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Show Winter Sports The next night, Utah found herself pitted against the Oregon State Ducks for the Tournament championship. This turned out to be a hotly contested ball game, as the lead changed hands throughout the contest. Fever ran high on both sides, but Oregon, with the home court inspiration, finally wound up on top of the 65-63 score. The Utes couldn't have played better ball, but the breaks weren't in their favor. Utah came back home and finished a highly successful pre-season by grabbing a 74-70 win over a game Wisconsin Badger quintet: It was Utah all the way for its ninth victory of the season. The Utes, then with a nine and one record, were in good shape for the beginning of the seasonal wars. The opening league game was a big disappointment for everyone in the .light of pre-season promise. A sharp Montana five and a cold Utah team with 26 fouls tell the story of the game. Although coach Gardner juggled his line-up throughout the evening, he couldn't find the clicking combination that was present in the pre-season tilts. Utah just couldn't get started and Montana couldn't be stopped as they rolled to a 73-67 win. Then, with hopeful anticipation, a packed fieldhouse saw Utah bounce back for its first Skyline win at the expense of Utah State University. Showing a reverse from the Montana game, Utah started out fast and didn't give the out-manned Aggie crew a chance. What appeared to be a working combination led by Gary Hale and Jim Thomas built up a 70-31 lead, the reserves played the rest of the game setting the final score at 81-57. The next week Utah dropped down to Albuquerque and christened the Lobo fieldhouse with a rocking 86-55 victory. This was a foul-filled contest which saw more than a few players leave the game. Sophomore Gary Chestang led the scoring with 19 points and also pulled down 19. rebounds. It appeared that the Redskins had once again found their winning ways. At Denver, however, Utah fell prey to the sophomore loaded Denver University team which, working to full effectiveness, ground out a decisive win over our team. This 73-57 win by Denver put the pressure on the Utes for the remainder of the season. The Utes then returned to happier hunting ground, they hoped, to face BYU's Cougar team. |