Utes Prepare For BYU

March 9, 2000

Coming Up
Should Utah beat Brigham Young, it would advance to the inaugural Mountain West Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. (PST) on ESPN.

Opening Tips

A Quick Look at Utah
The Runnin' Utes (22-7), seeded second, advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament after defeating Air Force 74-65 in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. Utah finished league play with a 10-4 record, tying UNLV for the inaugural league championship. After starting the conference season with an 8-1 record, the Utes lost three of their last five games.

All of Utah's seven losses this season have come away from the Huntsman Center, giving it a 4-7 road record. The Utes were 17-0 at home this season. Utah's game with Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament was its first on a neutral court this season. Utah concluded the regular season with an 86-63 win over Air Force on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Senior 6-9 forward Hanno Mottola, who has missed 11 games this season due to injuries, leads the Utes in scoring average (17.4 ppg) and is second in rebounding (4.7 rpg). Senior 6-7 forward Alex Jensen is second on the team in scoring average (13.5 ppg) and is tops in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Jensen is also shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 46.5 percent from three-point range. Junior 6-11 center Nate Althoff is third in scoring (9.9 ppg), third in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and leads the team in field goal percentage (62.2). Senior 6-5 guard Tony Harvey (9.7 ppg) and 5-11 guard Jeremy Killion (9.5 ppg) rank third and fourth on the team, respectively, in scoring.

Utah is outscoring the opposition 72.0 to 62.2 points per game and has a 33.7 to 28.5 edge in rebounding. The Utes are shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from three-point range and 73.4 percent from the free throw line.

The Utes in Conference Tournaments
Utah is competing in its 17th conference tournament. The 16 previous appearances came while it was a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Utes have won four straight conference tournament games and are now 19-12 overall in postseason league tournaments. The Utes won WAC Tournament titles in 1995, '97 and '99.

Game #30
No. 2 Utah Utes (22-7, 10-4 MWC) vs. No. 6 Brigham Young (19-9, 7-7 MWC)

March 10 - 6:07 p.m. (PST) - Thomas & Mack Center (18,500) - Las Vegas, Nev.

The Game at a Glance

Utah Coach: Rick Majerus             Brigham Young Coach: Steve ClevelandAlma Mater: Marquette '70            Alma Mater: UC Irvine '76Record at Utah: 260-71/11th Season   Record at BYU: 40-46/3rd SeasonOverall Record: 359-123/16th Season  Overall Record: 40-46/3rd Season

Television: ESPN+Plus (KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City). Rich Waltz (play-by-play) and Irv Brown (analyst).

Radio: Utah Sports Network (570 K-NEWS in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations). On the Internet at www.UtahUtes.com. Bill Marcroft (play-by-play), Jeff Jonas (analyst) and Brad Stone (host).

Series Record: Utah leads Brigham Young all-time 114-113
Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 67-46/44-62/3-5
Last Meeting: Utah defeated BYU 77-62 on Feb. 12 in Salt Lake City
Majerus vs. BYU Overall: 16-8 At Utah: 16-8

Utah Probable Starters

No. Pos. Name            Ht.  Wt. Cl.  Ppg  Rpg Hometown50    F  Alex Jensen     6-7  225 Sr. 13.5  7.5 Centerville, Utah13    F  Hanno Mottola   6-9  250 Sr. 17.4  4.7 Helsinki, Finland52    C  Nate Althoff    6-11 260 Jr.  9.9  4.6 Delano, Minn. 5    G  Tony Harvey     6-5  200 Sr.  9.7  2.7 Carson, Calif.32    G  Jeremy Killion  5-11 190 Sr.  9.5  1.8 San Diego, Calif.

Utah Off the Bench

 No. Pos. Name           Ht. Wt. Cl. Ppg Rpg Hometown 3     G  Gary Colbert   6-1 175 So. 3.7 2.2 Alta Loma, Calif. 4     G  Adam Sharp     6-2 180 So. 1.3 0.7 Salt Lake City15     F  Nick Jacobson  6-3 185 Fr. 0.0 0.0 Roseville, Minn.25     G  Brandon Sluga  6-4 210 Sr. 0.9 0.0 Taylorsville, Utah35     F  Jeff Johnsen   6-4 200 So. 6.0 3.7 Murray, Utah40   F/C  Phil Cullen    6-9 215 So. 5.4 2.4 Chelan, Wash.42     F  Mike Puzey *   6-8 215 Fr. 2.8 2.8 Roy, Utah* questionable due to injury

Brigham Young Probable Starters

 No. Pos. Name           Ht. Wt. Cl.  Ppg Rpg Hometown 15    F  Mekeli Wesley  6-9 230 Jr. 17.5 5.9 Provo, Utah 25    F  Eric Nielsen   6-8 210 So.  5.2 4.1 Fremont, Calif. 42    F  Nathan Cooper  6-5 210 Jr.  5.8 3.2 Provo, Utah 13    G  Michael Vranes 6-3 190 So.  7.9 4.1 Taylorsville, Utah 24    G  Terrel Lyday   6-3 190 So. 17.5 4.0 Fresno, Calif.

Utah Notables

Tony Harvey tied a career high with 19 points against Air Force in Thursday's MWC quarterfinals. He went 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point range and 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
Utah had its best second half shooting percentage of the season at 68.4 percent against Air Force. The previous high was 66.7 percent at New Mexico on Feb. 19.
The Utes shot 63.6 percent for the game against Air Force on Thursday. Utah is 16-1 this season when it shoots 50 percent or better and 21-0 when leading with five minutes to play.
Hanno Mottola had 17 points against Air Force on Thursday. He has scored in double figures in each of the five games since returning from an injured thumb and elbow, averaging 16.5 points per game.

MWC Semifinals Preview

Scouting Brigham Young
The Cougars, seeded sixth in the Mountain West Tournament, improved to 19-9 after defeating third-seeded New Mexico 55-43 in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. BYU finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference with a 7-7 record. Brigham Young got two wins at home to close out the regular season last weekend, defeating Air Force (73-52) on Thursday and San Diego State (67-50) on Saturday.

Junior 6-9 forward Mekeli Wesley leads the team in scoring (17.5 ppg) and rebounds (5.9 rpg). Junior 6-3 guard Terrell Lyday, a transfer from Fresno Community College, is tied with Wesley for the team lead in scoring (17.5 ppg) and is shooting 40.4 percent from three-point range. Sophomore 6-4 guard Michael Vranes is third on the roster in scoring (7.9 ppg).

The Cougars are outscoring the opposition 71.4 to 64.2 points per game, but have a deficit of 35.0 to 34.4 rebounds per game. Brigham Young is shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 38.0 percent from three-point range and 70.2 percent from the free throw line.

Head Coach Steve Cleveland is in his third season at BYU with a 40-46 record.

Utah/BYU Series Notes
The Utes lead the series with their oldest rival 114-113 after getting a 77-62 win on Feb. 12 in Salt Lake City. Utah also took the first meeting this season 56-49 on Jan. 15 in Provo, Utah. BYU has a 5-3 edge in games played on a neutral court. This is the first time Utah has had a winning series record with BYU. The series dates back to 1908.

Dating back to 1995, Utah has won 12 consecutive games over BYU, which is the longest winning streak by any team in the series. Before Utah's recent run, the Cougars had won 8 of 10 dating back to the 1991 WAC Tournament. Alex Jensen, who was a freshman in 1994 before serving an LDS church mission, is the only Utah player who has lost to BYU.

Utah swept the regular-season series from Brigham Young last year, winning 75-54 on Jan. 9 in Salt Lake City and 71-46 on Feb. 6 in Provo, Utah. The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament on March 4 in Las Vegas, Nev., with Utah winning 81-62.

Rick Majerus is 16-8 against the Cougars while at Utah and all-time.

Last Meeting
Freshman Mike Puzey, who had only nine points in eight previous conference games, had a career-high 10 points and seven rebounds on Feb. 12 as Utah beat Brigham Young 77-62.

Nathan Cooper brought BYU within 56-52 with 8:49 remaining on his third three-pointer of the half. But Alex Jensen scored eight points and Jeremy Killion added a driving layup during a 10-3 spurt that gave Utah a 66-55 cushion with 6:05 to play. Harvey made a three-pointer, and BYU's Mekeli Wesley, who had a technical foul earlier in the second half, was whistled for an intentional foul for an elbow to Phil Cullen's chin. Cullen made both free throws and Utah led 71-56 with 5:01 remaining.

Jensen finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Killion had 18 points, and Nate Althoff had 15 and Tony Harvey 14 for the Utes. Wesley and Terrell Lyday each scored 14 points for BYU, but collectively shot 7-of-22. Cooper scored 11 for the Cougars.

The Utes outrebounded the Cougars 35-21. Utah also outshot its cross-state rival 56.3-41.2 percent from the field and made 18-of-23 free throws while BYU made just 12-of-18.

Noting the Utes

20/20 Vision
With its win over UNLV on Feb. 21, Utah assured itself of a 20-win season for the 28th time in school history. Under current coach Rick Majerus, Utah has hit for 20 wins in nine of 11 seasons, including the last six in a row. Majerus' 20-win seasons at Utah: 1990-91 (30-4), 1991-92 (24-11), 1992-93 (24-7), 1994-95 (28-6), 1995-96 (27-7), 1996-97 (29-4), 1997-98 (30-4), 1998-99 (28-5), 1999-2000 (22-7).

Another Championship Season
Utah has won eight league titles during Rick Majerus' 11-year tenure. The Utes won the WAC regular-season championship outright in 1991 and shared it in 1993 before winning five straight outright titles from 1995-99 (the last three being divisional titles). Utah shared the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship with UNLV this year to capture its sixth consecutive regular season league title.

MWC Quarterfinals Rewind
Utah used an excellent shooting performance to sneak by Air Force 74-65 in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tony Harvey equalled a career high with 19 points, going 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 7-of-10 at the line in 28 minutes. Hanno M?tt?l? had 17 points, Nate Althoff added 13 and Jeff Johnsen had 10 off the bench for the Utes. Alex Jensen had a game-high eight rebounds to help Utah to a 31-29 edge on the glass.

The Utes shot 63 percent from the field for the game and 68 percent in the second half, but just could not shake loose from the Falcons. Utah trailed 19-18 at the 3:27 mark of the first half and went on a 10-4 run to head into the lockerroom with a 28-23 lead. The Utes opened the second half with a 23-6 run in the first eight minutes, hitting nine of its first 11 shots (including 7-of-7 from within the three-point line). Utah would hit nine straight two-point field goals in the second half before finally missing its 10th attempt at the 5:27 mark.

Jarvis Croff was as one-man assault team for the Academy, going 8-of-19 from behind the arc to score a career-high 31 points.

MWC Media Names its All-Conference Team
The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced its first ?Best of the Mountain West? survey in Wednesday's edition. The Review-Journal polled 20 journalists who cover the eight conference schools on a regular basis. Ute senior Alex Jensen was named the best small forward and player of the year over UNLV's Mark Dickel and Kaspars Kambala. Utah sophomore forward/center Phil Cullen was named the league's sixth man.

Upcoming Events

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Opening Tips

MWC Semifinals Preview

Noting the Utes

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