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Show a;.l.i Ft bi i:.it THE HERALD, v I't.,h. pp-v- Hopes for WAC fading fast I Uf5 siow H if 11 I iC w - IWe 1 mm By MARION DUNN Herald Sports Editor Utah"s "Runnin' Utes" walked to 8 a stunning victory over BVU in the Marriott Center Saturday afternoon and practically took the Cougars out of the Western Athletic Conference regular season title race. Ute coach Lynn Archibald put his running game in a deep freeze and the Cougars ended up with their tails stuck fast in the ice. It became a case of the Cougars not being able to beat the L'tes because they joined them. When the two teams met in Salt Lake earlier this season, the Cougars beat the L'tes, Utah started quickly Saturday and led and 104 in "the first five minutes. With 11:20 left in the half Utah had a 0 advantage. Then the Cougars came back and on a Michael pulled even at Smith rebound of a free throw miss by Brian Taylor. Archibald wanted no part of a duel. With BYU in a matchup zone Archibald had his Utes stop running. He made a smart decision. They would bring the ball within 20 feet of the basket and stop. Well, not stop. They just shifted gears from a soft freeze to a deep freeze. Utah started moving the ball around the perimeter for 30 to 35 seconds before going lor the basket. BYU never did anything to force the tempo of the game up to their own comfort zone. And it cost them dearly. The Cougars not only were forced to settle for a split with the Utes, they suffered their second straight embarrassing home court loss to a WAC rival they had beaten on their floor earlier; they fell to 4 in the WAC and on the year; and they left themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to win at Ixiramie Saturday in a game thev can no longer afford to lose but can't reasonably expect to win. Until Saturday's loss, the Cougars still had a good chance to win or share the regular season title. They had a chance to win 21 regular season games and thus draw an NCAA Tournament bid regardless of how thev fared in the WAC Tournament March Now they have to hope they can beat Wyoming next Saturday and sweep road games at San Diego State and Hawaii while Wyoming beats UTEP but loses to New Mexico on its trip to the Southwest, which would give BYU a share of the league crown and the magic number of 20 regular season wins. Of course. UTEP or Wyoming could help by losing their games played later Saturday night, but the Cowbovs should have gotten past CSU and UTEP past Hawaii. With the win, Utah improved its WAC record to and overall record to and should take some momentum into the WAC tourney. So, from being in control of their own destiny, the Cougars now need help. How could things change so dramatically, so quickly? Well, the' BYU team that lost to UTEP last week and Utah last night isn't the same team that seemed so promising after it beat Utah in Salt Lake City on Jan. 24. The reason it isn't the same is that star senior guard Bobby Cape-ne- r is no longer a viable part of the offense. And it isn't his fault. Capener doesn't have to score points a game for the Cougars to win as was the case a year ago. But when the Cougars play a good team he has to be wheeling and dealing offensively lor them to win. It isn't a case of how many points he must be shooting he scores and threatening and lorcing the opposition to pay him close attention. Capener must be in rhythm olten-sivel- y and he has been out of sync in the recent big games. Up until the last two games. BYU has usually gone as Capener has he has a good gone in big panics night, the Coogs have a good night. But last Jan. 24, the Cougars were upset by Air Force at the Academy. In that game coach Ladell Andersen said the Cougars lost it in the first five to 10 minutes. "We didn't give our inside attack a chance to work. We were too shot. We intent on the three-poin- t fewere caught up in three-poin- t ver " he said after the Cougars took report on sporting events in Central Utah, around the nation and the world. A full Sports 65-5- Tempo, patience paid off f Utes and Gondrezick 80-7- 2 17-1- Sk"' ' 21-2- 1 Bv BOB HUDSON Herald Staff Writer J 65-5- -- it...." Springs' shot, according to Utah coach Lynn Archibald, may have been the longest of his career, an 9-- 17-- 9 "I don't like Albert shooting that far out, but he had to take the shot because we were running out of shot clock)," time ion the Archibald said. He buried the shot to give the lead with 1:24 left. Utes a Then, after Brian Taylor missed a shot, Utah's Chris Fulton drove and 60-5- 8 W -- skJj Air - m ;vv 1 ar At i . y m uiiLiiimLimiimiiMiiiii.mi i laved it in. after we "Chris got that big lay-idrove around and drove around, then broke free." (iondrezick said. Utah was patient throughout the game, usually taking 30 to 35 seconds to set up the shot. The Utes didn't shoot particularly well, hitting just 46 percent to BYU's 51 percent, but did dominate the boards. Utah, with Mitch Smith grabbing 12 and Springs adding 10. n Gale Gondrezick, a 41 percent shooter from three-poin- t range, didn't shoot particularly well from that distance as Utah defeated BYU. Saturday afternoon. He was only one-fo- r eight. But, he got the one that counted. With 2:38 left in the game. Gonto knot the drezick hit a score at 58. Albert Springs followed up a minute later with a bucket after Gondrezick had rebounded a miss by BYU's Michael Smith, to give the l'tes the lead for good. "I had run on the baseline most of the game," Gondrezick said of the shot that tied the game. "I think Chatman was looking for me on the baseline, but I caught it (just to the left of the key) and shot free-wheeli- 5-- lull 11. J. BYU That rebounding was a key, Archibald said. Much of it was on the offensive end and the Utes seemed to be able to shoot until they made a basket. "Our kids showed great patience in the last eight or nine minutes and got into a nice rhythm," Archibald said. "They did a really nice job of staying within the concept." Ultimately Utah's patience paid off. Also some good foul shooting. The Utes. not normally that good in the from the line, hit game. Previously, Archibald had said. "If we hit free throws, we'll win." Utah led by seven four different times while the Cougars' biggest lead was four. The game was tied nine times. Now, isn't that what these tradi- tional rivalry contests are all about? ijimromn 9 - A K jar V 11 'Vtf j YI I J 3 f m m f r - rC3 7-- 6 15-- 9 20-pl- 14 three-pointer- and made- - five in s the first half. Sieve Olsen Pholos Jeff Chatman puts up a soft jumper as Ute Chris Fulton is sandwiched by Marty Haws (21). After the game Andersen said he had a long talk with his players about when and where to use the three-poin- t shot. It might have made more of an impression on Capener than expected. Since then the Cougars have taken three-poin- t shots only sparingly and have split their last four games beating CSU in Fort Collins and New Mexico in Irovo and losing to UTEP and Utah in the Marriott. And a big change has come over Capener. Where he once would c;ist off two or three consecutive long range shots and miss all three only to come roaring back to burn the hoops, he suddenly stopped shooting and started trying to work the ball in close, even against extreme pressure and crowded conditions. In the win over CSU he made only seven points, scoring all seven in the last 5 30 of the game. a game Against New Mexico the Cougars won easily Capener from scored 4 points, going from the line. the held and In the loss to UTEP he wasn't noticeable. He didn't score Bobby Capener didn't score! He was 0 lor-Irom the held and didn't go to the line. Saturday afternoon against Utah. 6 from Capener scored five on from the line. the field and This is not vintage Capener. And it brings up the question: Did the tongue-lashinabout overshot afemphasizing the three-poin- t ter the Air Force loss change Capener trom the "mad bomber" who teamed with Michael Smith's fantastic shooting eye and Jeff Chat-man- 's unstoppable jumper to give the Cougars a world class scoring punch into the lackluster, impotent shooter he has been lateg ly? I asked Capener that question in the dressing room Saturday night "I'm not pointing the linger at anyone. But I haven't been the same player since." he said. "I haven't felt confident about my shooting or ollensive play. "I have to do some this weekend and try to get my confidence back and start playing the type of offense I'm capable of playing and was playing before." The Cougars can look back on Saturday's loss to Utah and see a dozen places where they could have won the game. But the big reason they lost was allowing Utah to set the game's tempo. It was obvious the Utes' strategy was to control the ball hoping to be close going into the last minute where they could pull it out. g And that s exactlv what they did. With 5:41 to play'BYU's Smith hit a field goal to pull the Cougars into a tie. He was fouled on the shot and converted the free throw and BYU led. At the 4:15 mark Smith scored what was to be BYU's final field goal and the Cougars led, 53-a- ll 54-5- 56-5- Utah's Gale Gondrezick cut this to Smith jumped this to converting both ends of a and BYU's scoring for the night was over. Gondrezick followed by hitting his first three-poin- t try in eight atit a biggie, tying was and tempts with 2:37 to play, the score at Utah's Albert Springs climaxed a fine night for himself by swishing a from the corner, a step short of being worth an extra point and Utah led with 1:26 left. 56-5- 58-5- 5 58-5- two-point- 60-5- 8 Capener missed the front end of a and the Cougars saw-twor three tips fail to get the ball into the basket with the ball winding up in Utah's hands. Utah reserve guard Tommy Connor was fouled and made the front and the ball end of a went to Utah with seven. seconds left Guard Chris Fulton was fouled with one second ticking off and he made ooth shots for the final points. one-and-o- No. 3 North Carolina inches closer to ACC tie COLLEGE PAHK. Md. (AIM -Kenny Smith scored 20 points and J R. Rcid added 16 alter being benched at the start lor missing a North team bis as Carolina rallied in the second half to defeat Maryland 93 86 Saturday. North Carolina improved to 22 2 ova-al- l record in the and 1 Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels are one victory away from clinching at least a tie lor ACC champithe regular-seasoand 011. is onship. Maryland After trailing 26 21 midway through the first half. North Car0 lead olina rallied to take a at intermission The Tar Heels then pulled comfortably ahead by at the outscoring the Tcrps start of the second half third-ranke- n 3 23-1- Ci!. Iowa. Brad s made six Iree throws in the linat minute Saturday to lift No. 4 vic tory over No, Iowa to a II Illinois in a battle of Big Ten Conference contenders, Lohaus hit his lirst two free throws with 59 seconds left to give Iowa a 64 61 lead, then added four more alter lllinots' Doug Altenberger missed two jump shots that could have kept the lllini in contention Iowa stayed in the running lor the Big Ten title with the victory, which improved the Hawkcyrc' all and 93 in record to 22 3 the conference At Iowa lu-hau- 66-6- in-i- The Owls committed six turnovers in the first four minutes ol the second half, allowing West Virginia to cut a hall time delicil to tw o points. But mistakes and poor shooting by the Mountaineers allowed the Atlantic 10 Owls to post a Conference basketball victory on Saturday. Temple senior Nate Blackwell scored 23 points, including 16 in r the first half His w ith 9 55 lelt in the game broke a scoreless string. At Sracusc, N.Y., Greg Monroe scored 20 pom Us and Derrick Coleman added 19 as No 9 Syracuse coasted to a victory over del ending national champion sixth-ranke- 40-2- nine-minut- e 99-7- W.Va., mistakes hurt Temple, but they killed West Viigmia. At Morgantown, Forward Howard Tnche added points as the Orangemen im. It proved their record to was the 250th victory at Syracuse for Coach Jim Boeheim. who recorded his 10th season in 11 years at Syracuse. 18 20-4- 67-5- 7 three-pointe- Louisville in a game Saturday, f Minneapolis. Everette Stebasket with 6.04 to play in the game snapped a lie and No. 7 Purdue held on lor a victory over Minnesota in a Big Ten game Saturday. It was the Boilermakers' fourth straight ictory and the Gophers' 10th consecutive loss. Purdue. 20-- overall and in the conference, have won 20 or more games lor live consecutive seasons t Sec CAGE, Page I2 AI phens 3 11-- s m- - -r i) L i i IV ,,.JniT, referee turns his back on Cougar assistant coach Carl Ingersoll who doesn't seem overly pleased with a call. A Cougar jr. varsity upsets No. 2 Dixie at Marriott Center Playing against the No. and undefeated Rebels of Dixie College, the BYU JV men's basketball team came away w ith a 92 83 upset victory Saturday at the Marriott Center. Alan Astle led the Cougars with 20 points, followed by David Reeves with 17. Jeff Christensen and Craig lx-- is had 16 each Despite being pressured throughout the game, lull-cou- rt the Cougars found success at the hands Nathan Call, of point-guar"li s amazing what a dillcrence a good guard like Call can make," said JV roach John Hansen. Dixie College had five men in double I.gurcs. The Rebels record now stands at 26 1, The BY I JV will play their last game of tho season Feb. 18 at Utah Tech in Oretiv |