Friday, March 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Now that we've been privy to the defining moment of the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament, we can forge ahead and get down to what everybody came to Las Vegas for in the first place:
Defining the best team in the WAC.
Keith Van Horn's amazing tip-in which broke Southern Methodist's heart, as breathtaking as it was to behold, will long have been forgotten by 9 tonight. That's when Van Horn and the third-ranked Utah Utes emerge from the tunnel at the Thomas & Mack Center for a highly anticipated semifinal showdown with No. 14 New Mexico.
As a precursor, Texas Christian (20-11) and Tulsa (23-8) meet at 6 p.m. in the other semifinal. The four semifinalists each played in the WAC's Mountain Division.
Of course, the Utah-UNM matchup is brought to you tonight courtesy of Utah's cold-blooded assassin, the 6-foot-11 All-American Van Horn. He flicked the fingertips on his right hand and tipped an Andre Miller inbounds pass through the net as time expired, giving Utah a startling 59-58 victory Thursday night over the Mustangs.
The Utes, who trailed 54-39 with 12:31 remaining, inbounded the ball under their own basket with three-tenths of a second left. Only a tip could win the game.
"How many of you have seen a miracle finish better than that one?" New Mexico coach Dave Bliss wondered in the aftermath of his Lobos' scrappy 65-57 quarterfinal win over Hawaii. "Utah finds a way to win. Destiny is on their side with games such as that."
That remains a theory for the moment. Utah (24-3) and New Mexico (24-6) can perhaps render a verdict when the WAC's two titans clash again. They split their two previous meetings -- the Lobos whipped the Utes at the Pit on Feb. 2, 87-71, but Utah returned the favor with a 78-58 thumping six days ago in Salt Lake City.
Utah coach Rick Majerus wasn't exactly beaming in the wake -- and that's what it sounded like, listening to Majerus -- of the Utes' improbable circumstance.
"We were very ordinary in our effort," he said matter-of-factly. "I credit SMU with a tremendous tenacity that we didn't match."
At least, not until the final 8:20. After SMU took a 58-48 lead on a vicious dunk by Jay Poerner, the Mustangs would not score another point. They compromised themselves with missed free throws, turnovers and absolutely terrible shot selection when the shot clock whittled down near zero.
Despite all that, Utah still needed Van Horn to save the day and prevent what would have been labeled one of the biggest upsets in college basketball this season. The Utes' seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament may have been affected with a loss.
Van Horn, by the sheer force of his will and talent, simply wouldn't allow it.
"I knew as long as I didn't come down with it, they'd have to call it good," said Van Horn, who finished with 25 points. "I overran the ball a little bit, but Andre made a great pass and luckily, it went in."
Van Horn was asked if he could sense SMU going into a shell, guarding its lead.
"Maybe they were getting a little tentative resting on the lead," he said. "That's a tough thing to overcome."
Majerus, meanwhile, kept his fingers crossed that Utah rediscovers its identity today.
"We forgot who we were tonight," he said. "We got caught up in all this b.s. ... because we beat (SMU) by 19 twice (actually, 17 and 21 points). I hope this is an aberration. Maybe we were all wrapped up in the euphoria of last Saturday."
Unlike the previous three quarterfinals Thursday, dramatics were sorely lacking in the Lobos' workmanlike win over the Rainbows. New Mexico never trailed, although Hawaii (20-7 and most definitely perched on the NCAA bubble) never let the Lobos too far out of their sights.
Senior Clayton Shields led New Mexico right across the board: he scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out five assists.
"I had a job to do on the boards," Shields said. "I tried to stay focused on that. I was fortunate."
The outstanding Hawaii guard tandem of Alika Smith and Anthony Carter were bottled up by New Mexico. They were a combined 11 of 33 from the field, including 2 of 12 from 3-point territory.
"My shot wasn't there tonight," said Carter, 4 of 17.
"I think the Hawaii Rainbows deserve to be in the tournament," Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace said. "Things aren't always fair, but we'll be praying and waiting on Sunday."
For New Mexico, Van Horn presents entirely another threat tonight.
"What we need to do is just go out and work as hard as we can, and hope things work out," said Shields.
* TEXAS CHRISTIAN 106, FRESNO STATE 81: The Horned Frogs, like New Mexico, pretty much were in control from the start, assuming the lead five minutes into the game and never looking back. A couple of early 3-pointers in the second half by Malcolm Johnson provided TCU the impetus it needed. They came 43 seconds apart, opened up an 11-point lead (61-50) and Fresno State -- other than Chris Herren -- didn't have the ammunition to stay with the hot-shooting Frogs. TCU shot 55.6 percent from the field and made 12 of 24 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs (20-11) were a dismal 5 of 26 at the same range. "They were making a lot of tough shots, but our effort wasn't there," said Herren. "We just weren't there offensively or defensively tonight. We lacked all effort."
archive
