Utes earn bye in MWC tourney

Steve Addy

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 10:20 a.m.

At least Wyoming won't have to face UNLV in the Mountain West tournament.

That has to be the most comforting thought for Steve McClain's team heading into this week's event at the Thomas & Mack Center.

After Saturday night's 106-102 loss to the Rebels, in which Trevor Diggs victimized the Cowboys for 49 points, Wyoming is in no mood to play UNLV again. By capping a season sweep of the Cowboys, the Rebels kept them from the outright MWC title and No. 1 tournament seed.

Instead, Wyoming fell into a three-way tie for the championship at 10-4 and was relegated to the third seed. The Cowboys (19-8) will meet No. 6 San Diego State (14-13, 4-10) at 6 p.m. Thursday, after the 2:30 opener between No. 2 BYU (21-8, 10-4) and No. 7 Air Force (8-20, 3-11).

Utah (19-10, 10-4) captured the No. 1 seed and earned the first-round bye that resulted from UNLV's postseason ban.

Though it won't be easy, with the tournament on the same Thomas & Mack court, Wyoming must quickly forget Saturday's loss and Diggs' barrage.

"We still have a share of the conference championship," said sophomore forward Marcus Bailey, who scored 33 against UNLV and leads Wyoming with 17.9 points a game. "We'll come back here this week and be ready to get after it."

San Diego State won't be a pushover for the Cowboys. The Aztecs won three of their final four games, with the only loss Thursday to Wyoming 69-62.

"We're thrilled to get another chance against Wyoming," Aztecs forward Chris Walton said. "We want another shot at them. Even before (coach Steve Fisher) told us about the draw, he asked who we wanted to play. We all said Wyoming."

BYU is also entering on a hot streak, winning five of its last six, including three on the road. The Cougars edged Air Force 51-50 on Saturday, and the clubs meet again Thursday. The Falcons beat Utah by 11 on Thursday, and their methodical style also confounded BYU.

"It was just boring," Cougars guard Terrell Lyday said. "I don't know how the fans can watch that, the way they hold the ball."

Thursday's 9 p.m. game (ESPN) is between two teams that finished 6-8 in the MWC -- No. 4 New Mexico, losers of three straight, vs. No. 5 Colorado State. After sitting and watching Thursday, Utah will play the New Mexico-CSU winner at 9 p.m. Friday.