Mottola Follows Coach’s Orders, Leads Utah
Whenever No. 21 Utah needed a lift against Oregon State on Tuesday night at Salt Lake City, Hanno Mottola made it look easy.
Mottola scored the Utes’ first 12 points as they took an early seven-point lead. Then when the Beavers cut the lead to eight late in the game, the 6-foot-9 senior from Finland scored eight consecutive points over the next three minutes and Utah rolled to a 87-77 victory.
Mottola finished with 29 points as Utah won its seventh game in a row and extended its home winning streak to 43.
“I had a good game on offense, but I am not satisfied with my overall play,” said Mottola, who was nine for 13 in his third game back after knee surgery. He had a career-high 32 points in a win over Texas last Wednesday.
In the game-breaking run against Oregon State, Mottola had a dunk, two drives for finger rolls in the lane and two free throws to give Utah (9-2) a 73-57 lead with 4:17 to play.
He was just following his coach’s instructions.
“In the second half, I told Hanno to get his butt down in there and score some points inside,” Coach Rick Majerus said.
Oregon State Coach Eddie Payne said, “Mottola hurt us. If we play a better big man this year, then I am scared because he is very good. You don’t see a guy play so effectively inside and outside like that.”
Deaundra Tanner led Oregon State (7-3) with 24 points.
Oregon State cut the Utes’ lead to 52-49, but the Utes scored seven consecutive points, including a four-point play. Tony Harvey made two free throws after an intentional foul by Josh Steinthal and Jensen scored on the ensuing possession.
“It was a big play because it got us fired up,” Harvey said of Steinthal’s tackle as he went for a fastbreak layup. “But I don’t think it was nasty. Basketball is a contact sport.”
No. 5 Arizona 66, North Carolina Wilmington 51--Jason Gardner scored all 12 of his points in the second half, helping the Wildcats (10-2) survive another lackluster performance and beat the Seahawks (6-3) at Tucson and advance to the Fiesta Bowl Classic championship game against Delaware on Thursday night.
It will be Arizona’s 15th consecutive championship game appearance in its homecourt holiday tournament, where it is 29-0. But Arizona, in its last home game, lost to New Mexico, 70-68, on Dec. 21 to end a 37-game home winning streak.
No. 6 Florida 113, VMI 68--Freshman Brett Nelson had a perfect shooting game and scored a career-high 19 points to the Gators (10-1) won at Gainesville, Fla.
VMI (5-7) committed 33 turnovers and lost its fifth in a row.
No. 8 Michigan State 96, Mississippi Valley State 63--With Mateen Cleaves watching in street clothes, Morris Peterson scored 22 points as the Spartains (9-3) beat the Delta Devils (1-9) at East Lansing, Mich.
Spartan Coach Tom Izzo hoped Cleaves would return from his broken foot for this game, but his star player probably won’t be back until Jan. 5 against Penn State.
No. 12 Indiana 79, Holy Cross 44--Kirk Haston scored 16 points to lead the Hoosiers (10-1) in the championship game of the 18th Hoosier Classic at Indianapolis. Indiana is 36-0 in the Classic. Josh Sankes led the Crusaders (4-6) with 17 points.
No. 18 Texas 85, Niagara 48--Chris Mihm had 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Longhorns (7-3) came back from a cold-shooting first half to beat the Purple Eagles (6-3) at Austin, Texas.
No. 20 Illinois 97, Bethune-Cookman 47--Brian Cook and Marcus Griffin each scored 18 points as the Illini (7-3) won at Champaign, Ill.
No. 24 DePaul 71, Memphis 65--Quentin Richardson had 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Blue Demons (9-3) beat the Tigers (6-7) in a Conference USA opener at Memphis, Tenn.
Richardson, who was seven for 16 from the field, made two big baskets in the final two minutes as DePaul pulled away at the end.
The teams exchanged leads midway through the second half and Memphis held a one-point lead when Paris London made a five-foot fallaway shot with 3:24 left. But DePaul, behind Richardson and five-for-six free-throw shooting by Rashon Burno over the final 1:38, put the game away.
No. 25 Tulsa 81, Missouri Kansas City 60--Greg Harrington made consecutive three-point shots and Tony Heard added another as the Golden Hurricane (12-1) opened the second half with a 15-0 run to beat win at Tulsa. Harrington finished with 17 points.
OTHER GAMES
Eddie House scored 31 points as Arizona State (7-3) overcame an early nine-point deficit to rout Bucknell, 80-55, in the opening round of the AZCentral.Com-ASU Holiday Classic at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Dean Oliver scored 19 points, including five in the second overtime, and Kyle Galloway had 16 to help lead Iowa to an 83-76 victory over Drake at Iowa City. The Hawkeyes (6-5) beat the Bulldogs (6-3) for the 21st consecutive time. . . . Sean Lampley scored 17 points as California (8-2) routed Boston College, 76-45, in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic at Berkeley. In the other game, Penn’s Michael Jordan matched his career-high with 27 points as the Quakers (2-4) beat Portland State, 84-74. . . . Leon Jones scored 23 points and LaVell Blachard added 22 as Michigan (8-2) used big runs in each half to beat Towson, 98-84, at Ann Arbor, Mich. . . . Sophomore David Graves scored 24 points to lead Notre Dame (4-6) to a 97-71 victory over Elon at South Bend, Ind. . . . Junior forward Cameron Rigby scored seven points in the last two minutes of play to lead San Diego past Idaho State, 64-61, in the Gossner Holiday Classic at Logan, Utah.