MAJERUS NOW WILL FOCUS ON RECRUITING

Only minutes after Thursday afternoon's lopsided 96-65 loss to BYU ended Utah's zany, hazard-filled season, Ute coach Rick Majerus already was thinking ahead.

"I've got to get me a couple of guys," he told well-wishers as he emerged from the locker room. Later, in the formal press conference, he was more specific."I need to go recruit and at least get some brothers so we don't look like the ski team," he said.

Translation: Majerus wants black players ("brothers"). On the other hand, hadn't the Utes just lost to another largely Caucasian team?

When it came his turn to address the media, Reid responded. "I'll keep our ski team," he said. "That's all we've ever had. I don't know what I'd do with all those brothers, so I'll just keep the ski team."

After all, in Thursday's Great Caucasian Shootout, the Cougars were more than enough for the Utes. The season's third meeting of these archrivals, in the second round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, was supposed to be another nail-biter. Their previous two meetings, both won by BYU, had been decided by two and three points in the final seconds. But the re-rematch turned into the biggest rout in this series since 1965 - and Majerus's worst loss in five years at Utah.

The Cougars led by 24 points before the game was 18 minutes old. Down by 19 at halftime, the Utes set a goal of trying to whittle the Cougs' lead to 10 points with 10 minutes to go. Instead, the Cougars led by 30, eventually going up by 36. It marked the second time in three years that the Cougars have beaten the Utes three times in one season.

"It was embarrassing," said Utah guard Mark Rydalch. "It was lopsided from the start. They just kept hitting their shots."

"They kicked our butt in every way," said Majerus.

The Cougars simply played a perfect game. They shot 64 percent from the field, outrebounded the Utes 36-22 and limited them to 42 percent shooting. All week fans and media talked about how BYU's guards couldn't shoot, but against Utah Kurt Christensen and Randy Reid totaled 40 points, making 11 of 16 shots. Meanwhile, Russell Larson was deadly inside, sinking 12 of 14 shots and 28 points.

"That's the best anyone's played against us," said Ute assistant coach Jeff Judkins. "It wasn't just one guy. It was all of them."

Earlier in the week, Reid had said he would throw new wrinkles at the Utes, and he did. In the late stages of the first half, he tried a zone defense and it completely befuddled the Utes, who at times couldn't even get off a shot.