By SETH LEWIS
lewis@newsroom.byu.edu
LAS VEGAS - It happened only a year ago, but it must have seemed eons away Thursday.
Michael Vranes relaxed in the Thomas and Mack Center stands, surrounded by a dozen relatives, savoring BYU's 55-43 first-round upset of New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
That 1999 tournament game, when Utah's Andre Miller humiliated Vranes with 19 points in the same arena, was light years away.
And, as a defender, Vranes -- who muzzled New Mexico star Lamont Long to a meaningless 13 points Thursday -- may have come that far as well.
'Michael has taken a lot of wrath from me over the course of the year,' BYU assistant coach Heath Schroyer said of the 6-foot-3 sophomore from
Taylorsville. 'Michael always knew he had the natural ability and the
knowledge to defend well. It was just a matter of time.'
So start the clock. The Michael Vranes Defending Era has begun.
And it couldn't have come at a more fortuitous time, as the Cougars (19-9)
advanced to a second-round matchup with Utah tonight (7 p.m., KSL-TV).
'Michael did a good job of taking Lamont out of his comfort zone,' Schroyer said.
He pushed him continents away from his comfort zone, forcing the
exasperated Long -- who averaged 27.5 points against the Cougars this year -- to throw up 25-foot three-pointers in the closing minutes as the Lobos desperately tried to claw back.
And even when he did shoot, Vranes hounded him. In fact, Long's only
first-half points came against Terrell Lyday.
'I just didn't want to give him any open looks,' Vranes said. 'I needed to keep a hand in his face.'
No problem. Vranes harrassed Long into hurried, haggard shots with a physical smothering that was more than just a casual hand in his face.
'There were times when I was 40 feet from the basket and he was still only two feet away,' Long said.
Long wasn't the only one hearing the footsteps. The Cougars' defense
spooked the Lobos into a season-low 43 points -- including a season-low 18 in the first half -- on 28-percent shooting from the field.
That included an eye-hurting seven percent from three-point range. All from a team that usually scores 74 points a game.
'The biggest difference today was we played great defense for 40 minutes,' junior forward Nathan Cooper said.
Cooper stuffed Waylon White -- who scored 12 in the Lobos'
second of two regular-season wins over BYU -- to two points on one-for-five shooting.
'Before the game, people said he would be the X-factor,' Cooper said.
What he became was a no-factor, like many of his teammates.
When Mekeli Wesley left with nine minutes remaining in the first half,
David Nielsen, a 6-foot-4 freshman, allowed forward Damion Walker
nothing but a pair of free throws.
'David did a superb job,' BYU coach Steve Cleveland said of Nielsen, who played a career-high 18 minutes. 'He just wasn't going to be denied.'
Nor were the Cougars, who ballooned their lead to eight on a Wesley
three-pointer with 3:30 left.
'I think they're an NIT team, for sure,' New Mexico coach Fran Frashcilla said. 'I think BYU has played themselves into a position to do things as far as the NCAAs are concerned.'
But that means getting past Utah -- which beat Air Force 74-65 on Thursday and the Cougars twice during the regular season.
Still, Frashcilla likes BYU's chances.
'I personally think they're starting to close the gap on Utah,' Fraschilla said.
At least, Vranes has closed the canyon that used to exist between mediocrity and the merciless defense he displayed against Long.