WAC-ky: Utah Wins Conference

February 20, 1999 / 8:40 PM EST / AP

Utah never caught up with Courtney Alexander but still came out ahead against Fresno State.

The Bulldogs looked like they had an upset-in-the-making before the No. 12 Utes closed with a 6-0 burst, escaping with an 88-82 win and the Western Athletic Conference title.

"I'm just glad I don't have to play here again, and I don't have to see Alexander next year," Utah coach Rick Majerus said, alluding to his team's secession from the WAC.

The high-flying, lane-slashing Alexander scored a career-high 37 points, the most points for a Bulldog since Charles Bailey had 45 against North Texas in 1974 and that was in double-overtime.

"Courtney had one of the greatest games I have ever seen a college player have," said Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Alexander was unstoppable in the first half, scoring 25 of his points from everywhere and nearly single-handedly giving the Bulldogs a fighting chance.

He cooled off a bit after halftime, but only when Utah began rotating defenders and defenses to try to keep him in check.

"We threw the house at him. We doubled him. We ran a triangle and two. And we still couldn't stop him," Majerus said.

Hanno Mottola scored 25 points for the pick-setting Utes, who escaped despite being held to one field goal for a stretch of 7:20 and blowing leads of as much as 15 points.

Mottola, who scored 11 of his team's last 16 points, brought the Utes from behind with 3-pointers twice in the last five minutes. His second was a wide-open shot from the top of the key that made it 82-80 with 94 seconds left.

"Andre (Miller) was double-teammed, and I just tried to find his line of vision. We practice that a lot. It's something that I have to read and then make the shot," Mottola said.

After Fresno State tied the score with two free throws, the Utes scored the game's final six points Mottola hitting a free throw in between Jeremy Killion's 3-pointer and Miller's layup.

Miller finished with 19 points for Utah (22-4, 12-0 WAC), which is one game shy of a school record 18 straight and has clinched the WAC regular-season title seven straight times in the 90s.

Terrance Roberson scored all 13 of his points in the second half for Fresno State (18-10, 7-5), which made a valiant effort in what arguably may have been one of its last best chances to make a case for the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs are 2-4 against ranked opponents, with wins at home against then-No. 25 Temple and then-No. 15 New Mexico. They still have two games and the WAC tournament to bolster its bid to the NCAA Selection Committee.

"There's a lot of basketball left to be played. We'll play it and see what happens," Tarkanian said.

Fresno State scored eight more points than any other opponent against Utah, which has held 11 opponents to under 50 points and is ranked third in the nation in scoring defense.

Majerus applauded Freno State's feistiness, and acknowledged he was surprised by the outcome.

"They played very hard," he said. "They played very smart. If someone said they would shoot 53 percent and we still would win the game, I would not have believed it."

Tarkanian blamed the loss on rebounding. The Utes held a 15-4 edge on offensive boards.

"We shoot 53 percent, score 82 points. We should beat them. Rebounding again killed us," he said. "They also hit the 3s at the end. If they miss one of them, it might have made a difference."

The Utes looked like they were going to rout the Bulldogs when they took an early 31-16 lead, but then they were held to one field goal for the nearly eight minutes.

And that's when Alexander got hot, scoring on finger-rollers, scoops, turnaround jumpers and from the line.

After Phil Cullen finally ended Utah's drought with a 3, Alexander answered with his third of the half to tie the game 42-42. Miller's 3 at the buzzer gave the Utes a 45-42 halftime edge.

Utah then went up 55-44 early in the second, but the Bulldogs surged back again, this time with Roberson leading the way.

Roberson gave Fresno State its first lead since 2-1 with a 3-pointer that made it 67-66 with about eight minutes to go. He also gave the team its last lead, 80-77, with a jumper.