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Show r 'age 82— IIII It!Int 1) tI II-I ttah SundaI \l'trchI. Malone, Stockton’s fatigue has Utah'In sad state month. Both players have several Utah has allowed teams an aver— age of 104.5 points this season That's the team‘s worst defensive average in the past five seasons. "We just run out of energy in All-Star seasons left in them before the fourth quarter. and we‘re not they hit their expiration date. A able to stop anybody Sloan said. “When all is said and done. we that takes night in and night out is By DAVID MOORE Dallas MOfmflg News difficult for them. " JeII'y Sloan has Malone will turn 31) in July. been with the l tah Ja/x .Is .In as? ststant or head coach tor the last nine seasons III that tune. lte has ne\ er heard Karl Malone or Joltn Stockton will turit 31 later this Stockton ask to come ottt of a game because they \\L‘1'L' med. glance at the statistics shows that the performance of the two isn‘t all l).\t l -\s that different froin past seasons. The difference has come in the 1 Itttl now l'tah Is dragging III the standings lllt‘u‘ tltlys l‘tedtlst‘ fourth quarter. [It the past 10 \lttltlllt' .llltl games. the Jazz is shooting slightly more than 30 percent from the field iii the final period. That's the sign Stockton .IIe diaggtng on the court lht mental Ind physical grind ol h.1\ mg carried the Jan for all this time ~ aloitg with a suma ofa tired team. Another sig . is Utah‘s inability to hold a lead. The Jazz opened titer ot rest Interrupted by the ()lylll[‘lc\ ~ appeals to ha\e taken Its toll Since Jan. 5. tlte .la/l Is a medio— cre 14-16 The team‘s recent five— gatne losittg streak was its longest since the 192-15816 season. l'tah Is 18—10 at home thts sL‘le son alter going 739 in tlte prev ious two seasons. .A recent loss to Phoe- nix left the Jan as close to the Suns in the standings as they were to lottery —bound Golden State. Neither Malone nor Stockton Karl Malone likes to acknowledge tltat age and e\cesstve use can lead to fatigue. But to Sloan. the result is ob\ ioUs. “They have been our inspirational leaders for a long time.” Sloan said. “They're tired. and the other guy s have not stepped up and stop any one " Oby Iously . all ofthose problems can't be laid at the feet of Malone and Stockton. But it‘s clear the two are beginning to wear down as the , game wears on. The problem is. Sloatt can‘t afford not to have the pair on the floor. Humphries, it's the sporadic per— formance of his other key players that has been disturbing. Center Mark Eaton is still slowed — if that‘s possible — by a knee injury that required surgery during training camp. Guard Jeff Malone isn‘t as sharp as he was last season. Reserves Mike Brown and David Benoit have provided very little spark offthe bench. Utah needs those players to step up for the team to have a chance III “1 don't thmk 1 can keep them off the floor for any extended period of time.” Sloan said. "They advance to the Western Confer— ence finals for a second consecu— the Chicago Bulls. Since then. Utah has blown leads of 16 aitd 20 poittts in 10sing to the Charlotte always haye the ability at some point to pick it up and take us to looking at an early exit. At this stage. it maybe unrealis- anotherlevel." tic to expect anything else. Is there Hornets and Kings. ton can be rejuvenated by the time February by blowing a 20~point lead in the final 13:30 in a loss to John Stockton just don't have the ability to really give Malone and Stockton a few more quality minutes on the bench. Sloan has no complaints with the contributions of Kry stkowiak and the Sacramento tive year. Otherwise. the Jazz is really any way Malone and Stock carried Us "Having both of them play in the Olympics. that part of it has affected us. But they ‘re no longer “When it rains. it floods." said This phenontenon didn't catch the 1211/ by surprise. Sloan prac— ticed just once a day in training Malone. who watched his team's catnp to reduce the strain on Ma- the playoffs roll around‘.’ "1 hope they can.“ Sloan said. 19 and 20. either. They still have the ability to carry us and do. but to try and maintain the mental level lead against Charlotte wash away when the Hornets scored on 12 of 17 possessions. lone and Stockton. The team traded for Larry Krystkowiak and Jay playoffs. you pick up your level of Humphries in the off-season to play. "Mentally. when you get to the No. 7 Vanderbilt hangs on to defeat S. Carolina, 77-73 C()l.1'.\1BlA. SC. (AP) ~ Tlte meat 7 gave him 1.293 points. lead was dwindling. and going three more than Chris Mullin down mm It was Vanderbilt's scored John's. hopes tor the outright Southeastern Conference regular season chant; pionship. The No. 7 Commodores blew Inost ol a 23-point lead 111 tlte second half Saturday. but ltung on to the end and cante away witlt a 77 73 victory over South Carolina. Bill .‘ylcCaffrcy ltad 19 points and Vanderbilt (25—4. l-l-Z) made 7 of9 foul shots In the final minute to secure its eighth straight victory. Vanderbilt had not won the Sl‘iC regular season crown alone since 1965. Troy McKoy scored lXof his 32 points in the .secottd ltalf for South Carolina (9—17. 5911). wltich trailed 70—68 with 1:06 remaining. No. lOSeton Hall 92 No. 25 St. John‘s 73 EAST RUTHERFORD. NJ. Tenth-ranked Seton Hall won its first outright Big East champion~ ship Saturday w ith a 92 71 \ ictory froIn 1981415 for St. Deltere finished with 36 points as the Pirates cruised to their etghtlt straight victory and the top seeding in the Big East tournatnent for the second year in a row. Auburn 81. .No. 13 Arkansas 80 .AL'BURN. Ala. .-- Wesley Person hit a 3—pointer with two sec— onds remaining as Auburn rallied front a 15—point deficit in tlte final eight mittutes. Ronnie Battle scored 28 for Au— burn (15—10. 8-8 in the Southeastern Conference) and Person added 27. tltough he missed 10 of 13 shots in the second half. Arkansas (19—7. 10-6) put to— gether a 1911 run early in the half and led 7-1-59. But Auburn then put togetlter its spurt. outscoring the Ra/orbacks 16-2 over the next 41/: minutes and they stay ed close the rest oftltc way . No. 14 Wake Forest 80 N. Carolina St. 68 over No. 25 St. John s Saturzdiy as Terry Dehere set the confeicntc career scoring rcc.ord Seton Hill and St. lohn‘s tied \\'11\‘ST()N— SAL EM. N C. Randolph ( hildress scoted 28 points as \Nakc FoII st completed with Georgetown for tlte regular- years. season title last year. but this year it‘s all Seton Hall (346. 1474 Big East). It was the last home game oftltc season for the Pirates. who fittished 9-0 at Meadowlands Arena Wake Forest. which broke open the gante witlt a 14—0 ruit in tlte second half. is now 19—7. 10-6 in its best regular season in nine AP Photo in conference play. Before the gante. the school retired Dehere's number. He made it a special day by when his third Repomter of the game — he already w as the conference's career leader in that depart- the Atlantic Coast Conference. its best record sittce the 1984 team closed with a 20-7 mark. No. 24 Purdue 69 No. 15 Iowa 58 WEST LAFAYETTE. lttd. — Big Ten scoring and rebounding leader Glenn Robinson had 30 points attd 12 rebounds to lead Pur— due. Five teams in final 64 By The Associated Press Coastal Carolina and Tennessee State became the fourth and fifth teants to qualify for the NCAA basketball tournament on Saturday by winning the Big South and Ohio Valley Conference tournaments. They joined two probable No. 1 seeds. second-ranked lndiaita and third—ranked Arizona. who have clinched the Big Ten and l’ac—lf) titles. along with Penn. which won the Ivy League. None oftltose con» ferences ltave tournaments arid the regular—season winner automatically qualifies for the 6-1-team NCAA tournatitettt field. Tennessee State (194)) will be lovva. (19—8. 8-7 in the Big Ten) lturt itself at the free throw litte. scoring only two points in the final four minutes. Kenyon Murray ntissed the front end of a l-and—l with 3:40 remaining and Russ Millard did the saItte with 2:49 left. No. 17 New Orleans 63 Louisiana Tech 52 BlLOXl. Miss. -— No. 17 New Orleans survived the absence of senior center Ervin Johnson and elirttittated Louisiana Tech from the Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 63—52 victory Saturday. The Privateers (25-2) never trailed and won their llth straight game. Louisiana Tech (7-021) won‘t go to a postseason tournament for the first time in a decade. The Bulldogs. who started 1992~93 with no returning starters. had posted nine straight 20-win seasons. making it to the NCAA tournament five making its first appearance ever in the tournament alter beatittg Mur— ray State 83—68 in the ()VC final. That ended a run of three straight conference tournament titles for Murray State (18-12). whiclt had represented the conference four of the past five years. times and the NIT four. Duquesne 88. No. 18 Xavier 72 PITTSBURGH —— Alan Watkins. Derrick Alston and Kenya Hunter each scored 20 points as Duquesne ended No. 18 Xavier‘s season»best nine-game winning streak. Tennessee State also was the regular-season conference chant» pion. Coastal Carolina (22-9) quali tied for the second time in three years by beatittg Winthrop ( 14-16) in the Big South final. 78-65. Tony Dunkin scored 28 aItd combined Xa\ icr (21—4. 12—3) lost for the first tinte sinceJan. 37 at Cincinnati. with KeKc Hicks (24) and Mo- went out aitd retired the school scoring record as the No. 20 Green Wave beat South Florida 91-75 Saturday to close out the regular season. hammed Acha (20) for 72 oftlte 78 points. The only other time the Chanticleers made the tournament ._ two years ago ~ they played Indiana in the first round and lost 7969. That's a conceivable match this titne ~ the Hoosiers are likely to he a top seed and Coastal Carolina will undoubtedly bea 15211 or loth 0 No. 20 Tulane 91. So. Florida 75 NEW ORLEANS . Tulane re tired senior Anthony Reed‘s Itum» her before the game. tlten Reed Reed. a 6—foot9 center. scored 21 points in the game to nth e front third on the Tulane scoriitg list to first. His 1.85.1 career points moved ltiut ahead of Paul Thomp— son and John Williams. ' Atlanta‘s Dominique Wilkins (left) is pressed in the Hawks' backcourt by Utah’s Jeff Malone. Atlanta pummeled the Jazz, 139-118. Hawks make quick work of Jazz ATLANTA (AP) * Mookie Blaylock set a franchise record with 23 assists Saturday night. sparking the Atlanta Hawks to a 139-118 victory over the Utah Jazz. Blaylock surpassed his careerhigh by six and broke the team record of 21 set by Doc Rivers against the Philadelphia 76ers in 1986. Blaylock scored 11 points. Kevin Willis. one of seven See bther NBA coverage Page BS Hawks in double figures. scored 28 points and Dominique Wilkins 26. Travis Mays had a season—high 23 points and rookie Adam Keefe had a career-high 17 points and 14 rebounds. one shy of his best this year. in helping the Hawks snap a four-game losing streak. Karl Malone led the Jazz with 19 points and John Stockton had 17. It was the seventh loss in eight games for Utah. A 22-2 run by Atlanta over the last six minutes of the third quarter turned the game into a rout. Willis had eight points and Wilkins six during that stretch. Atlanta scored a season-high 46 points in the third period. five better than the previous best for one quarter this season. The Hawks swept the Jazz in two games this season. the first time they've swept Utah since 1986-87. Blaylock’s record-breaking 22nd assist came with 2:30 remaining on a pass to Mays on the baseline. Blaylock had 10 assists in the second quarter. Sir Beaufort wins rich Santa Anita race DORAL: ARCADIA. Calif (AP) — Lightly regarded Sir Beaufort won a stretch duel with Star Recruit on Saturday. giving trainer Charlie Whittingham his nintlt victory in the Santa Anita Handicap. Sir Beaufort. who went off at l H. led a charge of longshots to the wire in the $1 million. 56th running ofthe Big 'Cap. Wagering favorites Best Pal and Bertrando finished out ofthe money. Star Recruit. second by a nose. went off at 60—1. Major lntpact. who finished another head back in third. was 16-1. Even Sll Beaufort's regular rider. Chris McCarron. was off the 6—year-old gray son of Pleasant Colony-Carolina Sage. McCarron opted to ride Bertrando. with Pat, rick Valenzuela taking the mount on Sir Beaufort. Sir Beaufort carried 1 19 pounds and was clocked in 2:00 2-5 for the l '/4 miles. Sir Beaufort. on a recent roll. was in close striking distance ofthe lead almost all the way and began battling Star Recruit for the lead coming out of the final turn. Sir Beaufort pulled slightly ahead in the final strides to win the $550.000 first prize. The victory was the third in the last seven starts for Sir Beaufort. who finished second four times during that stretch. He has won 10 times in 31 career starts. Sir Beaufort became the first gray to win the Santa Anita Handicap since Spectacular Bid in 1980. At Hallandale, Fla., Stagecraft, the odds-on favorite. set a course record for 1% miles Satur- day in winning the $156,000 Gulfstream Breeders” Cup Handicap. Stagecraft. ridden by Jerry Bai— ley. beat Social Retiree by a head after“ a stretch—long duel. Futurist was third in the field ofcight. Stagecraft. the 6—year-old son of Sadler‘s Wells. was timed at 2: 13 1/5 breaking the mark of 2: 13 4/5 set by That's Sunny a year ago. At Hot Sprigs, Ark., Foxtrail. a horse nobody wanted when he was for sale. came from slightly off the pace to beat highly regarded Dalhart and four other Triple Crown nominees in the $100000 Southwest on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. Foxtrail. who had never been out of the money in four previous starts, finished three lengths in front of Dalhart. who was making his first start since Dec. 5. Hawaii rips San Diego St., 72-58 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Trevor Ruffin scored 22 points and Fabio Ribeiro added all of his 12 in the second half when Hawaii pulled away for a 72-58 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night. The win gave the Rainbows (l l— 15 7-11) sole possession of seventh placeIn the Western Athletic Conlercnce one game ahead of Wyoming. San Diego State (7-20. 3-15) finished last in the lO-tcam confer- ence for the second straight year. Both teams will meet again in the first round of the WAC tournament Wednesday in Salt Lake City. The Rainbows. who led 33-32 at halftime despite 15 turnovers in the first half. took control with an 80 run that gave them a 52-41 lead with l 1 minutes to go. Courtie Miller led San Diego (Continued from Page Bl) edge that everything went right. "We owe a lot to Hurricane An- drew." he said of the killer stornt that ravaged south Florida six months ago. taking 600—700 trees off the course. Norman said that helped him when he drove into the trees on the 18th. but found an opening that allowed him to save par. “Without the storm. I wouldn't have been able to reach" the green. he said. And there's the new. tougher pace of play regulations installed on the tour this week. Norman and Azinger played in 3:22. There was no waiting. no delays. “That makes a big difference.‘ Norman said. “You get into a rhythm. a tempo. and you don't want to break it. ” And then there was the spectators hip. which got in the way of State with 21 points. Keith Balzer added 10 points and a game—high nine rebounds. 1n the first half. the Aztecs trailed 20-11 before an 11—2 run pulled them even at 2222.Balzer intercepted an off-target pass and dunked for the tie. San Diego State went ahead 2524 on Miller 5 3--pointer less than a minute later but couldn't build a rican David Frost shared third at 204 and Scotland s Sandy Lyle bigger lead the rest of the way. tied with Nicklaus at 204. Norman‘s errant 3-wood second shot to the right of the green on the par-5 10th. The ball kicked back toward the green and Norman had an easy upand-down birdies. one of IO he scored on the 13 holes from the fourth through the 16th. _ Mark McCumber and South Af- J 1 1 |