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Show SPORTS MONDAY 3/7 PAGE 9 Daily Utah Chronicle Runnin' Utes send Jackson, Bogut out with 72-60 win on Senior Day Joe Beatty Sports Editor Once again, the No. 16 Utes (25-4, 13-1 MWC) played down to their competition. But as usual, they managed to pull out the victory, knocking off San Diego State (10-17, 4~IQ) 72-60 connecting on some timely three-pointers to keep the Aztecs at bay. Playing in front of his father, Michael, for the first time as a collegian, Bogut had another big game, notching 20 points and 15 rebounds, to go with four the game, with both players' joined at mid-court by family members. "It's kind of surreal," Jackson said after his final Salt Lake City appearance. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to come back. It couldn't have been a better season." Jackson finished with io points and seven assists, Saturday afternoon in the Huntsman Center. The MWC-champion Utes overcame a sloppy first half to send Marc Jackson and Andrew Bogut out winners in Jackson's final home game, and most likey Bogut's. The Utes honored the duo in a ceremony before SEE H O O P S PAGE 10 PLAYER OF THE GAME V Andrew Bogut The top big man in the country went out a winner in what was most likely his final game al the Huntsman Center. The Aussie had 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Utes knocked off the Aztecs. 2005 MWC Men1s Basketball Tournament Pairings Friday March 11 Saturday March 12 Thursday March 10 No. 1 Utah (25-4,13-1) rioon (11-16, 3-1) No. 8 Colorado State 7 p.m. No. 4 UNLV (15-12,7-7) No. 5 Wyoming ! !> 2:30 p.m. (15-12, 7-7) 7 •M i I (23-6,10-4) No. 2 New Mexico ; . " • ' ' ' * • '• . % v • _ . : s «•>"'" ; " * - ^ - * .. - 1 i " * '•* * ' s • " * .8 P - m - 1 • • p.m. No. 7 BYU (9-20, 3-11)" No. 3 Air Force Academyt (18-11,9-5) .10 p.m. 10 p.m. No. 6 San Diego State (10-17, 4-10) Utah's Richard Chaney gets a shot over SDSU's John Sharper Saturday afternoon in the Huntsman Center. Red Rock rout U gymnasts recover to win quad meet Asad Kudlya Sports Reporter Utah's Rachel Tidd begins her beam routine against Cal. St., Stanford and Florida In the Huntsman Center Friday. Tidd finished with 9.350 for the beam and 39.050 all-around score to help the Utes stay on top to the end. 191,500. During the week, U gymnastics coach Greg Marsden stressed the importance of a good start for the Red Rocks. The Utes lived up to the coach's words, exploding out of the gate Friday night. The Red Rocks carried the energy throughout the entire meet, as they defeated Florida, Cal and Stanford in a quadrangular meet with a stellar score of 197.425Florida came in second with a score of 196.450, Stanford in third at 196.025 and Cal pulled up the rear with a score of If this was a preview of the National Championships, then U coach Greg Marsden has to be pleased with the way his team performed in the meet. "It was good," Marsden said. "We made a mistake on bars and beam. I was proud of the fact they didn't get tentative and still aggressive on their routines. In the past they haven't done that." With four teams competing at once, the atmosphere was more like a postseason event, and the Utes did not have a problem with it at all. "It goes a lot faster since you don't have to wait for the other gymnasts to go," U senior gymnast Annabeth Eberle said. The Utes had the event winner in all four events and the all-around winner in Nicolle Ford with a score of 39.625. Ford was sick all week and only practiced two days but said the "adrenaline carried me through." The quad meet might not be a good indicator of the postseason, with the Utes on their home floor, but nevertheless, the Utes performed one of their best meets of the season. It all started on the vault. Three Utes scored at least a 9.900 and another scored a 9-875- PLAYER OF THE MEET Nicolle Ford Oueenie was ill all week, and turned in a sick performance in the all-around on Friday. Her 39.625 was tops among all teams, and she didn't score less than a 9.90 all night Eberle had a huge vault and scored a 10.0 from one judge, but the other gave her a 9.95, which left her with a 9.975. Nicolle Ford scored a 9.9 and Ashley Postell matched her score with another 9.9. Rachel Tidd scored a solid SEE G Y M N A S T S PAGE 10 Queens of the hardwood Uwomen earn share of MWC regular-season crown Saturday Tye Smith Asst. Sports Editor Add the women's basketball team to the growing list of U teams that have won conference championships this year. The Utes (23-6, 12-2 MWC) wrapped up their regular season Saturday afternoon with a 61-55 victory over the UNLV Rebels (15-13, 68 MWC) and earned a share of the regular season Mountain West Conference Championship. Utah shares the honor with New Mexico for the second consecutive year. After trailing for most of the game, UNLV made things interesting in the waning minutes as they overcame an early 19-point deficit to pull within three points with three minutes to play. The Rebels had two opportunities to tie the game but failed on both possessions, and the Utes ultimately walked away with the win. U junior Kim Smith scored 25 points and grabbed 5 rebounds against UNLV to finish off the regular season with back-to-back huge games. Smith scored a season-high 29 points Thursday night against San Diego State and followed up that performance with another dominating outing against UNLV. Smith stepped up under the pressure of consecutive must-wins for the Utes, as any loss would have cost them the conference title. Smith ap- GOLF .UTAH AT BRAVEHEART INTERCOLLEGIATE March 7,2005 all day @ Beaumont, Calif. pears to be a shoo-in for her third MWC Player of the Year award. U junior Shona Thorburn fell noticeably short of her usual statistical production, but she still managed a solid game from the point guard position. Thorburn, the conference leader in assists, dished out eight assists but also committed five turnovers. Thorburn is the MWC's scoring leader in games played in conference with an average of more than 20 points per contest, but she came up with only five points against the Rebels. Utah's freshmen forwards came up big against UNLV—something they will need to continue to do if the Utes hope to win the conference tournament. Post players Jessica Perry and Deanne Hanchett combined for 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. The Utes now head to Denver for the MWC Tournament. Despite S E E B B A L L PAGE 12 2005 MWC Women's Basketball Tournament Pairings Wednesday March 9 Friday March 11 No. 1 New Mexico (23-4,12-2) No. 8 San Diego State (8-19, 2-12) Saturday March 12 noon R noon No. 4 Wyoming (16-11,7-7) y-T""E. •^ —- *' i s' r 2:30 p.m. No. 5 UNLV 9 6 (15-13, 6-8) i No. 2 Utah jj l Y-f T • ••• 4 p.m. (23-6, 12-2) •»>• .' 6 p.m. No. 7 Air Force Academy (7-20, 2-12) No. 3 BYU (18-9, 9-5) No. 6 Colorado State (15-12, 6-8) 2:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m. WOMEN'S HOOPS BASEBALL ALBERTSON COLLEGE AT UTAH March 8,2005 noon @ Ute Field (8-2) (4-8) UTAH AT • (23-5, MWC 12-2) AIR FORCE (7-20, MWC 2-12) March 9,2005 6 p.m. MWC Tournament @ Denver, Colo. • SKIING UTAH vs NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS March 9,2005 all day @ Stowe, Vt. MEN'S HOOPS NO. 16 UTAH AT (25-4, MWC 13-1) COLORADO STATE (11-16, MWC 3-11) March 10,2005 noon MWC Tournament © Denver, Colo. |