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Show Pre BatketbaD B4 Scoreboard Weather B8 SPORTS ......... B4 EDITOR: STEVE CAMERON Bl SUNDAY. JANUARY 24. 1999 THE DAILY HERALD 3 9 A FRESNO STATE 79, BYU 75 Steve Cameron By TAD WALCH Cougs finding it tough to take that step up the ladder The Daily Herald 79-7- 3-- 2 5 Now? Uh-u- The Cougs had won three straight coming in, lured 21,645 into J. Willard's house and roared back from deficit to put the Bulldogs a on the ropes. The crowd was howling like the old days. BYU wa3 looking at a 4-- conference mark and becoming a bona fide contender in the Pacific Division. That aroma from the penthouse was close enough to sniff 1 AH, BUT the Cougs slipped a half-steonce again, back to the land of players. Where it doesn't smell quite as nice. "We still don't have a killer instinct," point guard Michael Vranes said. "We had Fresno down four points they were all out of sync and we should have put 'em away. "We've had three or four teams right there to be beaten, and couldn't finish. We get lackadaisical with the lead, and we won't take the next step doing that." p v: J. 'V ft Perhaps the their refused Cougars Christmas gifts, too. Fresno State "protected" a tiny lead at the Marriott Center Saturday night by making just one of eight free throws down the stretch, but still managed to beat BYU PROVO PROVO There's a place between the basement and the penthouse, and the Cougs have found it. Ain't much fun, either. I'd say we're better than this," freshman Mark Bigelow suggested Saturday night, "except the truth is ' on the scoreboard. "That doesn't keep you from feeling sick about it, though." BYU fell to in overall and the WAC with that loss to Fresno State. Not too long ago; hovering around the .500 mark and playing good teams close in the Marriott Center would have been acceptable. 8-- 9 M LD)g i i 79-7- Dick Harmon The Bulldogs missed 16 of 27 tosses from the line, but the Cougars were even worse. They blew 15 shots from inside two feet. looks were "The all wide open, and we go BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "If we'd made some 3s and some Bigelow . 0 won't fret o over slump I layups, it might have been a different story." FSU coach Jerry Tarkanian felt fortunate to escape with a victory in front of 21,645 howling Cougar fans. "Anytime we win here, I do," he said. "This is a tough place to win. BYU will always compete and they did that tonight." The Cougars (8-- overall, WAC) bounced back from a horrid start to take a brief second-hal- f lead, then came back again late in the Yrsl a H t f 1 by 9 3-- 2 game. "We were in a position to win this game with 1:30 left," Cleveland said. "We were down three and had an open look on a (50-46- ), "It just didn't go down." , The Bulldogs bolted to a 10-- lead, and even missed three free throws in that stretch. The lead had bulged to when Cleveland called a timeout with 6:31 left in the first half. Over the next four minutes, BYU outscored Fresno State 14-- to tie the game and took its first at when Nathan lead, Cooper grabbed a loose ball and hit a short shot from the lane. Brian Dignan had a and another long jumper in that run and Cleveland started him over Bigelow in the second half. The coach was forced to go with both Dig and Big in a small lineup after Mekeli Wesley picked up his fourth foul with 17:49 left. By then the Cougs had used a run to take a 50- ' 45 advantage. Overall, BYU had pounded the Bulldogs 27-over nearly nine min- 3-- (13-6- 0 '".7 i.v'M - ''' V" ... T 37-2- 3 Nope. What the Cougs did Saturday was blow 15 shots layups and from within three drop-in- s feet of the bucket. "We missed three consecutive layups when we had the lead," coach Steve Cleveland said. And another big fish slipped the hook. at home, The Cougs now are having lost winnable games to all Arizona, Cal and Fresno State of whom will be playing in the postpoint-blan- k four-poi- 5-- 3 season. THE KID put a curious spin on things. "You know, we ought to have about 12 wins right now and be in great shape for a run at the tournament," Bigelow said. He wasn't talking about the WAC tournament, either. "We've made mistakes at the end of some games that are just hard to take." Matter of fact, this loss to Fresno State was really a tough pill to swallow. "We just handed it away," Silester Rivers said. "It's so irustrating." But as Cleveland tried to point out in a press gathering full of head and shakes, there's still a sighs big picture. two From the wreckage of have the Cougs leapfrogged years ago, to a point where losses like this one hurt, and hurt a lot. Maybe BYU fans should look at the up side. They saw a thrilling college basketball game with serious stakes for both sides. "We got everything we wanted," Cleveland said. "We just didn't get the finished product." That's the next step, and as the Cougs are learning, it's a toughie. 0 37-a- ll 41-3- 9, 9-- . 0 8 utes. Silester Rivers, who finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds, had two dunks and a layup in the second part of the stretch, igniting the crowd. "I thought this Rivers kid played a heck of a game," Tarkanian said. So did Cougar point guard Michael Vranes, who executed a play between Rivers' dunks. After making a free throw, Vranes missed the second freebie. He flew down YD n jaw-droppi- 1-- the lane, grabbed the rebound above the rim and a crowd of arms, then popped tne Dan back over the rim and off the kevtn leeiik Daily Herald comes Rivers down with a Ripping a rebound: BYU's Silester and Willie rebound between Bulldogs Farley, left, Randy ' Holcomb. SeeCOUGS,B2 Reeves, Shanahan, Elway form Super Bowl Amid all the winning, Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan and John Elway formed a dysfunctional family in Denver. In the end, it destroyed Reeves' relationship with his quarterback and offensive coordi' " While the three apparentnator. It also laid the ground-- . ly patched up their differwork for the Broncos powerences during a round of golf house that plays the .at Augusta during Masters Atlanta Falcons in week last year, the past has the Super Bowl next Sunday. not been forgotten entirely. MIAMI (AP) EDANDfUESMThe AtaocutedPren Best of Mends: Denver head coach Mike Shanahan, left, talks with quarterback John Elway during practice Saturday. Reeves-coache- d love-hat- ' ' . BIGELOW WENT zip for four against San Jose State on Thursday. He was from the field in the win at Hawaii. And against Fresno, he endured a nightmare that included missing four layups. In case you're counting, and Bigelow isn't, that's or 13 percent. For a guy who has as good a shooting touch as the Marriott Center's seen in 20 years, it hurts. Bigelow hasn't ;V' i experi- - See HARMON, B2 6 . triangle e "There's still a lot of hurt that won't ever go away," Reeves said. "You never forget those things." Just how did this family feud get started? The problems date back to the beginning of Elway's NFL career in 1983, three years before the Broncos won the first of the quarterback's five AFCJ titles. 0 PAUL SAKUMAThe Amciited Blast from the past: See FEUD, B6 ! ', r V." Pita Dan Reeves, now with Atlanta, had a dysfunctional relationship v 1 dur- Family feud, Bronco style post-gam- e Steve Cameron is sports editor of The Daily Herald. KEVIN LEEThc Daily Herald Not so fast: Fresno State's Demetrius Porter slaps the ball away from BYU's Silester Rivers ing the first half Saturday. Rivers scored 16 points in a losing effort for the Cougs. PROVO Mark Bigelow ran to the bench looking like he'd lost a Lotto ticket. He had his hands out, palms up, and he screamed at the ceiling lights in the Marriott Center. Frustration seeped out of the freshman, and you felt his pain. It was a timeout during Saturday's loss to Fresno State, seconds after the Cougars ran a play designed to get Bigelow the ball, Everything worked to per- fection. Except Bigelow missed the layup. Scream. You gotta feel for this talented guard from Olympia, Wash. He's had a trio of games where his velvet touch has been sullied by mortar. Well, it's not fair to say that. Bigelow hasn't been tossing bricks, he's had shots literally peek at the ' bottom of the net and hop out. Inches. Centimeters. It's that tiny difference that's keeping him from nailing buckets like the court bandit he's been most of season. with John Elway in Denver. |
