MWC Tournament notes
Utah 75, San Diego State 69
A back-and-forth game went Utah’s way in the waning moments when
the Utes’ Nick Jacobson hit a clutch jumper in traffic with 2:40
remaining to cut a four-point San Diego State lead in half and send
the momentum Utah’s way. San Diego State guard Wesley Stokes fired
a 3-pointer off the mark and Utah’s Justin Hawkins converted a
three-point play on an offensive rebound to put the Utes up 68-67.
Aztec forward Aerick Sanders, who scored a team-high 18 points,
fouled out on the play and Utah never looked back.
“This was a microcosm of our season,” said San Diego State head
coach Steve Fisher, “Could’ve-would’ve-should’ve but didn’t.”
The Aztecs’ season is over while the Utes move on to today’s
semifinal game against Brigham Young.
“I’m just happy we got out of here with a win,” said Jacobson,
who scored a game-high 24 points, including seven 3-pointers.
Brigham Young 79, Wyoming 74
A posse of screaming cowboys embraced the Pepsi Center Thursday
afternoon, but they left with disappoint as their team couldn’t
pull the upset against the second-seeded Cougars.
With the score 79-74 and 20 seconds remaining, Wyoming guard and
first-team all-Mountain West Conference selection Jay Straight put
up a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Coming out of nowhere, Cougar guard Kevin Woodberry blocked
Straight’s attempt cleanly and managed to dribble out the clock to
provide the game’s final margin. A nine-point favorite, BYU had a
scare in the second half as Wyoming used a full-court press to cut
a 12-point deficit (52-40) at the 9:13 mark of the second half to
four (65-61) with 3:05 to play.
“We had never seen that before,” said BYU guard Luiz Lemes who
scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
“It was pretty tough, but we did what we needed to.”
With both teams trading baskets, Wyoming forward David
Rottinghaus used a three-point play to cut a seven-point Cougar
lead to four (70-66) with 1:13 to go. Facing a 72-68 deficit with
less than minute to go, Wyoming was forced to foul and BYU
converted enough of its free throws down the stretch to ensure the
victory.
“Our free-throw shooting at the end was not great, but good
enough,” said BYU head coach Steve Cleveland.
The Cougars return to Pepsi Center tonight to face in-state
rival Utah in the semifinals at 7 p.m. BYU finished with four of
five starters in double figures in scoring with Lemes’ 18, Rafael
Araujo’s 17, Mike Hall’s 13 and Mark Bigelow’s 13. Araujo also
contributed a game-high 14 rebounds. Wyoming guard Mikel Watson
provided the offense for the Cowboys scoring a career- and
game-high 21, while Straight finished with 11 and guard Dion
Sherrell contributed 10.
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