Utah Men's Basketball Notes - MWC Championship - University of Utah Athletics

March 12, 2005

Mountain West Championship

Utah Runnin' Utes (27-4, 13-1 MWC) vs. New Mexico Lobos (25-6, 10-4 MWC)
March 12 ? 8:05 p.m. (MST) ? Pepsi Center (19,099) ? Denver, Colo.

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The Game At A Glance

Utah Head Coach: Ray Giacoletti      New Mexico Head Coach: Ritchie McKayAlma Mater: Minot State, 1985        Alma Mater: Seattle Pacific, 1987Record at Utah: 27-4 (1st Season)    Record at UNM: 49-38 (3rd Season)Overall Record: 144-87 (8th Season)  Overall Record: 132-127 (9th Season)
Rankings: Utah is No. 15 in the Associated Press polland No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Television: ESPN. Also available on ESPN International.Dave Pasch (play-by-play) and Jimmy Dykes (analyst).
Radio: Utah Sports Network(Hot Ticket 700/KALL-AM in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations).Matt Thomas (play-by-play), Mark Rydalch (analyst) and Bill Riley (host).Also broadcast nationally on Westwood One Radio Networkand on the Internet at www.TheMWC.com
Series Record: Utah leads 74-40Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 49-5/23-34/2-1Current Streak: New Mexico has won 1.Last Meeting: New Mexico won 65-54 on Feb. 21, 2005 in Albuquerque, N.M.

After This
The winner of the Mountain West Conference Championship game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The 65-team NCAA field will be announced on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (MST) on CBS. First round games take place next Thursday and Friday.

Quickly On Utah
The Runnin' Utes (26-4, 13-1 MWC) take on New Mexico (25-6, 10-4 MWC) in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Saturday at 8:05 p.m. (MST) at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo. The game will be televised by ESPN and also shown on ESPN International. It will be broadcast on Hot Ticket 700 (KALL-AM) and the Utah Sports Network and Westwood One.

Utah has won four in a row and 22 of its last 23 games. The Runnin' Utes defeated Colorado State 62-49 in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday and held off UNLV 73-67 in the semifinals on Friday night.

Utah is ranked in the Top 25 for the seventh consecutive week, coming in at No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. The Utes are the Mountain West Conference regular-season champions, winning the league race by three games. This is Utah's fourth MWC title in the league's six year history and its first outright.

Sophomore center/forward Andrew Bogut (7-0, 245) leads the Utes in scoring (20.7 ppg), rebounding (12.2 rpg) and blocked shots (57), and is shooting 63.2 percent from the field. Bogut has 22 double-doubles this season. Senior guard Marc Jackson (6-1, 175) is second in scoring (10.7 ppg), hitting 47.8 percent of his three-point attempts (55-of-115) and 85.0 percent of his free throws. Jackson is first on the team in assists (3.81 apg). Junior forward Bryant Markson (6-6, 190) is third on the team in scoring (10.2 ppg) and second in rebounding (4.0 rpg). Junior forward/guard Richard Chaney is fourth on the team in scoring average (8.5 ppg). Junior guard Tim Drisdom (6-3, 203) is second on the team in assists (3.20 apg) and has a 2.10 assists to turnover ratio.

As of March 8, the Utes ranked second in the NCAA in field goal percentage (52.5), third in rebound margin (+10.4), eighth in scoring defense (57.1 ppg), 14th in scoring margin and (+12.2 ppg) and 44th in free throw percentage (73.0). Andrew Bogut was ranked third in rebounding (12.0 rpg), third in field goal percentage (63.7), 15th in scoring (20.6 ppg) and 50th in blocked shots (55). Richard Chaney and Marc Jackson ranked 26th (86.4) and 38th (84.9), respectively, in free throw percentage.

Utah Conference Tournament Notes
? The Utes have competed in 22 conference tournaments--16 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference and the past six in the Mountain West Conference--posting a 28-17 (.622) record.

? Utah is 8-4 (.667) all-time in the MWC Tournament and has won five consecutive games.

? The Utes claimed the Mountain West Tournament title as the No. 3 seed in 2004 after losing in the semifinals each of the previous four years. Utah won its first MWC semifinal game over BYU (54-51) last season, then defeated UNLV (73-70) in the title game on Nick Jacobson's buzzer-beating three-pointer.

? The Utes won WAC Tournament titles in 1995, `97 and `99.

? The Utes' .622 combined winning percentage in WAC (1984-99) and MWC (2000-04) tournaments ranks second among the conference teams. UNLV at .714 (15-6) is first, while New Mexico at .578 (26-19) and BYU at .514 (19-18) rank third and fourth, respectively.

? Ute head coach Ray Giacoletti is 7-3 overall in conference tournaments. In addition to going 2-0 at Utah, Giacoletti was 5-3 in at Eastern Washington, leading the Eagles to the Big Sky Conference Tournament title in 2004. Giacoletti has a four-game winning streak in conference tournament play entering the New Mexico game on Saturday. He has his team in the conference tournament title game for the fifth consecutive year, going 1-3 in the previous four games.

Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico is 25-6 overall and finished second in the Mountain West Conference with a 10-4 record. The Lobos have won eight in a row and 11 of the last 12 games. In the MWC Tournament, New Mexico defeated BYU 85-71 in the quarterfinals on Thursday and San Diego State 77-67 in the semifinals on Friday. New Mexico is 2-0 in games played on a neutral court this season.

Senior forward Danny Granger (6-8, 225), a first team all-conference selection, leads the team in scoring (18.6 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg), steals (61) and blocked shots (59). He is shooting 53.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range. Senior guard Troy DeVries (6-4, 195) is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and in assists (2.6 apg). He is shooting 47.1 percent from three-point range (90-for-191). Junior forward David Chiotti (6-9, 245) is third on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.1 rpg).

Ritchie McKay is 49-38 in his third season at New Mexico and has a 132-127 record in his ninth year as a head coach. McKay, who was the head coach at Colorado State for two seasons (1998-2000), returned to the Mountain West Conference following a two-year stint at Oregon State (2000-02) where he went 22-37.

Utah-New Mexico Series Notes
? The Utes and Lobos meet for the 115th time on Saturday night. The series dates back to a 59-47 win by Utah on Jan. 3, 1952 in Albuquerque, N.M., in a Skyline Conference match-up.

? Utah leads the all-time series 74-40, winning 12 of the last 17 games. The home team has won each of the last six games.

? In conference tournament play, Utah and New Mexico are tied 3-3. The U. is 2-1 in conference tournament games on neutral courts versus UNM. In the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Utes and Lobos have met just once. New Mexico prevailed 56-53 in the semifinals on March 9, 2001 in Las Vegas.

? Utah and New Mexico have met twice before in conference tournament championship games, splitting the two WAC title tilts. The Lobos won 64-60 on March 9, 1996 in Albuquerque, while the Utes prevailed 60-45 on March 6, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nev.

? Utah took the first meeting this season, winning 69-58 on Jan. 22 in Salt Lake City, for its second straight win in the series. New Mexico defeated the Utes 65-54 on Feb. 21 in Albuquerque, N.M., to snap Utah's 18-game winning streak.

? In conference regular play, the Utes have a 71-37 advantage. Utah leads 8-4 in Mountain West games.

? Ray Giacoletti is 1-1 against New Mexico.

? Ritchie McKay is 4-4 against Utah, including a 3-3 record while at New Mexico. He went 1-1 against Utah during his tenure at Colorado State, splitting the season series in 1999-2000. The Utes and Rams did not meet in 1998-99.

MWC Semifinals Rewind
Andrew Bogut had 25 points and 12 rebounds as No. 15 Utah held on for a 73-67 victory over UNLV on Friday night in the Mountain West semifinals.

Utah (27-4) seemed ready to roll into Saturday's championship game before nearly letting a 22-point second-half lead slip away entirely.

UNLV (16-13) stormed back from a miserable first half behind Romel Beck, but didn't have enough left to finish it off. The Rebels had no answer for Bogut inside and couldn't make the big shot in the closing minutes in losing to Utah for the sixth straight time.

Utah tried to turn the rematch of last year's MWC final into a rout early. The Utes held UNLV to two points during a seven-minute span to go up 14 late in the first half, then opened the second with a 10-2 run that put them up 42-20.

Then Beck brought the Rebels back.

The senior forward hit three three-pointers during a 14-2 run that cut Utah's lead to 52-46 with eight minutes left, then trimmed the margin to 57-54 on a hard drive. He added a runner with just over a minute left, finishing with 17 of his 19 points in the second half.

Utah certainly helped. After relying heavily on Bogut early, the Utes went away from him during UNLV's run. Once the Rebels got within striking distance, Utah went back to Bogut--and he responded.

Bogut fed Bryant Markson for a layup, then converted inside on the next possession to put Utah up 63-56 with 3:32 left. UNLV twice cut the lead to three again, but Bogut answered again, this time breaking the press to set up two free throws and a layup by Justin Hawkins that made it 67-62.

But with no players taller than 6-foot-9, UNLV didn't have anyone who could match up with the big Australian all night.

The Rebels tried double-teaming him, but Bogut either kicked the ball out and reset in the post or dribbled until the second player went away. One-on-one, UNLV stood no chance.

Bogut scored Utah's first seven points and had 11 in the first eight minutes after scoring 11 in four minutes against Colorado State in the first round. He finished 9-of-17 from the field.

Bogut was at times a one-man show offensively, but the Utes were united when it came to stopping UNLV.

Dictating the pace with its deliberate offense, Utah prevented the Rebels from running and cut down on their penetration in half-court sets. Point guard Marc Jackson was particularly effective, using his in-your-face style to hound Ricky Morgan into six turnovers.

Of course, it helped that the Utes had Bogut in back to make up for any mistakes. Bogut blocked just one shot, but the Rebels certainly knew he was there. In one sequence late in the first half, Bogut made Jerel Blassingame change his shot, then turned around and harassed Joel Anthony into a miss on the rebound.

Notables From Game #31
Utah had a season-high 21 turnovers against UNLV. The Utes had a 41-19 advantage on the boards, improving to 26-2 they outrebound their opponent this season. Utah shot 51.1 percent from the field, improving to 15-1 when it shoots 50 percent or better this year. The U. also had 31 free throw attempts to 18 for UNLV, moving to 24-1 when it makes more trips to the line on the season. ... Andrew Bogut had 25 points and 12 rebounds for his 22nd double-double of the season (36th of his career) and his fourth in a row. He also had his 20th 20-point game this year (23rd in his career) and his third in a row. Bogut has scored in double figures in all 31 games this season, running his double-figure scoring streak to 33 games dating back to last season. ... Justin Hawkins had 14 points for his 12th double-figure scoring game of the season (16th of his career) and his third in the last four games. ... Bryant Markson had 12 points for his 20th double-figure scoring game of the season (21st of his career). He has reached double figures in two of the last three games. Markson also had seven rebounds to mis his career high of eight (recorded three times) by one. ... Jonas Langvad had 10 points (2-3 3FG) for his highest scoring game since getting a career-high 19 points at Wyoming on Jan. 15. It was Langvad's third double-figure scoring game of the season and his career. ... Tim Drisdom returned to the starting lineup against UNLV after not starting the previous four games. He missed the BYU game on Feb. 26 entirely with a pulled quadriceps muscle. Drisdom has started 25 of the 30 games he's played in this season and 90 of 96 games in his career.

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - MWC Championship

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