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Show Daily Utah Chronicle Thursday, March 10, 2005 MWC Tournament Special Edition • MWC Tournament Special Edition • MWC Tournament Special Edition Eyes on the prize MWC men's tournament preview Breaking down the dance in Denver No. 15 Runnin' Utes try to stay focused on MWC men's tourney Joe Beatty Sports Editor big dance. While Nelson has seemingly regressed due to injuries and perhaps a lack of work ethic, he has a chance to go out a hero if the Rams can pull some upsets. Joe Beatty Sports Editor U head coach Ray Giacoletti has impressed his peers this season, receiving the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year award. Thursday afternoon he will get the opportunity to start earning more brownie points, as he must accomplish a coaching task that is often futile. He needs to get his team in the "play like there is no tomorrow" mentality, when it is quite obvious that there is one. The No. 15 Utes (25-4, 13-1 MWC) open the Mountain West Conference tournament Thursday afternoon. While they are all but assured of a berth in the NCAA tournament, Giacoletti is making sure his team stays focused on winning. "Our mindset's got to be play it like it is your last game," Giacoletti said. "There's a new opportunity here, playing in the conference tournament, and you're going to make something of it or you're going to let it slip away." While this will be Giacoletti's first visit to the MWC tournament, the Utes are no strangers to success in the yearly postseason rendezvous. Facing a possible NIT berth last season, the Utes swept through San Diego Utah's Bryant Markson plows into San Diego State's Trimaine Davis while being hit by Chris Walton last State, BYU and UNLV to win Saturday at the Huntsman Center. the tournament and make the big dance. Colorado State in Thursday's bottom of the conference with games, and has a penchant for performing well in big The No. 1 seed Utes will quarterfinal game. The Rams a 3-11 mark in MWC games. square off with eighth seeded finished tied with BYU at the But while they look like games. This game should suit pushovers, the Rams could be his style, as it is most likely a tougher match-up than they the senior's last game in Ram green. appear to be on paper. Utah swept the season "[CSU] is a series with team that is CSU, winprobably playning 75-52 in ing their best Fort Collins, basketball this and 64-50 at time of year," the HuntsGiacoletti said. man Center. "They're big The Utes are and they're 4-0 in MWC now healthy. quarterfiThey are a nal games, team that has including gotten better a win over as they've gone the Rams in along." 2002's openColorado ing round. State finished the season Should the with two wins Utes prein their last vail, they four games, will meet the with one of the winner of the losses coming Wyomingin a close game UNLV game at New Mexico. on Friday at The Rams held 7 p.m. The a lead on the Utes swept Lobos into the the season second half, series with before eventuboth squads, ally succumbbut Were taking. en to the wire by a spirited Star center "Our mindset's got to be Air Force No. 3 seed 18-11, 9-5 MWC The defending regularseason MWC champs didn't have the luxury of sneaking up on anyone this year, but still proved that last season's miracle run was no fluke. Air Force's 30 wins over the last two years are the best in school history, and they are looking to return to the dance after last year's team did it for the rirst time in 26 seasons. The Falcons probably won't earn an at-large bid this year, so they will have a lot of incentive to play well in the MWC tourney. They laid an egg last year, getting bounced in the first round by Colorado State. You can bet first-year coach Chris Mooney will have a fire lit under the team not to let an upset happen again. New Mexico No. 2 seed 23-6,10-4 MWC Like on the women's side, UNM will provide the biggest roadblock to Utah's championship aspirations. The Lobos have won six in a row, including a state holiday-inducing win over the Utes in Albuquerque. A team that usually thrives at home and chokes on the road, UNM has won three out of four away from The Pit, making them all the more confident heading into Denver. Recent predictions have them receiving an at-large bid into the NCAAs, but even all of head coach Richie McKay's politicking will probably go for naught if the Lobos flop in the first round. BYU No. 7 seed 9-20 r 3-11 MWC San Diego State No. 6 seed 10-17,4-10 MWC Believe it or not, the Cougars actually beat New Mexico earlier this year, thumping the Lobos at the Marriott Center. They will get another chance in the first round, trying to salvage something from a disastrous rebuilding season. BYU has beaten UNM in all three MWC tournament meetings, including a thrilling win in the 2001 championship game. Unfortunately for Coach Cleveland's squad, the past is just that, and the outmanned Cougars will probably need to pin their NCAA dreams on next season. Once again, the Aztecs fell short of preseason predictions, winning only a smattering of conference contests. A big part of the disappointment has been senior forward Chris Walton's inability to live up to all the hype. Making the frontcourt woes worse is star forward Marcus Slaughter's broken toe. Slaughter averaged 17.3 points per game this season, but figures to miss the MWC tournament. Unless SDSU can pull a miracle, listen for the grumblings to start emanating from Mission Valley about the security of coach Steve Fisher's job. Colorado State No. 8 seed 11-16, 3-11 MWC UNLV No. 5 seed 15-12, 7-7 MWC If you are looking for a dark horse in the field, the Rams could be a good bet. Motivation has been an issue for CSU this season, but with the tournament a close drive from their Fort Collins, Colo., campus, Dale Layer's bunch could thrive off of the homecourt advantage. Senior Matt Nelson has been in this situation before, leading the Rams to a magical run through the MWC tournament in his freshman year, putting them in the It's been an up-and-down year for the squad picked to finish first in the league, but lately things have been picking up. The Runnin' Rebs finished the regular season with a 6-1 stretch. Lon Kruger's squad has won four straight road games, and swept the season series with first round opponent Wyoming. UNLV had a big run in the tournament last year, before falling in a heart breaker against the Utes in the championship game. The Rebs tout a MWCbest 9-3 all-time record in the conference tournament, having made the title game four times. play it like it is your last game," coach Giacoletti said. Matt Nelson is finally healthy after battling knee trouble all season. He is averaging 23.3 points in his last three Utah's Justin Hawkins goes up to block a shot from SDSU's Matt Thomas last Saturday In the Huntsman Center. Rebel squad when the two teams met in Las Vegas. jbeatty@ chronicle.utah.edu 2005 MWC Men's Basketball Tournament Pairings Thursday March 10 No. 1 Utah Friday March 11 Saturday March 12 • ?".» (25-4,13-1) • - rloon No. 8 Colorado State ' i "*' ~t. (11-16,3-1) • No. 4 UNLV 1 . • US Wyoming No. 4 seed 15-12, 7-7 MWC (15-12. 7-7) 2:30 p.m. No. 5 Wyoming (15-12", 7-7) \ No. 2 New Mexico <; •; ^ ;• - ' 3 . .• y 1 . " ' I " "''V ^A*"'^ if »>. • • . • " V * r ^ The Cowboys earned the higher seed, but come into the game against UNLV viewed as underdogs. The Rebels swept the season series, and Wyoming could be missing MWC block leader Justin Williams, who recently injured his wrist. If the Cowboys make any noise in the tourney, most of it will come from point guard Jay Straight, who became the first player in MWC history to rank in the top five in scoring and assists in the same season. jbeatty@chronicle.utah.edu 8p.m. (23-6,10-4) 7 p.m. No. 7 BYU (9-20, 3-11) • No. 3 Air Force Academy ;• :'> ?: ? 10p.m. (18-11, 9-5) ' • ; _ '• ,;- •• ' i 10 p.m. No. 6 San Diego State SKIING UTAH AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS March 10,2005 all day © Stowe, Vt. (10-17,4-10) MEN'S HOOPS NO. 15 UTAH VS. (25-4,13-1 MWC) COLORADO STATE (11-16, 3-11 MWC) March 10,2005 noon MWC Tournament @ Denver, Colo. WOMEN'S HOOPS BYU VS. UTAH (14-9, 9-5 MWC) (24-6,12-2 MWC) March 11,2005 2:30 p.m. MWC Tournament @ Denver, Colo. GYMNASTICS WASHINGTON AT NO. 1 UTAH March 11,2005 7 p.m. @ Huntsman Center BASEBALL (10-6) (9-2) UTAH AT UNC-WILMINGTON March 11,2005 5 p.m. @ Wilmington, N.C. (6-8) (7-9) |