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Show SPORTS Monday, January 8,2007 Page 10 SCOREBOARD COMING UP Men's Hoops Utah (5-10) Colorado St. (11-3) Jan. 9.2007 . 7 pm. 0> Foil Colons. Colo Women's Hoops Gymnastics Track & Field Utah (9-6) Colorado St. (6-8) UCLA @ Utah Utah® BYU Invitational Jon 11.2007 7 p.m. '2 foil Collins. Colo lan. 1?. ?00f 7 p m Ij Huntsman Ctnler Jan 1?. 200? i l l 03-( ;•- Provo. Ulah Footl Ml Utah "5 Tulsa 13 Women's Hoops Women's Hoops SDSU 48 Utah 51 Utah 49 New Mexico 48 Utes drop another close one Cody Brunner The Daily Utah Chronicle Defense and communication are two of the fundamental building blocks in basketball. The U men's basketball team (510, 0-2 MWC) continued to struggle with both of those essentials in its latest faux pas last Saturday, allowing a number of open three-point shots that resulted in a 71-68 loss to TCU (10-4, 2-0 MWC). "Obviously we still don't get it, so I take full responsibility," said U head coach Ray Giacoletti. "We don't communicate and we don't defend. Slice it up anyway you want, but those are the two pieces we are st'U missing." The Utes held a 59-55 lead with six minutes left, but numerous communication meltdowns led to open Horned Frog layups and a three-point basket from TCU's Brent Hackett all but sealed the victory. Hackett led the way for the Horned Frogs, hitting 5-of-8 from behind the arc to finish with 20 points. Down low, TCU forward Kevin Langford rumbled his way to 16 points and added a pair of obliterating blocks for the visiting team. "They got a lot of open looks in defensive transition because we didn't communicate very well," said U guard Johnnie Bryant. "We've got to talk better on the defensive end and get matched up on shooters." On the offensive end of the court, Bryant was doing everything he could to keep the Utes in the game, leading the team with 23 points and three assists. "Johnnie does so many things for us," Giacoletti said. "He leads us on defense, distributes the ball and really drives the team." Bryant and the Utes started off the game hot, jumping out to a 17-9 lead early behind the strength of seven Luke Nevill points. In an effort to slow down the Aussie, TCU went into a stringent zone defense. The Utes were unable to penetrate that Horned Frog zone and instead settled on a barrage of unsuccessful outside shots, sending TCU on an 18-5 run and giving it a 30-27 lead at the half. "We weren't being very aggressive attacking their zone," Bryant said. "It seemed like we were content with the outside shot and we got a few clean looks, but they weren't dropping." Nevill reasserted himself in the second half, finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds. The sophomore finished 6-for-io from the field, which is slightly below his nationally ranked average of 67.1 percent. "We're always going to try to establish Luke because he's one of the best in the nation around the basket," Giacoletti said. Natalie Dicou The last time the No. 25 New Mexico Lobos lost a conference game on their home court—the always-raucous Pit—people were still talking about the 2002 Winter Olympics in the future tense. Unafraid of a challenge, the Broken record Runnin' Utes continue to come out on the short end Cody Brunner The Daily Utah Chronicle LENNIE MAHLER/ The IXulv Utah Chrentck Johnnie Bryant races down the court with TCU's Neil Dougherty in a fast break for two of his 23 points of the night. The Utes endured another close loss as TCU pulled ahead during the second half, 71-68. "But we've got to make better decisions getting him the ball." Late in the game, numerous Utah entry passes were either tipped or intercepted as the Utes continually tried to force it to Nevill. "Teams figure out what we're trying to do pretty quick," Bryant said. "(TCU) did a great job down the stretch of denying Luke and we made some bad passes." The Utes committed 12 turnovers on the way to their fourth consecutive loss. Utah's communication woes continue to be coach Giacoletti's main focus heading deeper in the Mountain West Conference schedule. "It's a vital part of the game," Giacoletti said. "Back-cuts, fronting the post, whatever it may be, communicating is like having the answers to the test and we're not taking advantage of that." Utah will try to snap its four-game losing streak tomorrow when it travels to Fort Collins to take on Colorado State. c.brunner@ chronicle.utah.edu Utah women topple Lobos at the Pit The Daily Utah Chronicle j j ) UTES 6 8 Utes stormed into the intimidating atmosphere of the Pit and snatched a one-point victory over New Mexico in front of 9,500 Lobo faithfuls after falling behind by as many as 14 in the first half. The win snapped New Mexico's 16-game home winning streak and gave the Utes their eighth win in their last 10 con- LE1SNIE MAHLER//Tit- iJuify Utah Chronule Marie Warner drives to the hoop past Desiree Johnson in the second ha If of the Utes' win over SDSU at the Huntsman Center on Thursday. The Utes overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat the Aztecs 51-48. tests. "This was the best we played as a team on an emotional level," said U coach Elaine Elliott, who pulled within one win of the lauded 500-victory mark with the dramatic come-frombehind thriller Sunday afternoon. "They showed maturity tonight that hasn't always been there. They never hung their heads; they never got into themselves; they really stayed a unit emotionally." All of those factors coming together must be great news for Elliott, who has been preaching team play and maturity to her young team all year. The Utes didn't start the game in upset mode. In fact, they looked on the verge of getting blown out in the first three minutes when a pesky, full-court pressing New Mexico team jumped out to a 10-0 lead. There was "no pity going on" over on the Utah bench. Instead, the team was thinking, "OK, 10-0, it's a long game and we're here to compete," Elliott said. The Utes finally got on the board with a Joh-Teena Filipe lay-up. Utah made up for its dreary start by going on a 133 tear at the end of the half, clawing within four points by halftime. But the high-powered Lobos came out strong in the second half, hitting two threes in the opening minute, which pushed the advantage back to double .. j... , _ . . . j, digits for New Mexico and seized the momentum. As for the Utes, they opened the half with a three-minute scoring drought. But Morgan Warburton, who finished with 12 points, reinvigorated the team when she banked in a desperation jumper as the shot clock expired, turning what was sure to be a Utah turnover into two points. Junior Jessica Perry, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds, was everywhere in crunch time. With 6:38 remaining, Perry hit two free throws that brought her team to within two. On the next possession, the 6-foot-3 junior nailed a dramatic three-pointer that shocked the frenzied Lobo fans and gave Utah its first advantage of the game at 45-44. The Lobos answered with a basket of their own and took back the lead, but Warburton regained it for the Utes by dribbling through traffic and sinking a jumper off the glass. Back-to-back turnovers plagued the Utes when they needed poise the most. But the Lobos, who shot just 14 percent from the field in the second half, weren't able to capitalize on Utah's blunders. With 1:34 to go, Perry connected on a lay-up, which turned out to be the game-winner. With the clock winding down to 1:17, point guard Brette . . . With another close loss coming at the hands of TCU at the Huntsman Center on Saturday night, Utah basketball fans might feel like they are watching reruns. The loss to the Horned Frogs is just one example of the Utes controlling the game early before losing their heads, as well as' the lead, and falling by a narrow margin. There are countless other instances throughout the course of the season thus far. Last Wednesday, the Utes trailed by two late in a game against UNLV when U freshman Stephen Weigh threw up a desperation three-pointer from 35 feet. The shot was off the mark, but Weigh was fouled. With time already expired, the freshman missed the first freebie before making the last two. Utah remained even with the Rebels through the first overtime, but with 15 seconds remaining in the second, UNLV's Wendell White snagged a steal and. finished with a fast break lay-up, which all but sealed the Rebel victory. A week earlier, the Utes experienced a similar ending at the Huntsman Center when they played host to Albany. The Great Danes' Jamar Wilson broke through the U defense to score an easy lay-in with 30 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, the Utes entered the ball to center Luke Nevill, but the 7-foot-i Aussie couldn't handle a scrappy double-team and Albany squeaked out of Salt Lake City with a 59-58 win. In early December, the Utes held in-state rival Utah State and their loyal legion of followers in check for the majority of the game, but Aggie forward Chaz Spicer hit a deep three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left to secure the victory. This recurring theme has baffled fans and coaches throughout the season, but no one is more frustrated than Nevill, who continues to be the focal point of the of-' fense. "It's very difficult for us right now," Nevill said. "So many of the games we're playing we lose by one, two or three. That getsslightly depressing because we're putting in a lot of time and effort in practice." Nevill's frustrations are well-foundedand echoed by the majority of the team. Eight of the Utes' 10 losses this season have been by a combined 21 points. Despite the offensive mishaps down the stretch, scoring points has not been Utah's biggest quandary this year. "Our biggest problem is definitely our defense," Nevill said, "We're ranked very poorly in the NCAAs and until we improve on stopping better players from scoring, we'll continue to have trouble finishing." ; *»! In particular, the Utes have been struggling with their perimeter defense, which has allowed an average of 12 three-pointers in the last four games. Coincidentally, Utah has lost those four gafnes. "Every team is going to have shooters and (opponents) have been doing a good job getting those players shots against us," U guard Johnnie Bryant said. "1T/e've got to be able to make adjustments and not let those guys get too many looks." The Utes have failed to shut down those marquee players for the majority of the year. Early in the year, Santa Clara power forward Sean Denison worked the Utes for a career-high 20 points. Against Colo- Sec R U N N I N ' Page II LENNIE MAIH Luke Nevill draws a foul as he struggles to put up a shot against tight TCU defense. |
