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Show February 25, 2011 3 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE MEN'S BASKETBALL Utah newcomers could be recognized for performance Jake Bullinger PIDUMI L BYU Why: These power rankings have boldly gone against the national rankings all year by putting BYU No. 1 over SDSU. The three-loss Cougars don't have the record the Aztecs do, but they did hand SDSU its only loss on Jan. 26. 2. SDSU Last Week: 2 Next Game: Saturday STAFF WRITER With nine new players this season, any success the Runnin' Utes have enjoyed has resulted from newcomers. Now that the season is drawing to a close, a pair of Utah's new faces might come away with some hardware. Will Clyburn has been making a case all season to be named the Newcomer of the Year, and J.J. O'Brien could wind up with a Freshman of the Year award. Early on, the NOY award appeared to be Clyburn's for the taking. Since transferring from Marshalltown Community College in Iowa, he has been Utah's go-to scorer and a solid defender. "(Clyburn) is a skilled offensive player who has confidence in his ability," said head coach Jim Boylen. "He really hasn't wavered at all in this bigger stage." Clyburn leads the Utes with 17.9 points and 8.i rebounds per game. His numbers might land him on the All Confer- Last Week: I Next Game: Saturday @ SDSU vs. BYU Why: The Aztecs didn't suffer much in the rankings after their loss in Provo—they climbed back into the top four and hold the nation's best record. The bracketeers are chomping at the bit to give the Cougars a No. 1 seed. 3.UNLV Last Week: 4 Next Game: Saturday vs. Wyoming Why: The Rebels started the year in the Top 25, flowered into a hot mess of inconsistency, but they might be reaching their potential. 4. COLORADO STATE Last Week: 3 Next Game: Saturday NATHAN SWEET/The Daily Utah Chronicle Will Clyburn is a leading candidate for Newcomer of the Year for the Mountain West Conference. ence first-team, as well as earn him the NOY award. He is No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference in scoring and No. 3 in rebounding. He ranks in the Top io in the conference in nine statistical categories, and his record of eight doubledoubles is second-best in the conference. The only real competition for Clyburn is New Mexico's Drew Gordon. A transfer from UCLA, Gordon has established himself alongside Andy Ogide and Malcolm Thomas as one of the best post players in the conference. Gordon has averaged 12.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. What might hurt Clyburn is that his numbers See AWARDS Page 7 @ Air Force Why: The Rams are starting to make it into the mainstream as a popular at-large selection, probably for one of the play-in games. They better keep it together if they want to keep that respect. Wednesday's loss at BYU was respectable, but they can't afford to let UNLV surpass them after spending all season asserting themselves as No. 3. Expect a close game against BYU 64 calories, but as long as the Rams don't let the Falcons get too hot from 3, they should avoid an upset. 5. UTAH Last Week: 7 Next Game: Saturday @ CSU Why: Three-game winning streak. Beat Wyoming. Beat New Mexico. Beat TCU.The win at The Pit was impressive, and it gave the Utes a season sweep over a conference opponent that isn't Wyoming or TCU. The Utes are No. 5 in both these rankings and the conference standings. Considering the competitiveness of the conference this year, that's about the best anyone could've expected. 6. NEW MEXICO Last Week: 5 BASEBALL Next Game: Saturday Bullpen key for turnaround Bubba Brown Why: After its losing week, there's not much to say about New Mexico. 7. WYOMING Last Week: 8 Next Game: Wednesday @ UNLV STAFF WRITER TANER PASAMEHMETOGLU/The Daily Utah Chronicle Zach Adams has given up two runs in five innings this season. The Utes might have returned winless after last weekend's series against No. 17 California, but that doesn't tell the whole story. If not for late-inning collapses by the bullpen in the two games against Cal, the Utes would be at least I-I, and perhaps 2-0 instead of 0-2 heading into their series at Arkansas this weekend. "To come out and be able to play with a ranked team, (that's big)," said pitcher Zach Adams. "We definitely should have won them both, but it's just a learning experience." See BASEBALL Page 7 @ TCU Why: The new Pokes coach might know a thing or two about motivation. The Cowboys needed somebody other than Desmar "Fourth Foul" Jackson to step up, and Amath M'Baye is starting to be that guy. Maybe they'll even win a game come conference tourney time? OK, just kidding. 8. AIR FORCE Last Week: 6 Next Game: Saturday vs. CSU Why: BYU 64 really gets the shaft this week. The Falcons probably thought they were safe at No. 6. A season sweep of the Utes only gets you so far. A loss to SDSU (70-58 on Saturday) is expected, but a loss to the Pokes (63-61 on Wednesday) gets you the hammer. This week it gets you No. 8. 9. TCU Last Week: 9 Next Game: Saturday vs. New Mexico Why: I still have regrets that I attended a TCU game this year. It was easily the worst thing I've witnessed all year. Just 492 days until the Horned Frogs join the Big East. Compiled by Jake Hibbard |
