Show ? 4B Friday March 10 1995 Utes Standard-Examin- definitely si©t Si By JIM BURTON Standard Examiner staff — Who could have known the Battle of Bricksburgh would prove so costly for the Brigham Young University basketball team? Who would have ever suspected the Cougars' Western Athletic NM ALBUQUERQUE Conference tournament run would end like it did with a 75-7- 3 loss to Colorado State? Rather than chalking up the usual nice and tidy opening-roun- d Couvictory the second-seede- d gars ran into more trouble than they wanted from the No 7 Rams here Thursday afternoon at “The Pit" The Cougars 6 overall in WAC play) labored to hit shots from the field — just 35 percent — and made an un3-- (22-- 9 23-of-- Mr f 618 percentage characteristic frpm the foul line But worse than just losing the statistical battle BYU had to suffer through the indignity of losing on another miracle shot the kind that leave teams biting their lips and holding back tears last-seco- BYU Rams 75 Cougars 73 By JIM BURTON Standard Examiner staff ALBUQUERQUE NM — University of Utah point guard Mark Rydalch was like a doctor Last second shot pays off on call Thursday night He may have thought he was getting a night olT but with 16:34 remaining in Utah’s Western Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal game with San Diego Stale the emergency call came in WAC TOURNEY It all happened so quickly: With less than seven seconds left in the game and the score lied ll BYU guard Robbie Reid at watched the shot clock tick down to its precious final few seconds When the play coach Roger Reid drew up moments earlier suddenly fell apart Robbie lofted up a prayer from at least 5 feet line It clanged beyond the off the front of the rim and into the hands of CSU's Dclmonte Madison Madison took Reid’s miss dribbled about 70 feet in the other direction and cast up a prayer of his own from 17 feel away Madison's shot hit only net sending the arena into madness and the Rams (17-1- 3 into tonight's semifinal round match- 1) 7W3'7E:'7 ?f 73-a- " 777777: s'- Colorado State players pile on top of teammate Delmonte Madison after his three-poishot at the buzzer gave the Rams a 3 win over Brigham Young University up with sixth-seede- Hawaii d end the WAC campaign and as it stands now the Cougars may have played their way out of the NCAA Tournament which begins next week Ironically it was those same Hawaii Rainbows who beat BYU under similar circumstances on Feb 16 at Honolulu “It's just not right" BYU forward Russell Larson said “It just doesn't seem like we can get any breaks This feels bad" Yes it was a difficult way to The once-promisi- NCAA’s field will be 64-tca- m announced Sunday afternoon But in many ways BYU has no one to blame but itself See BYU on 68 Bengals rally from Standard Examiner staff OGDEN — Most of the Weber Slate men’s basketball team spent Thursday night watching the Big Sky Conference tournament Maybe the Wildcats learned something in observing Idaho d win over Slate’s 3 deficit 65-6- first-roun- Thursday night’s game with Idaho State would come down to re- Boise State bounding Listen to Dye He's been around the college basketball scene a lot longer than he'd probably care to admit and he’s been quite successful Sure enough Dye was right — BIG SKY TOURNEY and disappointed Weber State will probably have to make use of everything it knows when the Wildcats take on the Ben-ga- ls in tonight's Big Sky semifinals 8 WSU overall this season n coand the league’s will be playing a team champion that was picked by most to win the 18-- Idaho State's Nate Green turned an offensive rebound into two points with 31 seconds left to give the Bengals a 65-6- 3 win over the Broncos before 4395 fans in the Big Sky Conference tournament quarterfinals at St the Dee Events Center K “Wc'rc a different team with NaK than in there" ISU coach Herb Williams said “He gives us size and bulk" C Idaho State the fifth seed meets t No I seed and tourney host Weber State tonight at about 8:30 pm in the semifinals X X “We got beat on the boards X I think that's the v 40-3- 1 game" Dye said “I thought it would come down to second shots” Boise Stale's center John Coker missed on a jump shot that would have tied the game with about 10 seconds left and then ISU knocked the ball out of bounds The Broncos then went for the win with a Sherman Morns but it wasn't close and ended what injury-plague- d has been a frustrating season for Boise State 0 BSU finished the year The Bengals got huge performances from two unlikely players in Green and reserve Patrick Lee Lee who has averaged just seven minutes in the 19 games he’s played had 10 points Green had seven points and rebounds six regular-seaso- 7 77 'i 7 ivr::1 tv -- 77 W- fan? t h! 7 ‘j 7 league title and has as much talent as any team in the Big Sky “They arc very talented and have a lot of quickness" WSU coach Ron Abcgglcn said “They are an explosive team" It's been six days since the yfn X 17-1- 1 1 v-j- 4' 7 Wildcats last played a basketball game and the rest they got — coupled with tf the ANDRE Idaho State’s Donell Morgan protects a rebound against Boise State’s JD Huleen in Thursday on the offensive hoards They helped counter the of g Sky selection Jim Potter senior had just nine The shooting Donell points on Morgan led the Bengals with 24 off-nig- ht All-Bi- points and eight rebounds and Lorenzo Watkins added 10 points Idaho State had to rally from a second-hal- f deficit Boise 8 State behind a career game front JD Huleen outscored the Bengals 16-- 3 to open the second half with Huleen scoring seven of those 47-3- Bobcats chalk up 77-6- 6 The sophomore finished 23 points Coker with a career-hig- h added 18 and Morris 10 more for the Broncos Lee’s drive and dunk at 9:05 of the second half capped a 14-- 2 run for the Bengals and gave them a 52-5- 1 edge No team led by more than two points the rest of the game A key was Coker hitting just shots He was playing after missing six games during league play with a fool injury and the big se points -9 ('enter “It's like money in the bank getting the ball inside to Quadrc" MSU guard Kwcsi Coleman said Thursday's loss marks the Vandals' earliest exit from the conference tournament since 1988 Montana State also got 15 points from Coleman 12 from Mike Elliott and 10 more from Eric Talley x from Nico Harrison Lollis Coleman and Fllioit all I tome o(T MSU coach Mick Durham's bench really “Our bench has been our strength and Dur-bar- n thought we wore Idaho down in the second half" said J The Bobcats the tournament's third seed meet in- state rival and No 2 seed Montana in the semifinals Montana won both l ibeginning at 6:07 pm today season the MSU with regular during J games Montana State's depth helped in the second half come from behind MsU i- 'when the Bobcats had to with 1334 came at 43-4- 1 half second the of lead 'first remaining in the game Z - The Bobcats now 21-- 7 this season didn't get control 1 1 1 nior still was not able to practice with the Broncos every day “What you saw tonight was the effects of not having consistent practice" Dye said of Coker “I don't know how you could do it differently" Thursday's win broke a string of five straight losses to conference opponents for Idaho Slate “They set out to prove tonight that they could play and weren't chumps" Williams said victory over Vandals 65-5- 6 J OGDEN — Quadrc Lollis' perfect evening has put r Montana State University in the semifinals of the Big 5 Sky Conference men's basketball tournament shoot- The junior scored 20 points on clTort from the frec-- j ing from the field and a throw line to lead the Bobcats to a 77-6- 6 win over the U diversity of Idaho on Thursday at the Dee Events r 65-6- of the game until four minutes were left when five straight points pul them up By JEFF SIMON Standard Examiner staff RANIERIStandafd-Examme- 3 in front of night’s game The Bengals won 4395 fans at Weber State’s Delta Center ' But then Durham didn't expect his Bobcats to beat the Vandals as badly as they did last week when MSU 6 won at Bozeman Mont The Vandals shot only 43 percent in the second half 88-5- and Idjho guards Shawn Dirdcn and Mark Leslie who combined for 22 first-hapoints had just 13 in the second half on shooting Leslie led Idaho with 18 points and Dirdcn added 17 In trying to slow down the quick Bobcats' lineup Nate Gardner Harry Harrison and Chad Coates all fouled out for the Vandals “W hen we neutralized him (Leslie) it kind of put pressure on the other guys" Elliott said 5 Idaho which finishes the season controlled things for almost all of the first half jumping out to a 7 lead The Vandals eventually took a 36-3- 2 lead at the half Lollis iben went to work in the second half with 15 points and not one shot was from more than 4 feet awav from the basket “Wc played extremely hard and I knew fatigue would be a factor" Idaho coach Joe Cravens said “Wc have such a small margin for error Everything's gut to go as planned for us to win against a talented lf 12-1- 1 6-- team" line was one Idaho's pathetic clTort at the thing that didn't go right The Vandals were just I hey also turned the ball over 17 times frec-thro- w BiSkyitoiirnamehtl Thursday's results and tonight’s schedule in the Big Sky Conference men's postseason basketball tournament being played at Weber State's Dee Events Center: Thursday's results First round No 3 seed Montana State 77 No 6 seed Idaho 66 No 5 seed Idaho State 65 No 4 seed Boise State 63 Friday's schedule Semifinals No 2 seed Montana (20-- 7 in the Big Sky) vs overall No 3 seed Montana State (21-- 7 11-- 6:07 8-- 3 pm seed Weber State (18-- 8 11-vs No 5 seed Idaho State 8:30 pm (approx) (18-Saturday's schedule Finals Winners of Friday's games No 9 1 7-- 607 pm big-tim- Prep boys Lancers reach 5-- A 58 semifinals Darts stay alive NBA CD Portland 99 Miami 90 Charlotte 112 Seattle 99 San Antonio 100 Cleveland 98 Indiana 109 Sacramento 94 Sports Shorts Cox to compete meet in national OGDEN — Weber State distance runner Shawna Cox a senior from Salt Lake City will compete in the mile run at the 1995 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships today and Saturday at Indianapolis Eighteen And Dr Rydalch came up big He delivered a 72-6- 3 victory helping the Utes advance into tonight's semifinals Sophomore Kcitjt Van Hom led 23 points Utah with a game-hig- h — 20 of which came in the second half — and junior guard Brandon Jessie added another 22 points but it took Rydalch to push him teammates to victory See UTAH on 6B By JEFF SIMON OGDEN — For some reason 5 Utah victory Rested WSU geared up for Bengals Boise State coach Bobby Dye knew £ Persistence vital to nt 76-7- By JEFF- SIMON Standard Examiner staff V si The Associated Press Utes 72 Aztecs 63 Rebounds break Broncos second-hal- f i UK1ES Rydalch jumps in to save Utah from San Diego Shooting plagues Cougars Rams hom in a dramatic win er athletes were invited to participate in the mile run at this year's meet and Cox goes in ranked 14th in the field The trials will be held in the Hoosier Dome Cox today at 5 pm The top 1 0 runners from the trials will advance to the finals on Saturday at 6:55 pm Cox is coming off a finish in the mile run in the Big Sky Indoor Championships last weekend at Moscow Idaho This will be her third national meet and she has already received three first-pla- awards Parker is primed for NCAA meet Former Northridge High School track and field star James Parker now a freshman at Utah State University will participate in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at Indianapolis Parker placed third in the Western US collegiate meet on Feb 18 at Reno Nev with a school-recor- d throw of 64 feet 5 inches A week later at Pocatello Parker uncorked a 2 throw of personal-bes- t to qualify for the national championship meet He is ranked 12th overall among the 14 national qualifiers Parker is a 1 994 graduate of Northridge High School where he won the state championship in both the shot put and discus then won both of those events plus a record-settin- g hammer throw in the prestigious Great Southwest Track and Field Meet last June in Arizona 66-4V- 5-- A tennis team WSU enters tourney With of three weeks e workout the Bengals got front the Broncos on Thursday night — could come into play tonight “I think it's an advantage for us" Abcgglcn said “They spent a lot of energy on that thing” Forward Jim Potter and guard Lorenzo Watkins each played 38 minutes against the Broncos Do-nc-ll Morgan played 34 minutes and Nathan Green 33 Potter Watkins and Morgan like they do against almost everybody give the Wildcats problems Potter averages 19 points a game Morgan 16 and Watkins 12 more In WSU's 89-7- 3 win over the Bengals in February Watkins hit five and scored 22 points “The key is to play our game and make sure wc understand we have to play defense" Abcgglcn said “Wc know their personnel real well The problem Idaho Slate has had with the Wildcats is controlling guards Ruben Ncmbhard and Lewis Lofton The WSU senior duo combined for 36 points seven rebounds and eight assists in the two teams' last meeting In that game Weber State shot 59 percent from the field Lofton and Ncmbhard got mostly layups against the smaller ISU guards “We've been posting our guards up all year" Abcgglcn said Ncmbhard who was named the Big Sky's Player of the Year earlier this week leads the league in scoring at 196 points per game Lofton averages 12 points per game and forward Jimmy DcGraffenricd 16 PPg- - All the WSU starters average at least 28 minutes a game Sec WSU on 68 rest behind them the Weber State University men’s tennis team gears up for action this weekend at the Boise State University Invitational round-robi- n The four-teatournament is scheduled for today and Saturday at the Boise State University Tennis Complex Two of the four teams in the meet are currently ranked among the Top 100 in the nation Host Boise State is ranked 37th and Purdue is 83rd Nevada joins WSU to round out the field The Wildcats opened play today against Nevada This evening they battle Purdue The Wildcats and Broncos meet on Saturday morning m Take a Ticket NCAA basketball: Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals at Dee Events Center Montana State vs Montana 6:07 pm Weber State vs Idaho State 8:30 pm NBA basketball: Sacramento at Utah Delta Center 7 pm Prep boys basketball: State 5-- A tournament semifinals at University of Utah's Huntsman Center Layton vs Mountain View 8 pm ON THE AIR NCAA basketball: Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals ESPN 5 pm and 7:15 pm Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals Montana State vs Montana PSN 6:07 pm Weber State vs Idaho State PSN 8:30 pm Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals Utah vs New Mexico KUTV 9 pm NBA basketball: Cleveland at Chicago WGN 6 pm — Standard-Examine- r staff and wire services |