Show Obituaries Classifieds Standard-Examine- r Thursday March 17 1988 ©©tusDStemiey dumilk ATLANTA — Brigham Young University will be looking for some consistency when it opens NCAA Tournament play tonight against the University of North Carolina-Charlot- te The Southeast basketball game starts at 5:07 sub-region- By DALE BUBLJTZ al pm (MST) in the Omni Standard Examiner staff SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz defeated NBA Midwest Division-leadin- g Dallas 5 the old fashioned way here Wednesday night — with tough aggressive defense and team concept offense “Maybe I’m a bit to believe that good defense gets you baskets and makes you play even better" said Utah Coach Frank Layden “Anytime you hold a good scoring team like Dallas down somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 points like we did you give yourself a chance to win” Statistics seemed to verify Layden’s assessment The Mavericks shot a paltry 435 percent from the floor while the Jazz shot layups and a respectable Even though the Cougars own a glossy 25-- 5 overall record they carry a 4 mark over their last eight games Two of those wins were by two points over Hawaii the ninth-plac- e Western Athletic Conference finisher The 49ers the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions have a 22-- 8 record with two victories over the University of — a team BYU lost to by 19 points UNCC led by current Houston Rocket player Cedric Maxwell reached the final four in 1977 where they lost to Marquette in the semifinals Guard Byron Dinkins leads the 49ers in scoring with a 215 points per game average Three other starters — Jeff West Don “They played so aggressively and came at us so hard defensively” said Maverick Coach John MacLeod “Defensively they trapped us and kept us off 21-- 9 4-- 120-10- ed 516 percent stride” 18-1- 0 MacLeod thought the Jazz guards and center Mark Eaton plus his own club’s offensive rebounding problems were at the heart of Dallas’ demise “Utah leads the NBA in steals and they must have gotten points on all of their eight steals and their guards seemed to pick up every loose ball and turn them into points” said MacLeod “They also got a lot out of that small lineup when they went to Rickey (Green) and John (Stockton)” n Layden had the combination on the floor much of the night 'Green re- sponded with 18 points his biggest scoring output of the year Stockton scored 16 points and See JAZZ on 2C LINCOLN Neb — The Utah State University basketball team arrived here late Wednesday night content with its placement in the NCAA tournament but genuinely concerned about its opening game assignment 0 The 21-- 9 Aggies face Vanderbilt of the Southeast Conference at 1:30 pm (MST) in the University of Nebraska’s Bob Center USU coaches and players said they would have preferred playing in the West Regional in either Salt Lake City or Los Angeles but felt “comfortable” about being moved to the Midwest Regionals “I can’t complain about going to Lincoln” said USU Coach Rod Tueller “It inconveniences our fans but we seem to play better playing away from the distractions at home” The Aggies’ primary concern is atthe Commodores’ tack — center Will Perdue a De-van- ey Robert Utah’s John Stockton (left) Mark Eaton (center) and Karl Malone team up to strip Utah faces She Ace EVANSVILLE Ind (AP) — The Detroit Titans bounced Evansville out of contention in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference but the National Invitation Tournament is a chance for the Aces to prove themselves worthy of a national title guard Scott Haffner says “This just makes it a bigger game for us we get the second opportunity to play in a tournament” said Haffner a 4 junior who has averaged 155 points and is the MCC’s shooter top three-poi“The NIT is a good tournament It has a lot of tradition and if you win three games you get to play in Madison Square Garden” The Aces who lost to Detroit 4 on a shot in the MCC title game face Utah at Roberts Stadium tonight “We ran into a team that had jelled together” Haffner said “They believed in themselves and I guess it came down to they just 6-- nt NIT us for the ball game” Tonight’s 6:30 pm (MST) game will be Evansville’s first appearance in the NIT and n the team’s first play since 1982 when the Aces lost to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Evansville led by versatile senior forward Marty Simmons is trying to preserve a home court win streak The Aces have not gone unbeaten at home since Jerry Sloan led the team to a 29-- 0 season in 1964-6- 5 out-foug- ht post-seaso- 19-ga- Utah which is 0 overall tied Wyoming for second place in the Western Athletic 5 record Wyoming Conference with an Brigham Young and Texas-E- l Paso are all in the NCAA tourney from the WAC while 19-1- 11-- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Eorida Coach Norm Sloan could use a minivan to bring his team to the d arena for tonight’s game against St John’s in the NCAA West Regional The Florida roster already depleted by Sloan’s suspension of starting point guard Ronnie Montgomery was cut again on Wednesday when reserve Patrick Aaron was sent home Montgomery was penalized for his role in a fight 0 loss to Georgia in last weekend in Florida’s 72-7- two-fro- New Mexico and Colorado are playing in the NIT Utah features 8 junior center Mitch Smith and Watkins Singletary a 7 junior 6-- loan’s first-roun- r 6-- 75-7- last-seco- PopeStandard-Examine- Dallas’ Brad Davis (15) of the ball during second-hal- f action Wednesday night forward “We know their personnel and Coach (Jim Crews) has been watching their tapes” said Haffner “Smith is real tough in the post and we’re watching Singletary We’ll play our same game defensively We’ll play our n but we’ll make a few adjustments for their strong points And we just have to go out and execute what got us 20 wins and worry about ourselves “I think that the tournament situation is what it’s all about” said Haffner “The adrenalin pumps up a little more and you’re thinking ‘Hey we lose and that’s it’ But all the excitement is in the buildup Once the game starts you have to settle down and execute the game plan” man-to-ma- 245-pou- nd 1 8-- 15 post-seaso- 83-7- first-roun- The last time the Cougars played an NCAA game in the Omni was in 1981 BYU defeated 0 on Danny Notre Dame d shot to ad Ainge’s vance to the round of eight Those two teams met once be fore in 1979 with BYU taking 104-9- 1 win 51-5- last-secon- Bradley took an 11 game win ning streak into the first of four opening-roun- d games here today a meeting with the Auburn 0 who tied for second Tigers in the Southeastern Conference See BYU on 2C -- 18-1- ! Aggies face Vanderbilt 18-1- Green-Stock-to- Plondke and Frank Persley — also average over 10 ppg BYU the WAC regular-seaso- n winner features a strong inside game Forwards Michael Smith and Jeff Chatman average 21 and 19 points respectively Center Jim Usevitch is scoring 15 ppg All three are averaging seven rebounds a game record in the BYU has an n tournament NCAA The University of New Orleans 9 in a nipped the Cougars I d game last year nt senior and guards Derrick Wilcox Barry Booker and Scott Draud Perdue the Southeast Conference “Player of the Year” is considered the fourth best collegiate senior center by NBA scouts He led Vanderbilt in scoring with an average of 184 points a game rebounding with a 104 and broke the school’s single season blocked shot record with 71 blocks “Before this year he scored 180 points” said USU Coach Rod Tueller “That shows how hard Perdue has worked to develop himself” Opposing teams have discovered there is more to beating Vanderbilt than stopping Perdue Commodore Coach CM Newton assembled has cast a e three-pointe- rs three-pointe- rs ' shot” advantake to Tueller hopes tage of the Aggies’ edge in experi- ence Perdue is the only senior in a starting lineup that includes three juniors and a sophomore ! “They aren’t a very quick team and I think we can get some points off our early offense” said Tueller “One thing Perdue doesn’t do very well is get up and ‘ down the floor on defense” - USU’s motion offense and quickness concern Newton “I’ve always been impressed with Rod’s offensive spacing and philosophy” said Newton “His whole team shoots the ball well and can handle the ball We can’t get in a running game with Utah State and hope to win” rosier trimmed to eight uniforms the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament Sloan wouldn’t say why Aaron was banished but emphasized it was permanent “He was sent home for disciplinary reasons" Sloan said “There is no chance of him coming back Period at all forever” That leaves Florida with just eight uniforms filled and only seven players Reserve Bill Gurley hasn’t played a second all year “It just takes five players to play the game” Ga tors forward Livingston Chatman said “We can make it if we keep doing well I think we can make it to the Final 16 teams at least” “I think we will still go out and play a good game” Sloan said “These eight players that will be dressed are the ones that have played the most anyway” “They’re going to show up and they’re going to play That’s it” said St John’s Coach Lou Carne- - secca who has limited bench resources of his own Florida 22-- 1 1 and St John’s 17-- 1 1 meet in one of the four games scheduled here today The four winners advance to the second round on Saturday with the two survivors on that day moving to Seattle for the West Region semifinals In other games No 10 Michigan 24-- 7 plays Boise State 24-- 5 No 13 Wyoming 26-- 5 meets No 15 Loyola Marymount 27-- 3 and No 7 North Carolina 24--6 plays North Texas State 2 first-roun- d 17-1- No leads yet in murders of Thompson wife BRADBURY Calif (AP) — Mickey Thompson’s friends and acquaintances couldn’t believe that the first man to travel more than 400 mph on land would be shot dead in an ambush in his driveway The bodies of Thompson 59 an auto speed king and one of the most innovative men in motor sports and his wife Trudy 41 were found at dawn Wednesday by Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies responding to reports of gunfire “It was a double homicide an assassination" said Deputy Richard Dinsmoor The two gunmen who invaded the couple’s hillside estate escaped on bicycles deputies said “This is probably the biggest shock I’ve ever had in my life” drag racer Don Garlits said Wednesday after hearing the news from a Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group employee “It’s unbelievable” Phil Thompson’s corporate attorney murmured after an afternoon news conference at AnBar-tene- aheim Stadium of bombers for his guard line to keep defenses honest Booker Draud and Wilcox have combined for 136 in 272 attempts “That is how they protect Perdue” said Tueller “You can’t pack it in to stop the big guy They scored as many as they did regular field goals against Jacksonville” The Aggies hope to counter by having guards Reid Newey and Kevin Nixon play their counterparts tightly and hope center Greg Housekeeper can handle Perdue by himself “Perdue is a real unselfish player who doesn’t shoot every time he gets the ball” said USU assistant coach Kohn Smith “We’ll try to get Greg help whenever we can but we must contest every long-rang- tti where Thompson's office is located “I spoke with him just last evening He was in a fine mood talking about his business plans He was quite a guy" There were no leads late Wednesday investigators said Friends and associates mentioned that as recently as Sunday Thompson expressed fear for his life after receiving numerous death threats “He said that he’d gotten these threats but that he could handle them" family friend Ernie Alvarado said Alvarado said he talked to Thompson about the threats as recently as Sunday Thompson’s employees said they had been asked by sheriffs deputies not to discuss possible death threats Thompson’s sister Collene Thompson Campbell said she too had been advised by authorities not to talk about the threats “I just know that it was not a robbery or anything like that” she said “They just plain just murdered them — it was terri- ble” she said Thompson’s widowed mother Geneva Thompson 88 who lives in El Monte collapsed when told her son and daughter-in-law were dead said Bob Russo publicist for Mickey Thompson Geneva Thompson was taken to an Alhambra hospital and treated for shock Russo said Neighbors heard six or eight shots and deputies found the bodies about 6 am in the driveway of the couple’s gated estate on Woodlyn Road in a community of homes 20 miles northeast of downtown Los An- Spanish-styl- e geles Mike Difilippo a building contractor who lives across the street from the Thompsons said he was awakened by shots See MURDER on 2C Mickey Thompson |