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Show ' j The Daily Herald Sunday, December 3, 1995 BYU makes Mich. State a statement in close loss jmm came close to upset BYU ' ' STARKVILLE, Miss. They came, they played, and they didn't back down. BYU didn't exactly win, but the Cougars proved to many, and to themselves they are ready for war. .It may be early, but the Cougars got their first look at a Swjeet 16 NCAA team in No. 8 if--- n ' s?f . By DICK HARMON Daily Herald Sports Editor No. 8 State got their first big scare of the season Saturday afternoon when a smaller but scrappier BYU team came within a whisker of taking the Bulldogs into overtime. BYU freshman Todd Chrisshot with three tensen's seconds left, just rimmed out and MSU's Whit Hughes then made fourVthre throws, to lift 0 MSU the 1 -- 2 to a )9'MSMli .iniiu in ..in uujiiiiiiiiu- m- ""VwfWW V U'CV "' 'St r 'gfty?7gsg' in NCAAs v 1 EAST LANSING. Mich. The BYU Cougars found out what it was like to be the Houston Cougars Saturday STARKVILLE, Miss. ranked-Mississip- night at Michigan State. "Now we know how the Houston Cougars felt." said BYU coach Elaine Michaelis after her Coucars fell 15-15-- 7 15-to Michigan State in the second round of the pi 7, 9, NCAA Volleyball Tournament. "It was almost the complete reverse of what happened Wednesday (when the Cougars beat Houston in three 25-fo- ot 3-- 'btt rSr-- ' Harmon Cougars' ' first-roun- "Michigan State is a great team. And they played very well. I don't think we played our best tonight. Michigan Those final three seconds ended a BYU comeback that started back with starters Jeff Sidelines Campbell, Keri' Roberts and Bryon Ruffner all out of the game and MSU's big il ranked Mississippi State Saturday Erick Dampier with a career-hig- h night, bowing 25 points and 8 blocked shots. ' ; .Oddsmakers said the Cougars "I thought it was in," said to stay would be the' former Highland ; 15 Christensen, on within their of the Bulldogs "It star. was set up for me home court. Yet freshman Todd High bomb with and I thought I had a great shot." Christensen's three seconds remaining almost The loss climaxed a week in went in. That would have taken lead which BYU blew a the mighty Bulldogs into at Nevada, then chased MSU until .. ,; '''ihp.Vire. BYU came from 19 down. ",. "This just shows how much The Cougars came' at MSU with character and how much hard this three starters out and Ken ... team has," said Randy Reid, who Roberts' blood splotches on three 'also had a chance to tie the Bull- quarters of the court. But they dogs in the final 30 seconds. came back, ever! with calls Were - The Cougars made a gutty run obviously going one particular jat MSU in a most unlikely way. way. The Cougars could have been v Campbell fouled out trying to and Lewis Clark, Danny guard Dampier and left the game playing North and Sally or qutheast-b- y with 12:25 to play. Roberts took an elbow from Dontae Jones with Sumpsion Statej.bu.t they bit off Nevada and these' Bulldogs on,' 5:33 to play and the Cougars trailtheir home courts during a week Roberts was taken to a ing they lived out of their suitcases back room where he received six for six days. stitches and would not return until ;The impressive thing about vH' h ' 42 seconds remained. thi$ road trip is the Cougars were 1:45 all. that But Just wasn't supposed to be chased all over the court and run out of buildings. It was a rebuilding year. . i fflhti'illHj 6-- 79-7- State completely hard-press- 1 -- . '' nt over-tim- e. W af v S r , -- , m. i2 -- W- -f "V LLL P A t 1 AP Photo . BYU's Nathan Cooper, (eft, trips as he attempts to pass a ball by Mississippi State's Marcus Bullard -- . Here in the heart By PAUL NEW3ERRY AP Sports Writer Steve Spurrier ATLANTA still wants a playoff system, but this will do just fine. Second-ranke- d Florida secured a Fiesta Bowl showdown with No. 79-7- behind by 4. 8 at 64-7When Roberts walked back on the court with 42 seconds left, he was shocked. "I thought the game was over and we were within five. What happened was MSU, on a nt fouled out, trying to keep n rebound away from Dampier with 3:08 remaining' and the Cougars , Florida defense a score of its own fumble return as the with a Gators rolled over No. 23 "Arkansas. It wasn't an unexpected result; Florida was a 24 favorite. But the Gators truly seemed to savor their third straight SEC title and fourth in five years, racing around the field after the ' game while the' predominately 1. see who's No. 1." 95-ya- rd 12-poi- nt Nebraska by disposing of Arkansas 34-- 3 in the Southeastern Conference championship game Saturday night. After all the furor crowd chanted ' over the new bowl alliance, col"SEC! SEC!" national football a true has "This one is just as special as lege championship game. any of them," Spurrier said. "We "It just happened to work out," put them all right up there togethFlorida coach Spurrier said. "The er. Now we can try to w in four in a two teams that are undefeated get row next year.. We'll have a team ' to play. If Ohio State doesn't lose, capable of doing it." But for the first time, Spurrier's then we fight about who's this, that team can actually and the other. We could have been like Penn State (was in 1994), win. win somethina bigger than a con- every game and not be champs. ; X ference title. "This is as close as we can .get ' ; "We've never had a game that meant so much," he said. "Our without an actual playoff. Danny Wuerffel, making one whole season was on the line last bid for the Heisman, threw for. tonight.' If we lose this one, we're 276 yards and two touchdowns and1' ' not even in a big bowl. Now we Ben Hanks gave the. overlooked have a chance to play Nebraska to 1 . it Saturday evening. The Bulldogs beat the Cougars, steady parade to the freethrow line, started to miss. And BYU just kept slugging away from inside and out on the Bulldogs down the wire. (See BYU, Page C2) a knocks off Mo; 23 A rkansas the first half, yet shot only 2 free thrbws to MSU's 12 by halftime," was pleased. "I'm not into moral victories, but if there is something to winning after a loss, I think we may have done it out there," said Reid. "We had some 6-- 6 and 6-- 7 guys out there against a great team and we outrebounded them The trip to Starkville was an experience in itself. The MSU . fans were Big Time into the game and this isn't a kind place to play. While the teams were warming up, BYU players were shooting around when MSU guard Marcus Bullard walked onto the floor with Big Daddy Erick Dampier. The two Bulldogs walked past the Cougars, then Bullard shot a glance back over Eric Franson LOGAN, Utah his;shou!der to see if anybody scored 22 points and Utah State actually looked scary. What he held off an outclassed but detersaw is a bunch of guys who State to claim mined Lewis-Clar- k looked like the sons of the milk61-5- 7 a victory Saturday nighY man. ' )! USU got 1 8 points from There were three NBA scouts also . led the who Silas Mills, sitting on press row, a guy from rebounds. with eight Aggies the Miami Heat had a unlit cigar Lewis-Clar- k (4-4- ), of the in his mouth, just mouthing it like I Division the Aggies NAIA,'gave a pacifier. None of the scouts could all handle, one see just trailing BYU, yet they wefe here to 33-3- 2 at halftime. The Warriors was so impressed he came into were led by James Long's 12 BYU's locker room afterwards. 1 "You guys are a pleasure to watch points, while K.C. Tebbs added 1. 47-4- 6 butts with 8:51 to play. Keep busting your Leading t 1 1 of the next 14 because you guys are a good off USU ran play, team. Good luck , t , uillll!, ICU UV iviius uuuiv anu ivvu a uiajui , lieci leaning iiiu.-fouJ sn0S . at Mississippi State the coeds H 0 staged ook ,t saw with the pom-pom- s Q 58.57 on 3 w. v ouslv. Every one or the cheenead-- r steal and layin m the final . Long's ers looked as if they were baked, iit : minutes before the Aggies defense in a tanning solon until extra stiffened. Aw 5an uiego ov "Hold on. Wait a minute. Got San Diego State 65 to put some Dawg in it," came the Brock Jacob-se- n SAN DIEGO chant from the enthusiaspre-ti- p on were who scored 16 points off the bench, tic student sections, Alabama native Jeff Campbell including two free throws with two from the start. Calling him seconds remaining, as San Diego "Rogaine" after the hair treatment defeated San Diego State 69-6- 5 because of his receding hairline, Saturday night. they never let up on hint. Sean Flannery gave the Toreros lead by hitting one a 67-6- 3 ) (See HARMON, Page CS) 42-41- ." after Roberts left, Ruffner helped ignite a 20-- 3 run by burying a pair of three-poibombs, then he 2. of the Deep South, BYU had a top 10 team nearly on the ropes with sweaty palms. "BYU is good, just how we knew they would be," said MSU coach Richard Williams. "I told our team they had to concentrate on 'every possession down the court because BYU would make us play every second of every possession and if we made a mistake they would make us pay for ; it. They did." BYU coach Roger Reid, who watched his' team get pressed for (3-2- v T'"" (3-1- d Spartans, on the year, 23rd-ranke- d the The Cougars, Cougars 16-who ended the season at 2 9. went into the match as the top blocking team in the nation. "You saw a little of how we can block when we served well, but there wasn't enough of that." Michaelis said. "I think inexperience set in a little and got the better of us." The Spartans took control early in game one and went on to the victory. In game two. Michigan State appeared to be in control with an 6 lead. But the Cougars rallied to close to and looked to be getting some rhythm. But the Spartans, with a school-recor- d 4.867 fans urging them on, rallied behind the play of Jeima Wrobel. Val Sterk and Corie Richard to hold the Cougars scoreless after that and go on to the win. BYU could never quite get in sync in game three and Michigan State went on to the victory. "I think Michigan State is probably the sleeper of the tournament," Michaelis said. Wrobel led Michigan State with 14 kills, while Richard added 12. Sterk had six block assists, as did Dana Cook. Gale Oborn Johnson and Amy Steele had nine kills each to lead the Cougars. Amma Lindqvist added six kills and hit .286, the only Cougar to break the .150 mark. Heather Whittaker added five kills and Angie Tanner 4. Steele and Whittaker had four block assists each, and Johnson added dies. sixth-ranke- 4. 71-5- outplayed us." The now 32-- 2 : 25-fo- ot NCAA d straight in action at BYU). , :;, . ti-j.,- spikes BYU "Fun-n-Gu- - . a surprise winArkansas (8-4- ), ner of the SEC's Western Division, will have to settle for a spot in the Carquest Bowl against North Carolina. Wuerffel, who pushed his name back into contention for the Heisman with a 443-yar- d performance against Florida State the previous week, completed 20 of 28 passes, including touchdowns of 22 yards to Chris Doering and 29 to Ike Hilliard, who had seven catches in all for 125 yards. Wuerffel, the game's MVP, extended his own SEC record to 35 touchdown passes this season. Only a junior, he also became the leading TD passer in conference history with 75, surpassing the mark of 74 set by former Florida quarterback Shane Matthews, and finished the regular season with a pass efficiency rating of 178.4 the highest in NCAA history. "He's a great quarterback," defensive end Steven Conley. "We really pound- said ed him in the first half and I thought we knocked him out a couple of times. But he got right back up and threw it like he had never been hit." Still, Wuerffel's performance, in the face of almost constant blitzing by the Razorbacks. might not be enough to overcome Heisman favorites Tommie Frazier of Nebraska and Eddie George of Ohio State and the perception that Wuerffel's numbers are aided by y system. Spurrier's "We've said since the beginning of the year we don't care about individual stats," said Wuerffel, who has been invited to New York City for next Saturday's trophy ceremony. "I'm not even sure how that goes or who votes or anything. But it's certainly an honor even to be mentioned for that pass-heav- award." Arkansas needed to play a perfect game and actually scored first, driving 65 yards in 16 plays on its Arkansas throw remaining. ' with seconds 13 at the line. Air Force 71, Doane 58 ., 67-- ; FORCE ACADEMY, AIR The Aztecs (2-to pulled Jarmica Reese scored 65 on a basket by Paul Jarrett with-- , Colo. nine points in a 4 Air Force run five seconds to play. Jarrert intentionally missed an ensuing free late in the game as the Falcons 8 defeated Doane Saturday throw; but the rebound went : . , 1) 14-- -- 71-5- to the Toreros seconds remaining. w ith three The Toreros have won four straight and seven of their last eight against San Diego State. In the crosstown rivals' last meeting. San Diego won the 1992-9- 3 season- 85-6- 0. Ryan Williams had 12 points and 10 rebounds for San Diego. James Black also scored 12 points, while David Fizdale added 10 assists. Chad Nelson scored 14 points and Leon Carter 12 to lead the Aztecs. The game was marred by 50 fouls, 23 against the Aztecs and 27 against San Diego. San Diego State hurt itself at the free throw line by going in the second half and overall. The Toreros were PO OR COPY Air Force (2-- 1 ) led 1 start of the run w ith 5:15 at the 53-5- Jaeobsen then hit two free throws after being fouled following a timeout. -opener night. 22-of-- 1 -2 1 remain-in- e and finished the run at with 2:12 left. 67-5- 5 1 1 1 Floyd team secures lead in Florida golf VERO BEACH. Fla. (AP) Raymond Floyd and Raymond Floyd Jr. birdied 10 of the last 14 holes Saturday to take a lead after the first round of the S650.000 Father-So- n Chaltwo-stro- (See SEC, Page C2) 57 free -- lenge. Team Reese finished with 18 points, including 16 in the second half. Air Force led 28-2- 7 at the half. Air Force's Mike Freeman recorded his second consecutive double-doubl- e of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds against Adams State last Tuesday. Other top Air Force scorers were Charlie Nelson with 16 and Matt Horin with 13. Floyd managed a 62. followed by Tony and Warren Jacklin. and Dave and Ron Stockton, both at 64 at the 6.709-yar- d Windsor Club. par-7- 2 After four straight pars to open the round. Floyd Jr. knocked a sand w edge within four feet of the cup on the par-- 4 fifth hole and followed with a birdie putt. The Floyd team went on to birdie three of the next four and nine of the remaining 13 holes. On the par-- 4 first hole. Warren club pro in Jacklin. a Heidelberg. Germany, made a for birdie. He added three more birdies Jacklin before father Tony dropped a putt on the seventh green launching the team to on the front. Warren knocked ill three straight birdies on the back nine, edging his the and draw ing even team to with team Stockton. Hale and Steve Irwin hit 33 each round to finish fourth at 66. while Billy and Bobby Casper, and Tom and Eric Wciskcpf tied with 67. Larry and Drew Nelson, and Lee and Tony Lee Trevino shot 68s. ld er Hernandez retains title MIAMI (AP) Raul Hernan- dez of Mexico, behind on points, knocked out Leonardo "Moro" Mas of Puerto Rico at 2:23 of the 10th round Saturday night to win the WBC Central American and Caribbean super lightweight title. Mas, who was ahead on all three cards and appeared to successfully defend his crown, was stunned by a solid right to the head. Hernandez followed the initial blow with another right that floored the champion. Hernandez. 32, improved his 2 record to with 22 KOs. Mas, who is ranked third and 10th by the WB A and WBC. respectiveMas, 23. was using the ly, is 19-27-8-- 1. bout as a tuneup for a title shot against WBA junior welterweight champion Frankie Randall. Mas took the offensive from the opening bell by controlling Hernandez with solid rights and left hooks to the head. Using a height and reach advantage. Mas also landed frequently with left jabs. Hernandez tried to shorten the fight with body shots but Mas managed to combine more punches. In the sixth. Mas stunned Hernandez twice with solid head shots but was unable to floor the challenger. Mas and Hernandez weighed 140 pounds. both 15-fo- ot David and Andrew Graham carded a 69, and Johnny and John Miller shot a 70. The final round is Su.'day. |