Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Thursday had to be one of the darkest days of Jerry Tarkanian's career.
First, the Fresno Bee published a story alleging point shaving involving guard Dominick Young. Then, with the Bulldogs needing to win to keep their NCAA hopes alive, they got blitzed 106-81 by TCU, probably relegating Fresno to NIT status.
"I'm very disappointed," said Tarkanian after the game, his voice all but shot. "I thought this was the worst effort of any team that I have ever coached. I was so disappointed in our effort. I couldn't understand our guys being so listless."
Tark admitted the Bee's story had a negative effect on his players.
"I'm sure it was a distraction," he said. "We've been living this for two weeks. I can almost sense their feelings. They were down."
Tarkanian said if the Bee's findings are true, he'd resign.
"If any of our guys shaved points, I'd never coach again," he said. "That's the worst accusation you can make, that someone shaved points. That's the worst thing you can do to a program.
"But I don't believe it and the people who wrote the story don't believe it. They've been investigating it for two weeks and there's nothing to it."
As for the postseason, Tarkanian conceded the Bulldogs were probably looking at an NIT bid. Playing in the Thomas & Mack didn't help the Bulldogs' cause as they lost all three games in Las Vegas. It was the first time he had lost three straight at the Mack.
"I would certainly think so," he said of the Bulldogs' NCAA dreams having gone down the tubes. "There was absolutely no effort. That's embarrassing when you make no effort."
When Tark was in town three weeks ago to play UNLV, he speculated on retirement, saying, "It might be sooner than you think." When asked Thursday if the combination of the point-shaving story combined with the 25-point loss to TCU might accelerate his timetable, he said, "I'll be there in the morning."
WACtion
* JONES' RECORD DAY: Texas Christian guard Mike Jones didn't break the WAC Tournament's record for most points in a game. He obliterated it. He scorched Fresno State for 44 points in the Horned Frogs' 106-81 rout Thursday in the quarterfinals. The mark had been held by Colorado State's David Evans, who scored 36 against Brigham Young in the 1996 tourney. Interestingly, Fresno State's Chris Herren almost broke the mark in a losing cause. Herren, the only FSU player to show up Thursday, finished with 34. "I felt really great," said Jones, who had 24 at halftime. "I had the ball early and I made a couple of early jump shots. That got my confidence going." In addition to his 44 points, the second most ever scored at the Mack, Jones had 12 rebounds and eight assists.
* PRINCE PLAYS LIKE KING: Former Western High star Prince Fowler has had a tough season at TCU, seeing limited action for Billy Tubbs. But coming back home seemed to boost his spirits and his game. "It feels great to be back home," the 5-foot-10 point guard said, after registering seven points, six assists and three rebounds while running the Horned Frogs' offense. "I'm coming into my own at the right time. My confidence is coming up." Fowler originally signed with Oklahoma out of Western, but transferred to UNLV. Then, the weekend before classes started in 1995, he notified Rebels coach Bill Bayno he was transferring to TCU. "I've had some ups and downs, but it's nice to finally go out and play hard," Fowler said.
* MAJERUS SOUNDS OFF: You knew that the day's events couldn't go by without comment from Utah coach Rick Majerus. The Utes' coach had just survived a major scare from Southern Methodist, needing a buzzer-beating shot from Keith Van Horn to win. When asked about the Fresno State point-shaving story, Majerus said, "I really don't know what happened in Fresno. I heard six different stories. To me, it's rumor, innuendo and speculation." ... Of course, Majerus is never crazy about postseason tournaments and he's not thrilled with the idea of his team forced to stay at a hotel with gaming. The Utes are headquartered at the Riviera. "I don't believe in putting kids in casinos," he said. "My kids are dodging blackjack tables and craps tables and all it does is it adds to the occasion of sin. But don't get me wrong. I love Las Vegas. I went to dinner last night at a place called Manhattan, and it was excellent. Five-star all the way. What I don't love is putting kids in casinos. I think it's wrong. Then again, I think playing games at 11 o'clock for TV is wrong."
* VAN HORN BLARES: Van Horn's shot heard 'round the WAC, and probably the college basketball world, was the ultimate bail-out for a Utah team which played perhaps eight minutes of basketball like the third-ranked team in the nation should. But when Van Horn got his hands on the ball with .03 seconds to play and guided Andre Miller's lob into the basket to beat SMU, he knew it was good. "As long as I didn't come down with the ball, I knew I was in good shape," said the three-time WAC Player of the Year. "I overran the ball a bit, but he made a great pass." And Van Horn made a great shot, guiding the ball into the hoop from four feet out as the buzzer sounded. When asked if he had ever made a shot like that, he said, "Not in the college ranks, I didn't."
* A GOOD DAY SPOILED: Finally, his place in the semifinals secured, someone asked Tubbs about the prospects of playing Tulsa for a third time. "You know how to spoil a hell of an afternoon, don't you?" Tubbs said to the reporter. "Our hands are definitely full. In the last two seasons, we've lost out to teams that have already beaten us twice during the season. But it's hard to beat a team three times and I really think we're on a roll. We're a hot team right now that's feeling good about itself."
* LADIES FIRST: Today's tournament action tips off with the women's quarterfinals, featuring three teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season: Utah, SMU and Hawaii. No. 1 Pacific seed San Diego State (21-6) takes on No. 3 Pacific seed Hawaii (21-7) at 12:30 p.m. Then, No. 1 Mountain seed Utah (23-4) plays No. 3 Mountain seed SMU (19-10) at 3 p.m. in a game televised by ESPN (Prime Cable channel 19). The winners meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA's field of 64.
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