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Show 4 March 4, 2011 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S BASKETBALL Utah hopes late success will pay off MUM Bubba Brown STAFF WRITER When the Utes take on UNLV on Saturday afternoon, it will mark the end of a long and eventful regular season. But if you ask the Utes, the game isn't an indicator that their season is about to end— they're certain they will prolong the season with a run in next week's conference tournament. "I feel like we're a late-season team," said Utah guard Iwalani Rodrigues. "We were like this last season. I feel like we're motivated to win now. We had a bye and our minds are set to go out and win the tournament." A win for the Utes (4-15, 7-8 Mountain West) will earn them the No. 4 seed in next week's conference tournament. They were tied for No. 4 with Colorado State and San Diego State entering play Wednesday, but they beat the Rams and the Aztecs lost to Wyoming, opening up a clear path to the No. 4 seed for the Utes. Despite having a better idea of postseason seeding, head coach Anthony Levrets was more concerned with preparing for UNLV than with where his team will fit into the picture. "I think we can beat whoever we play against, and I think we can lose to whoever we play against," Levrets said. "However it sorts itself out, we'll have to prepare for whoever that is, but first we've got one more game at UNLV... Right now, it's just every game matters. I'm not going to worry about seeding until everybody's done playing, and then we'll sort it out." Regardless of how the seeding shakes out, Saturday's game will put the finishing touches on a season that has seen the Utes battle through inexperience and an injury to preseason all-MWC forward Taryn Wicijowski. Now, the Utes are a team that feels confident heading into the postseason. "It feels like forever ago when we hit a game-winner to beat (Southern Methodist) to start the season, and it feels like just yesterday we started," Levrets said. "It's just a grind, but it also feels like it goes (quickly). I don't really know how to explain that." For UNLV, the game will mark the end to a tumultuous year. The Rebels are just 3-12 in conference play (10-19 overall) and have lost eight of their past nine games. All but two of those losses came by at least eight points. The Utes claimed a blowout win when the teams met at the Huntsman Center in early February. Forward Michelle Plouffe scored a career-high 3o points as the Utes pulled away at the end of the first half and cruised from there. The March 4, 2011 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 400 IA. BYU Last Week: Next Game: Saturday vs. Wyoming 1B. SDSU Last Week: 2 Next Game: Saturday vs. CSU 3.UNLV Last Week: 3 Next Game: Saturday @ Utah 4. NEW MEXICO Last Week: 4 Next Game: Saturday vs. Air Force ) 5. COLORADO STATE Last Week: 4 Next Game: Saturday @ San Diego State IR 6. AIR FORCE Last Week: 8 Next Game: Saturday @ New Mexico 7. UTAH Last Week: 8 Next Game: Saturday vs. UNLV 8. WYOMING Last Week: 8 Next Game: Saturday @ BYU SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah forward Michelle Plouffe drives to the basket during Wednesday's game against Colorado State. The Utes edged out the Rams 61-59. Rebels got within 14 points at one point in the second half but were never able to get back into the game. Kelli Thompson is the only player averaging double digits for the Rebels— the sophomore guard posts 14.5 points per game. Lenita Sanford and Jamie Smith chip in eight and 7.9 points, respectively. After Wednesday's last-second win over Colorado State, the Utes feel like they come into tomorrow's game riding high and prepared to put a final exclamation point on their campaign. "Our team is sick of losing," Rodrigues said. "We knew that (Wednesday) was the start of a new beginning." bubba@chronicle.utah.edu 9.TCU Last Week: 7 Next Game: MWC Tournament play- in game vs. Wyoming Compiled by Jake Hibbard Runnin' Utes will take on UNLV for No. 6 seed Jake Bullinger STAFF WRITER Utah's chances of climbing the Mountain West standings are limited, but the possibility of opening up the conference tournament with San Diego State or BYU can be avoided if Utah beats UNLV in the Huntsman Center on Saturday. Wednesday's loss to Colorado State dropped the Utes to 6-9 in conference play. If the season ended today, Utah would be the No. 7-seeded team and face San Diego State in the first round. If Utah (13-16 overall) moves up to the No. 6 seed, things won't get much easier as the Utes will then be forced to play UNLV on its home floor in the first round. Tiebreaker situations will keep Utah in the No. 7 seed if the Utes fall to UNLV. For Utah to take the No. 6 seed, it must defeat the Rebels. New Mexico is one game ahead of Utah with a 7-8 conference record, and Air Force sits at 6-9. Utah owns the tiebreaker with the Lobos, which would put the Utes ahead if both finished with a 7-9 record. Air Force will fall a game below Utah if it loses to New Mexico, allowing Utah to avoid the tiebreaker that Air Force possesses over the Utes. The Rebels won't make it easy for Utah to jump in the rankings. UNLV has built a 22-7 record and won four straight games. "We've got to get home and get ready to play their defense and guard their pick-and-roll," said Utah head coach Jim Boylen. "They've been inconsistent with their shooting, but they've been terrific at getting to the line and terrific at defense." The offensive inconsistencies have not been as big of a problem for UNLV lately. The Rebels hung 90 points on Wyoming, and guard Tre'Von Willis is scoring at a much higher level than earlier. Willis was plagued by injuries and is just now returning to the form that earned him a preseason All-Conference nod. He averaged 20 points per game last week, including a season-high 25 points Feb. 23. Just as a Rebel star is heating up, a Utah leader is cooling down. The heel injury sustained by Will Clyburn on Feb. 16 is no longer keeping him out of the lineup, though it is still bothering him. Clyburn has visibly lost a step and has not been as involved on the offensive end. Since returning from his injury on Feb. 22, Cl burn has scored *ust 1 points corn- NATHAN SWEET/The Daily Utah Chronicle Will Clyburn drives past a CSU defender. The Runnin' Utes, No. 7 in the MWC, close out the regular season Saturday against UNLV. bined against TCU and Colorado State. Utah's leading scorer needs to produce if Utah is to avoid an outing like the last time these two met. The Utes shot a season-low 29.8 percent Feb. 2. Clyburn led the team with 17 points and 12 rebounds. UNLV was paced by Quintrell Thomas's Is points and 16 rebounds. Colorado State's aggressive defense gave Utah some problems Wednesday night, which is an issue that will arise once a:ain with the Rebels. "(UNLV is) a lot like Colorado State, but they're faster and they get into you a little bit more," said reserve center Jason Washburn. "They're physical, they love to steal and they always look to strip on drives. But we owe those guys, and when they come into the Huntsman Center, we'll be ready for them." Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on Versus. j.bullinger@ chronicle.utah.edu 5 |