Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 10:18 a.m.
The Bulldogs struggled, at 4-5, in their non-conference schedule. However, FSU has won its first five league games, and Legans owns a sterling 3.2-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio. He leads the WAC with 5.7 assists a game.
In addition, Fresno's 5-0 start in the WAC coincides with coach Ray Lopes moving big man Chris Adams, whom UNLV had to quit chasing last summer, into the starting five.
A home loss to ranked Purdue and a defeat at Northwestern has slipped the Illini (10-4) into the bottom third of the Big Ten.
The Scoop -- That the Roy Williams-coached Heels are 10-3 against the sixth-toughest schedule in the land, so far, impresses us. So does sophomore center Sean May, the son of former Indian All-American Scott May, who averages 17.2 points and 10.2 boards.
Prediction (1-3) -- North Carolina 74, Connecticut 71.
The arrival of Utah coach Rick Majerus in town over the weekend, for Monday's late-night affair against the Rebels, only meant one thing.
Well, a few, actually.
First, we wish Metro Pizza were a publicly held company and we had scooped up hundreds, no thousands, of shares early last week.
Second, game officials would be busy at the Thomas & Mack Center. That proved correct, as no fewer than two times Majerus and an assistant had to be physically pushed back off the court to their seats.
The Utah staff turns an inch into a country mile, and there is little doubt here that Majerus spends more time on the court than he does off it, in the coach's box, where he belongs, in any given game
His lieutenants follow his cue, too, knowing what The Big Man can get away with. Has Majerus ever been T'd up for his lack of regard for this most basic of rules?
Monday, one official even stood up for Majerus when The Big Man bolted 15 steps onto the court to inquire about a player or a play. The official explained to the UNLV staff that The Big Man probably just thought a timeout was about to be called.
Fans sitting in the baseline seats near the Utah bench were screaming for Majerus to get off the court, during the game, just a few minutes into it.
Not far from those fans, someone held a homemade sign, with what looked like full McDonald's, In-N-Out and Burger King bags tied below it, to mock Majerus. The Big Man did not heed that prop or the get-off-the-court chants.
Moreover, you have never seen a coach believe he were scorned so much as when Majerus, or any of his underlings, acts like a jack-in-the-box the instant a Ute is whistled for just about anything.
That got old years ago, as did Utah's infamous moving screens.
To Majerus's credit, Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson said he has never heard a league coach complain about Majerus and his frequent sideline liberties.
From this vantage point, after keeping a keen eye on the sport for 15 seasons, nobody pushes that envelope more than The Big Man.
For the days leading up to that visit, the other team's coaches sweat. They go to work, hit the video and teach on the court like they do for few other foes. Majerus requires such attention.
For instance, the Utes will run a certain inbounds pass, under their own basket, in which guard Nick Jacobson cuts up from the baseline around a double pick at the free throw line, trying to get free for a jumper.
They'll run that for a few games in a row.
Then, you play them and school your guys against that play to deny Jacobson the ball, or at least get a hand up on the eventual jumper that he will attempt, and Majerus throws in the wrinkle.
Instead of cutting around the double pick, Jacobson will just shoot back to the baseline, catch the inbounds pass and have an easy layup.
The only thing left to do is throw up your hands on the bench and shake your head. "You just sit there," said one Mountain West coach and veteran scout of Utah, "and go, 'Aw, (shoot).' "
Multiply those wrinkles by the dozens, and that's what Majerus brings to the table.
Er, court.
Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson of Arizona knows the drill, having been surprised by a triangle-and-two defense, devised by Majerus on a napkin the previous evening, that propelled Utah to a 76-51 victory against the Wildcats in the West Region final in Anaheim in 1998.
The Utes then beat North Carolina in the Final Four before losing the national championship game to Kentucky in San Antonio.
In such a big game with so few players who knew anything about Utah, UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour needed to rely on a savvy senior like Hunter for guidance, leadership and points.
Spoonhour got nothing from Hunter, who missed his only shot attempt (a 3-pointer), had an assist and a steal, and turned it over twice and committed three fouls in 29 minutes.
In fact, Spoonhour had to yank Hunter from the game once because simple jawing with Jacobson nearly turned into fracas.
From the start, Jacobson knew he had Hunter. In a flinch, Jacobson could separate himself from Hunter by at least a half a step, thus creating the small room he needed to launch his quick shot.
And as he created that room, Jacobson began laughing at Hunter loud enough for courtside officials to hear him, knowing he could do what he wanted against Hunter. And that's what sparked Hunter's fury.
Since the arc was established in 1986-87, the Rebels haven't played a game in which they haven't drilled a 3-pointer. However, in its past two games, UNLV is 7-for-37 (18.9 percent) from long range.
Odartey Blankson, a power forward, entered the Utah with a 13.6-percent touch (3-for-22) from 3-point land. Majerus knew this and let Blankson float above the arc, and Blankson hit one of his four attempts there Monday.
Wednesday, Vanderbilt hit four 3-pointers in a defeat at Tennessee. Vandy, at 534 games, is the only other program to have made a trey in every game it has played since the rule was put into place.
The Tigers are 12-1, including 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference's West Division. In the East, only Florida (11-2, 2-0) is undefeated in league play.
Before the season tipped off, much was expected of LSU center Jamie Lloreda, the Tigers' lone senior, in the wake of the departures of Collis Temple, Ronald Dupree and Torris Bright. That was the team's highest scorers in '02-03.
Lloreda has responded very well in leading the nation with 11.9 rebounds a game. Moreover, the native of Panama leads LSU with 18.1 points a game. Not bad for a 6-foot-9, 246-pound forward playing out of position at center.
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