In a turnaround only the Utah Jazz could have true empathy with, the Delta Center turned on its neighbors last night. Both BYU and Utah exited the WAC Tournament like tourists in Central Park. Maybe they didn't have to ask directions to the arena and maybe they slept in their own beds. But you'd never have known it. They looked like people carrying passports and trying to figure out the exchange rate.
First, BYU took the floor against a New Mexico team they beat by 14 points the last time the Lobos came to the Wasatch Front - and lost by nine, 68-59. Next, Utah took the floor against a Texas-El Paso team they beat by 21 in Salt Lake over a month ago - and lost by five, 90-85.The natives weren't only restless, the natives were out of the tournament.
Maybe it isn't the Jazz's fault. Maybe the arena is hexed against Utah teams.
Tonight's championship game could be the first tournament title game requiring a police escort to the arena. Overnight, UTEP and New Mexico have achieved local popularity status equal to that of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Tonight's game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. But now that is only an estimate. The Frank Layden rule can be invoked in these kind of situations, and very well could be. In the early days of the Jazz, when fans, and wins, were hard to come by, Layden once got a phone call from a friend from back East.
"What time's the game?" the friend asked.
"What time can you get here?" said Layden.
No one saw last night coming, certainly not the large crowds from Provo and the U. of U. that came early and stayed late. The evening began with a local partying mood. BYU fans and Utah fans coexisted with equal amounts of confidence. Passing one another in the corridors and aisles, they openly acknowledged each other's presence, fully expecting that within 24 hours they would be doing battle for the third time this season.
Everything was in place. Plenty of support. Plenty of momentum from Thursday's easy opening-game wins. Plenty of realistic expectations of high seedings in next week's NCAA tournament for the WAC's regular season co-champs.
The last thing you wanted to be in Salt Lake City late Friday afternoon was a Lobo or a Miner. They had all the chance of a parimutuel measure on the ballot. The Utes didn't lose in Utah this year, and BYU's only loss at home was to the Utes.
BYU started its game, the evening's opener, by openly displaying its appreciation for the favorable playing conditions. The Cougars ran to a 14-point halftime lead while holding the Lobos to 5-of-25 shooting from the field. It looked like Doomsday in the Delta Center allright.
But in the second half the mood changed. New Mexico took 30 shots and made 17. They played as if a hypnotist had given the halftime speech and convinced them that not only weren't they behind, but they were back home in The Pit. Those mountains outside were their mountains.
BYU never had a chance. The Cougars went down hard, in front of friends and family.
There was some noticeable mirth in the stands where many of Utah's more orthodox fans were sitting. The rivalry is always alive and well under such circumstances.
As the murmuring settled in during the break between games - a murmuring that focused principally on the subject of why BYU coach Roger Reid did not notice that his best three-point shooter and designated Red Adair, Kevin Nixon, was sitting next to him on the bench in the final minutes when all the Cougars really needed was a miracle - the spell had already been cast in Utah's direction.
The Utes had a score to settle with the Miners after a loss last Saturday night in El Paso. In that game, Ute head coach Rick Majerus threw a tantrum and got slapped with a costly technical foul that resulted in seven UTEP points and made a major difference in the deficit at the end.
The thinking was that that kind of a situation wouldn't - couldn't - occur in the town that Majerus commands. But late in the second half, with the Utes owning what appeared to be a healthy eight-point lead, Majerus did it again, throwing a tantrum that caused a bag on press row to sideswipe UTEP sports information director Eddie Mullins.
The technical that followed resulted in a five-point swing. Two points less than El Paso but same effect.
The BYU fans who stayed - many did; a devastating loss is one thing, walking away from a $25 ticket is another - looked, if not pleased, at least vindicated. Misery loves company.
The parking lots emptied soberly. The lighted U. on the hill was not flashing in victory. No one in Provo was staying up late and painting the town blue.
Homefloor advantages or not, the mighty Utes and the mighty Cougars had flamed out. Never have two games in one night canceled so many parties.