Show Sports 10A Saturday March 30 1996 We’ve seen this game before Vacation’s over Jazz travel to face Sonics By TOM McEACHIN Standard-Examine- SALT LAKE CITY was essentially a bye wreek for the Jazz comes to an abrupt halt tonight when Utah travels to Seattle to play the SuperSonics The Jazz opened the week on Monday by hosting the Dallas Mavericks who were on a losing streak Next came the Milwaukee Bucks who were on a losing streak on Wednesday So by time the Jazz hosted the 10-ga- 12-ga- expansion Vancouver Grizzlies on Friday they had little trouble extending their losing streak to £n NBA-recor- 21 games d To make things even easier on the Jazz all three teams had to play in another city the night before their game in Utah That all ends tonight when the Jazz face the Sonics owners of the best record in the Western Conference “We needed to build up intensity going into the game against Seattle” said Jazz forward David Benoit “because it’s going to be - totally different from all these teams that are losing” The Jazz whipped the Sonics 4 on opening night but lost 3 in Seattle on Jan 26 1 12-9- 94-9- The two teams who would likely meet in the Western Conference Finals if both advance that far meet for the final time in the regular season next Tuesday at the Delta Center “This is going to be a great playoff game for us” Benoit said “It will show us where we are and where we need to be at as a team It will be a good barometer for us and I hope everyone comes out ready to play” GAME mm - What 70 Utah 105 Vancouver 91 the ball away from Bryant Reeves and breaks down court John Stockton picks up the loose ball and throws a high lob pass Malone runs under for an easy Kentucky Since then a lot has changed layup Worst calls: Malone comes down with a rebound and shoves Greg Anthony out of his way then goes up for a layup Anthony is called for a foul Next time down the court Gerald Wilkins $teps in front of Malone and Malone is called for charging Both tails were wrong but they probably evened the best against Utah in their e homestand finals “That was early in the season and now it's two teams that have gotten a lot better” Kentucky’s Tony Delk said Friday “I was at the point then and everyone was out of position We were trying to get our rotation down They have gotten better because of a tough schedule” Massachusetts (35-won that Nov 28 meet2 behind the 32 points ing nine rebounds and five blocks center Marcus of Camby “I didn’t think we did a good job on Camby” Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said “but I’ve watched the tape three times and we did a good job He’s just a great basketball player” It was far from a perfect effort for the Minutemen that night at Auburn Hills Mich in the Great Eight tournament UMass committed 23 turnovers against Kentucky’s pressure The number of mistakes rt dropped all season as the of Edgar Padilla and Travieso jelled into one of the best guard tandems in the country They were at their best in the regionals combining for just 12 turnovers against the pressure of Arkansas and Georgetown “The Kentucky game was the first game of the season and we were just trying to get used to each other" Padilla said “Now we know what we have to do and it showed against Arkansas and Georgetown” Pitino said the first two the Wildcats opened games with a 4 victory over Maryland set the tone for the changes that changed everything “We got down big against Maryland and then there was UMass” he said “It was obvious we were not playing the Streaks: The Jazz won their 19th straight game at home record matching their and the Grizzlies lost their 21st straight game setting an NBA record all-ti- Nightmare: The Grizzlies haven't won a game since beating 6 Sacramento on Feb 14 Earlier this year they had a losing streak 93-8- Top-rank- 19-ga- First quarter: Jazz 35 Grizzlies 24 Malone’s layup on a fast break Begives Utah an 6 lead noit’s dunk off Homacek’s steal makes it 16-1-2 by 8-- Wilkins and Anthony cut it to 8 Reeves ties the score at 20 Benoit’s third straight shot cuts it to 2 20-1- 29-2- “20-minut- e” Best heckle: After Gerald veteran Wilkins an scored a layup on a fast break a fan yelled “You used to dunk 11-ye- ar Jazz From 9A ” In the fourth quarter the Jazz turned the game over to Carr who said Sloan kept falling plays for him “Coach knows I've been struggling a little bit so he’s trying to get me going” Carr said “I appreciate that” Benoit who was in ed back-cou- Second quarter: Grizzlies 27 Jazz 21 Car-me- lo Utah goes up 0 as Mobley The goaltends Foster’s shot Grizzlies force three straight turnovers and block a shot to cut Edwards’ 3 the lead to 7 His jumper cuts it to 5 gives Vancouver a 8 lead Utah leads 1 at halftime Third quarter: Jazz 24 Grizzlies 22 43-3- 43-3- 47-4- 49-4- 56-5- cuts the lead to 4 Benoit’s fifth straight 5 Anthoshot makes it Benoit’s 3 ny’s 3 ties it at 62 starts a 14-- 4 run and Malone’s jumper caps it with Utah up 6 3 and Utah leads the end of three 3 - 62-5- 96-8- - 80-7- Fourth quarter Jazz 25 Grizzlies 18 Stockton’s free throw on a POCATELLO 55-1- 5 Season series: Tied 1 1 Players to watch: Seattle's -- Gary Payton leads the league in steals with 284 a game Notebook: Seattle forces 1 87 turnovers a game tops in the NBA Utah commits 1 49 turnovers a game m the league sixth-fewe- ED REINKEThe Associated Press RELAXED AND READY: Kentucky guard Derek Anderson laughs during Friday’s practice in preparation for today’s NCAA Final Four action right people together and we made a change putting Anthony Epps at the point and we let Tony Delk concentrate on scoring Now it's been a great situation as far as the cohesiveness of the team and that’s where we’ve evolved” Kentucky (32-2- ) didn’t lose again until the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game against Mississippi State which meets Syracuse in the other Final Four game It wasn’t just a winning streak it was a romp through the regular season with an average margin of victory of 23 points That may explain why the Minutmen are 27-ga- underdogs “We like being underdogs” Camby said “‘We’ve been underdogs all year long They’ve been beating people by a lot Maybe that’s why they’re the fa- vorite” Kentucky center Mark Pope isn’t buying into that theory “Gambling is like politics -I don’t understand it” he said “It doesn't make any sense They beat us They beat everyone they played They’ve proven that they’re a great team” Massachusetts’ only loss was to George Washington But the Minutemen’s average margin of victory was nothing like Kentucky’s They won nine games by five points or less and had to go to overtime to win four game- s“All those close games make them mentally tough” Delk said Four of the wins came without Camby when he was waiting for medical clearance to resume playing after mysteriously collapsing in mid-Janua- ry Many believe it helped make the Minutemen a better team one that learned it could win even without the dominant center on the court Idaho -- Like the basketball teams they officiate college basketball referees have one goal in common: Getting to the NCAA Final Four Highland High School math teacher Scott Thomley has made it this year the first time since he’s been a college basketball referee since 1980 “I’ve done the NCAA Tournament every year since 1984" Thomley said “This is my first time in the Final Four “It’s great All the teams play to get to the Final Four The of- st ficials aren’t much different Our crowning achievement for the year is to get to work the Final Four” This year Thomley officiated three NCAA Tournament games: Arkansas vs Penn State and Arkansas vs Marquette in the East Regional and Louisville vs Wake Forest in the Midwest Regional Because of his performance in those games he was awarded one of 10 spots cm three officiating crews for this weekend's games Utah’s last game had a streak of 14 consecutive shots made over three games when he finally missed a attempt late in the third quarter By then the lead which Jazz had a they nursed the rest of the way Benoit knew he had made all his shots Wednesday against Dallas but he didn't realize he kept the streak going on Friday “I hadn't paid any attention” he said “I was just having fun” nt ' “Each conference gets to nominate a certain number of officials for the NCAA Tournament” Thomley said “Once you start working in the tournament you’re evaluated for each game you work” Thomley won’t know which game he’ll be assigned until today He could get Mississippi State vs Syracuse or Massachusetts vs Kentucky on today or do the championship game Monday night “We have a tournament meeting on Saturday and at that time they'll make the assignments" Thomley said Thomley knows he is not the alternate That spot has already been assigned Thomley has been at Highland for 26 of his 28 years as a teacher It was there he got his start as a referee Thomley started refereeing high school games in the late 70s and the Big Sky Conference in 1980 “Other than playing it’s a way to participate in the game You're just as much a Thomley also referees Big 8 Pac 10 and W'estem Athletic Conference games Take heart Bulldogs and - Not bad cumbers 'forMIAMI Alonzo Mourning 21 points and seven rebounds And that was just in the first quarter Mourning finished the game with a career high 50 points Friday night as the Miami Heat defeated the Washington Bullets -- 112-9- 3 “My teammates got the ball to the me at the right place-an- d right time for me to do things with it” said Mourning who also had 12 rebounds One of the people getting the ball to Mourning was Tim Hardaway who had 12 assists to go with 16 points Juwan Howard had 20 points and Ledell Eackles 18 for the Bullets who never led or even scored more than four points in a row Suns 103 Bucks £5 Charles Barkley scored 23 points as Phoenix beat Milwaukee for the ! 1th consecutive time and handed the Bucks their 14th straight loss Randolph Keys had 17 points to lead the Bucks Magic 126 Raptors 85 Shaquille O’Neal scored 24 points in 27 minutes as Orlando rolled to a franchise record fifth straight road win and handed Toronto its worst loss Spurs 119 104 David Robinson scored points and added 15 rebounds as the Spurs set a franchise record with their 16th straight win 31 Lakers 102 Hawks £3 Anthony Peeler scored 11 of his 25 points during a decisive second-ha- lf run that erased an deficit and carried Los Angeles to its third straight win Christian Laettner led the Hawks with 22 points nt Knicks 94 Nets 78 JR Reid made his first five shots erf- the fourth quarter and heard the fans chant his name for the first time as a Knick - Patrick Ewing had 20 points and 10 rebounds Derek Harper had 18 points and John Starks 16 for New York Armon Gilliam and Shawn Bradley had 16 points each for the Nets Celtics 1 01 76ers 95 Rookie Eric Williams scored a 31 points as the Celt-c- is season-hig- h completed their a first season-serisweep over the 76ers since es 1972-7- 3 Jerry Stackhouse had 24 points and nine assists for the 76ers and Clarence Weather-spoo- n added 20 points ns -- -- players - sporting “I’m not going to get onel” 2 he said flatly “But if I got one it would have to symbolize myself because it’s something you're going to have for life” he said Or- angemen The scenario at this Final Four is almost a carbon copy of the 1983 tournament Houston and Louisville both No 1 seeds wound up playing in one semifinal game at Albuquerque the other contest had two long-shteams North Carolina State and Georgia After Phi Slama Jama - the great Houston team featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler had defeated Louis1 ville everyone anointed the Cougars as champions Two nights later North Carolina State a No 6 seed that had won three tournament games by a total of four points shocked 2 on Lorenzo Houston Charles slam at the buzzer “We’re were in the preliminary game last week supposedly” said Syracuse star John Wallace referring to the Orangemen playing Georgia in the West Regional before Kansas met Arizona “and we came off victorious We’re not worried about that at all We're just worried how we play the game" Get used to the idea: either Syracuse or Mississippi State will be playing for the title ot - 94-8- 54-5- 50 points in Heat triumph Mourning tortures Bullets with Mavericks Associated Press mixed-emotio- tattoos' PA ROOU? Jbe “It’s been a very year” Keady said “but this kind of makes it feel like all our work was worthwhile” ‘Refuse To Lose’ origin: Massachusetts star Marcus Camby doesn’t know the origin of his team’s “Refuse to Lose” motto though it certainly fits a Minutemen team that has lost only six games the last two seasons “It was here before I came to UMass” Camby said I think we go out there and refuse to lose I think no team in the country has had so many close games as we have” UMass has the phrase stitched on its warmup suits' “When it comes down to the last four minutes of the game we don’t have it in our minds to lose” Caxnby said “In the last minutes of the game we’re going to find 31 way to pull it out” No tattoo for him: Don't look for Kentucky’s Antoine Walker to join the growing ranks of pro and college bas-- ketball think” Jazz at Sonics TV-radl- o: college basketball's winningest coach Keady guided Purdue to its third straight outright Big Ten title a feat last achieved in the early 1960s by Ohio State The Boilermakers (26-6- ) were seeded first in the West Regional but lost in the second round From 9A By BOB BRUNOAGE Idaho Stale Jounaf at St Bonaventure of Kentucky in the name of Pocatello referee will Undercard work Final Four game technical Jy Edwards is followed by an acrobatic reverse layup for Reeves cuts the an 87-7- 7 lead lead to 93-8- 7 but the Jazz go on a 10-- 2 run for a 103-8- 9 lead 14 missed four games and returnC ed after a battery of tests Both were honored Friday by The Associated Press as college basketball coach and player of the year Camby who led Massachusetts to its first NCAA semifinal received the Adolph Rupp Trophy sponsored by tire Commonwealth Athletic Clqb 92-8- QUARTERS When: 8 (MST) tonight Where: Key Arena Seattle KJZZ Channel 14 WSN 570 AM KSOS 800 AM Records: Utah 50-2- 0 Seattle Jan 1) out Team rules: Chris Morris and Greg Ostertag both were benched Friday for violating coach Jerry Sloan’s rule He requires all players to hde a stationary bike or run on a treadmill any time they play less than 20 minutes in a game Sloan says both will play tonight in Seattle “It was nothing serious” Sloan said “It was just a minor thing that needed to be brought to their attention” 1 died Marcus Camby reached the Final Four despite a less serious misfortune He collapsed for both teams which meet again today in the NCAA semi- five-gam- 76-6- - Gene NEW YORK Keady persevered through a season of tragedy in which his stepdaughter suffered a severe head injury and his father EAST RUTHERFORD NJ - It was just four months ago that Massachusetts opened its season by knocking off No 1 56-5- Best play: Karl Malone slaps perseverance The Associated Press Key stat: Vancouver shot a lousy 397 percent but that was Edwards’ Keady Camby honored for I i those Gerald What happened?” er NCAA NOTES UMass and Kentucky meet again in today’s featured semifinal rZZZZZZ3EZJ!UTAH staff r Standard-Examin- Kings 107 Hornets 101 Sarunas Marciulionis scored eight of his 25 points in overtime to lead the Kings Mitch Richmond added 21 points for the Kings Kenny Anderson had 24 points and Del Curry 22 for the Hornets ’Wolves 93 Pacers 91 “It would have to be some- thing dealing with basketball because that’s a big part of my life” Beware No 1: Massachusetts hopes history doesn’t repeat itself in Saturday’s semifinal game against No 2 Kentucky Already one No 1 team has lost this season at the Kansas fell Meadowlands from the top spot when it lost to Temple in the Jimmy Y Classic in December 2 UMass took over the top ranking after the Kansas lo§s and held the position for seven straight weeks until its only loss of the season to George Top-ranke- d Washington The only other team to hold the top ranking this season was was Kentucky which began the season at No 1 but lost to UMass in the second game of the season Kentucky moved up to No 1 again after UMass’ loss but the teams swapped places again when the Wildcats were upset by Mississippi State in the finals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Hats oft Call it The Gret Hat Controversy After winning the Southeast Regional last weekend Mississippi State received hats to mark: the occasion just like the other three teams that won their regionals Unfortunately the hats given to the Bulldogs were emblazoned with just tire word “Mississippi" That very important “State” was mistakenly left off The University of Mississippi is State's biggest rival and the Bulldogs are still sore about the goof-u-p “Right after we accomplished something the school has never accomplished before and while we were celebrating we received hats with our biggest rival's name on itT forward Dontae’ Jones kind of shocking” Coach Richard Williams seemed especially perturbed though he claimed later be was only poking fun at the situation Either way the Bulldogs received new hats wijb the proper name said-“That- Isiah Rider shook off his shooting slump by making a key basket and three free throws in the final minute as Minnesota defeated Indiana Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 27 points and Dale Davis had 13 points and 18 rebounds 's -- |