprising given his history in the NFL playoffs. Mora has the kind At 0-5, of postseason record that puts wrinkles on a coach's face. He'll try again for win No. 1 Saturday when his Indianapolis Colts play the Miami Dolphins in an AFC wild-car- d "I game. don't put any extra pressure on myself because I've never been able to win a playoff game," said Mora, the league's oldest coach. "We've tried hard to win those games. We came up short. We'll try hard this week." Mora went Orleans, losing all four playoff games in 11 years as coach of the Saints. Last season his Colts were widely considered the AFC favorites but were eliminated at home eventual conference by champion Tennessee, "It was a motivating fac-- . finishtor in the ing on a sour note," quarter n, ll-for-- h 95-6- through three quarters. He scored 11 points in the first quarter as the Knicks charged to a 2 lead and added 13 points in the second as New York built a 6 halftime advan27-2- 55-3- tage. "I just felt good out there. I don't know at what point," Sprewell said. "Jeff (Van Gundy) kept calling my number and they didn't double. I had to make them pay." The Knicks, who won their third straight, scored the first 12 points of the third quarter and increased their lead to 31 points twice in the period. didn't let up," Sprewell explained. "I think the biggest thing we did was we had them down at halftime, came out in the third quarter and they didn't score for the first six minutes. That's what you expect out of your team." HEAT 98 WIZARDS 91 MIAMI Eddie Jones scored 31 points and Tim had 25 as the Sardaway ran their winning streak to four games 98-9- 1 Pae tali victory Friday games over .500 for the first time this season, Washington, which lost its sixth straight, played without point guard Rod Strickland, who served a e suspension for violating several team rules. Filling in for Strickland, Chris Whitney scored 16 points and added six assists, but injured his right ankle in the closing seconds and limped off the court. one-gam- CAVALIERS 97 HAWKS 85 Lamond Murray had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Andre Miller scored 19 points as e Cleveland snapped a losing streak. Clarence Weatherspoon scored 16 points and Chris Gatling added 13 for the Cavaliers. Dikembe Mutombo had 20 rebounds and Lorenzen Wright scored 20 points for the Hawks, who lost their second straight. ATLANTA five-gam- but they may be the hottest team in the balanced postseason field. To earn a playoff berth, Indy (10-6- ) had to win its final three games, beating Buffalo, Miami and Minnesota. "We might be playing better than we played last year at the end of the season," Mora said. "Once you get here anything can happen. 1 think it's Everybody is wide open. It's a pretty even bunch of teams, and who knows what will happen." The Colts have played better in December than the " ' I I If 0-- 0. who slipped Dolphins (11-5- ), n into their traditional needed Miami slump. a fourth-quartrally to beat New England in the final game and win the AFC East for the first time since 1994. While Mora seeks a personal playoff breakthrough, coach Dave Wannstedt and his Dolphins must resist the temptation to be satisfied with a season that already i.AK late-seaso- I. KOI MM KIN he Asmk uuM IV He's a load: Indianapolis running back Edgcrrin James will lead the Colts into their playoff game today with Miami. er Following the retirement of Jimmy Johnson and Han Marino, the Dolphins were picked by many to finish last in the division. "I know there are people who wondered whether I could do the job here," Wannstedt said this week in has exceeded expectations. his weekly column for Dolphin Digest. "My first reaction "would be to toll those people, 'Well, I showed you.' But that's not the typo of person I am. I would never say that to those people, even though deep down I feel that way." lower-roun- d and picks has thrived on an mentality this season. "Every player on this team has something to prove," assistant coach Rick Venturi said. "We look at ourselves as junkyard dogs that nobody really believed in. Now we can show people we are the real deal." New coach Jim U V?. of IDIff O TUESDAY JANUARYS Haslett has a special affinity with his players and a willingness to play a daring brand of football they like. Garage Door Opener Sale RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SAFETY AND SECURITY Rugged belt drive with steel construction for years of dependable operation Model 1280-- 7' The Protector System automatically reverses door if any object breaks the safety beam 12 H,P, SECUrm1" Anti-Burgla- ry Coding Reg.: MOW ONLY $295" $275 installed including tax Defecfs electronic burglary devices thai can "steal" your garage ioor opener code in an instant Just push the button on your remote control and Security 100-fcf- a CHAMBERLAIN rolls the code over to any one of new codes, never to be repeated, Stolen codes are useless, LIfJRflasfiE PROFESSIONAL TRAIL BLAZERS 104 GRIZZLIES 81 PORTLAND, Ore. Arvydas Sabonis scored 20 ; points as Portland won its fourth straight. Bonzi Wells made his first career start in place of Steve Smith, who was sidelined by the flu, and scored 14 points. Rasheed Wallace added 14 for the Blazers. Shareef Abdur-Rahi- m scored 29 points in 36 utes for the Grizzlies. min- HJ offs, quarter and moved three Sprewell shot from the field and from the line for a season-hig32 points as the New York Knicks beat the Bulls 8 Friday night. Glen Rice added 20 and Kurt Thomas had 18 as the Knicks beat the Bulls for the fifth straight time. Sprewell had 30 points with a I night over the hapless Washington Wizards. Miami was from the foul line in the final price. "Today we com. tVno. J (www llarklhctU-ul- Saints," wide receiver Joe Horn said. "Well, this is the new New Orleans Saints." The team, built primarily from a group of free agents that had not made it big draft elsewhere, K2A COXES, C3 Latrell Sprewell was comfortable returning to the shooting guard position and the Chicago Bulls paid the NEW YORK R ALU back Peyton Manning said. This year the Colts are seeded last in the AFC play- - By STEVEN WINE Shooting 'Spree' lifts SW to win By The Associated Press 111 Indy coach winless in playoffs 19-1- 6. Scott Bell can be reached DAILY 1 20-1- V had BYU He averages 14.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. "(Stanescu) is as good a big man as we'll play all year," Cleveland said. "We were lucky to get him into foul trouble last year." Cleveland believes some of USA's success this year has been motivated by a postseason snub last sea0 son. The Jaguars went a year ago and won their conference with a 13-- 3 mark. But after losing in their conference tour Tilt 1467 North State Street, Provo all y (km 377-06- 9 www.garagedoorcenter.com |