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Show 6 Thursday, February 18, 2010 SPORTS Friday Thursday Track & Field Wildcat Tune-Up All Day Ogden Baseball UC Davis 2 p.m. PT Davis, Calif 17° / 9 a.m. 23° / 3 p.m. Brighton Men's Tennis Softball California and Hawaii 11:15 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. PT Las Vegas 17° / 9 a.m. 23° / 3 p.m. Canyons ► Women's Basketball Score Utah @ Weber State 5 p.m. Weber Gymnastics 22° / 9 a.m. 290 / 3 p.m. 51 Utah @ Michigan 7:30 p.m. ET Ann Arbor, Mich. Deer Valley 22° 290 // 93 a.m. p.m. 35 conditions & weather from utahskiweather.com Packed powder on trail, tracked powder, untracked powder, and bumps off trail TODAY'S SKI REPORT Alta www.dailyutahchronicle.cor Snowbird 17° / 9 a.m. 23° / 3 p.m. Solitude 18° / 9 a.m. 24° / 3 p.m. MEN'S BASKETBALL Strong start lifts Utah in close game Joseph Simmons STAFF WRITER The Runnin' Utes took down UNLV for the second time this season Wednesday night with a 66-61 win at home, proving that their January victory over the Rebels was no fluke. Although this time Utah enjoyed playing in the friendly confines of the Huntsman Center, the pace of the game was remarkably similar to that of the one in Las Vegas in January, with multiple ties and lead changes in the games final minutes. Yet despite another impressive effort by the Rebels in the second half, the Utes were just too much on the night and dropped UNLV to 19-7 overall, with a 7-5 record in conference play. The win gave Utah a much-needed boost after its heartbreaking overtime loss to New Mexico on Saturday. "Last Sunday was a tough day for this group of guys, but I've said all along we practice hard, and my as- sistants thought we had our two best practice days of the year after (the New Mexico) game," said head coach Jim Boylen. "I thought we were really good at times tonight. We made some mistakes, but that's a good team we played tonight." Utah had a big game from leading scorer Carlon Brown, who not only scored 18 points on the night, but also went an impressive 8 for 12 from the field, including 2 for 4 from 3-point range. After the game, a visibly pleased Brown said the win was particularly gratifying for the team, which has struggled against the higher-ranked teams in the Mountain West Conference. "It feels good," Brown said, "I can't lie and say it doesn't, especially after what we've been going through this year. To beat a quality team like UNLV, it's pretty much amazing after what we went through, losing against New Mexico." The game was perhaps the most balanced attack the Utes have shown all season, as Brown was comple- mented by multiple other players who made significant contributions. Although guard Marshall Henderson was the only other Ute who scored in the double digits, with io points, five other Utes scored five points or more. Boylen said that getting such strong play from so many players was a key to giving Brown and senior Luka Drca the support to push the team to victory. "I thought we got a lot from a lot of guys tonight," Boylen said. "I thought our young guys played well. (Jason) Washburn contributed, (Chris) Hines contributed, (Shawn) Glover contributed, Henderson contributed and then Drca and Brown were who they needed to be." The start of the game was a welcome change for the Utes, who have struggled to match their defensive intensity on the offensive end. However, this time the Utes came out firing on all cylinders and were able to build up a 12-point lead just io See MEN Page 7 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Second-half run leads to victory for women Corbin Godfrey STAFF WRITER TANER PASAMEHMETOGLU/The Daily Utah Chronicle Halie Sawyer dumps the ball down low to Taryn Wicijowski in a game against BYU on Jan. 30. Sawyer had a double-double last night, helping the Utes cruise past the Rebels in Las Vegas. TRACK & FIELD Weekend provides chance to regroup for MWC championships The Utes took off in the second half for a big conference win in Las Vegas that bumps the Utes' conference record over the .50o mark for the first time this season, to 6-5. Despite a poor first half, Utah looked like a completely different team to start the second half, outscoring UNLV 21—I through the first 14 minutes, taking its biggest lead of the night, 38-18. "Coach just told us to keep taking shots," said senior guard Kalee Whipple. "She said to just keep at it and our defense will keep us in it, and that's exactly what happened. Our shots started falling, and we stayed up on defense." UNLV pulled within io points late in the game, but it wasn't nearly enough, as Utah went on to win 51-35. "It's a great win," said head coach Elaine Elliott. "Every win See WOMEN Page 7 Carlon Brown attempts a layup against a UNLV player. Brown led all Utes in scoring with 18 points as they beat the Rebels in the Huntsman Center. Win means Utes could hit UNLV in MWC Tournament Bubba Brown twice in the regular season. "It's hard to beat a team three times," Brown said. "We did a good job of beatBy recording two wins over UNLV, ing TCU three times last year. If we the Utes have shown they can down get them in the tournament, it's hard the Rebels. Good thing too, beto beat them on their home floor. cause there's a strong chance These wins have been good that they are exactly who the against them, and it shows Utes will be playing in the first how we've grown up a lot as round of the Mountain West a team. From day one to now, Conference Tournament. it's been a drastic change." As the tournament is played on The confidence that recording UNLV's home court, the Rebels have two wins over UNLV will bring the traditionally been difficult to beat, as Utes if they do end up facing the Rebevidenced by the fact that they have els in the tournament is important. won it in two of the past three years. During the past few seasons, the Utes Although Utah is No. 6 in the con- have had difficulty beating the Rebels ference, Wednesday's win moved the on the road, particularly in the conteam to just one game out of fifth ference tournament. Until this seaplace. The Rebels are likely to enter son, the Utes had not beaten UNLV the tournament with the fourth seed, at the Thomas & Mack Center since which would mean that the Utes and the 2004-2005 conference tournaRebels could match up in Las Vegas in ment. The stretch spanned six games, the first round of the tournament. and the Rebels eliminated the Utes Guard Carlon Brown said the Utes from the conference tournament in would have confidence playing UNLV two of those games. When Utah won in the tournament, but he noted the potential pitfalls of beating a team See BASKETBALL Page 8 STAFF WRITER Palamo brings 'phenomenal' experience to rubgy Kelsey Price STAFF WRITER Kelsey Price struggled in track and field, as last year's fourth-place finish marked its best finish in the Utah track and field is hop- MWC. ing an easy weekend will alThe meets in Washington low the team enough time to and Iowa were a huge success recover and rest in the buildup for Utah, reassuring the Utes to the Mountain West Confer- that they can be competitive ence Indoor Championships on an NCAA regional level. in New Mexico on Feb. 25 Sophomore Lucy Yates had an through 27. NCAA provisional qualifying "We still have a few things time in the 800 meter, and juto clean up and some sharp- nior Alyssa Abbott raced her ening that needs to take place first national race since tearbefore the conference cham- ing her IT band in 2007. pionships in two weeks," said "It was a great weekend— head coach Kyle Kepler. "This maybe one of the best in Utah weekend will be a nice time school history in terms of topfor us to regroup." level performances," Kepler The Utes are confident this said. "Lucy got caught up in year will be one of their best traffic in the final straighton record, especially after away, so we know she can go a record-breaking weekend faster. Having Alyssa return in Iowa and Washington last to national level form is a week. Utah has traditionally See TRACK Page 7 LENNIE MAHLER/The Daily Utah Chronicle STAFF WRITER MIKE MANGUM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Thretton Palamo fights past players during a game against UVU. Palamo has already played rugby at a professional level. Thretton Palamo's rugby résumé reads like that of a veteran superstar. He's played for San Francisco Golden Gate and Belmont Shore, both of which are in the top rugby league in the United States. Competing in tournaments across the world, Palamo has played in Dubai, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires and Edinburgh. He represented the United States in the 2007 Rugby World Cup and was a U.S. captain in last year's World Games. Biarritz Olympique, a French professional rugby team that plays in the Heineken Cup— the equivalent to soccer's Champions League—even signed a contract with Palamo in 2008. All this by the age of 21. "For what he's done at this age, it's absolutely phenomenal." said Utah rugby head coach Blake Burdette, who played alongside Palamo in the 2007 Cup. "He is changing rugby as we know it (in the United States)." Palamo, like most international players, grew up with rugby. His father, Arona Palamo, is a rugby legend in his native country of Samoa who played on their national team in the late 197os and early 198os. Arona Palamo, who also served as captain, later retired and moved to San Francisco, wanting to provide a better life for his family than he could provide on the islands. Arona Palamo brought his love of rugby with him, teaching it to his sons. "My dad really introduced the game to us," Thretton Palamo said. "I grew up watching my brothers and following them." Palamo's older brothers have played some representative level rugby for either the United States or Samoa. Palamo didn't officially start playing rugby until he was 16, when he joined his brothers' club, the San Francisco Golden Club. During most of his high school career, he preferred to dabble in other sports, which he was also successful in. Not only did Palamo make the U.S. U-16 Junior Olympic team in basketball, but he also played varsity football in high school. He led his team in rushing yards-783—and tackles-7—his senior year. Several schools expressed interest in him, but by then he was already in the international rugby scene. Within six months of joining SFGC, Palamo See RUGBY Page 8 |
