Fans love to remember the villains in Utah-BYU rivalry

SALT LAKE CITY — Back in 1996 when Utah and BYU played in the Huntsman Center, Cougar freshman Nathan Cooper got in a little skirmish with Ute star Keith Van Horn under the east basket.

Cooper fouled Van Horn a little too hard for Van Horn's liking as well as the fans in the sold-out arena. Van Horn came up flailing and received a technical foul as the two exchanged words.

Because of the scuffle, Cooper was the recipient of the wrath of Ute fans for the rest of the game in the form of boos, not to mention for the rest of his career. To this day, there are Ute fans who haven't forgotten Cooper, despite his unremarkable career as a Cougar.

Cooper is just one of many "villains" the Utah-BYU rivalry has produced over the years.

BYU fans might remember U. defensive back Jeff Griffin slugging a BYU receiver or Ute center Buster Matheney busting Jay Cheesman's chops in a game at the Marriott Center back in the 1970s. Matheney was ejected from the game and wasn't a popular guy when he returned to Provo for his senior season.

Ute fans won't get over Cooper or Chris Miles, who kicked Andew Bogut in the back a few years ago down at the Marriott Center, earning a reprimand from the Mountain West Conference. Then of course, there's Max Hall, who will forever be vilified by Ute fans for saying he hated everything about the University of Utah following last November's win.

Earlier this decade, Utah guard Marc Jackson got under the skin of the Cougar faithful on a regular basis, while Ute fans got on the case of BYU center Rafael Araujo every time he came to town.

The latest villain in the rivalry is Ute freshman Marshall Henderson, who hit BYU's Jackson Emery with a back-handed slap near the end of the Jan. 30 game in Provo. It earned Henderson a technical foul, a one-game suspension as well as the fury of Cougar Nation.

Henderson was humbled by the incident, sitting out a game and seeing his team lose at home to a Colorado State team it likely would have beaten had he played.

So how has Henderson been treated by local fans in the 30 days since the "incident" in Provo?

It depends which side they're on.

"People bring that up on a regular basis," Henderson said. "I went to the Jazz game, and as I was walking out some guy said, 'hey, you're the guy who hit the guy from BYU, right?' He was like, 'right on.' All the Utah people I've talked to say, 'you're the man for that.' But for me and the team, it really didn't work out too well."