Van Horn the man among college basketball-playing men

     This time, it wasn't Keith Van at-the-Horn -- just Keith Van Horn.
      The greatest college basketball player to grace the Thomas & Mack Center court since UNLV All-American Larry Johnson in 1991 didn't need another miracle bucket at the buzzer to carry his third-ranked Utah Utes to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship Saturday night.
      That would have been too much.
      There simply aren't enough paramedics in Las Vegas to handle the cardiac arrests that another out-of-nowhere, last-second, game-winning shot would have created.
      Instead, the 6-foot-10 senior -- himself an All-American forward -- spread his immeasurable talent over 34 minutes, scoring 37 points, pulling down 15 rebounds and adding two assists, two steals and three blocked shots to propel Utah to a resounding 89-68 victory over Texas Christian.
      Van Horn may have the face of a boy, but he truly is the man among college basketball-playing men.
      Whether it was your standard layup or open 3-pointer; a spinning turnaround jump shot or slam off an alley-oop pass; an off-balance, fall-away jumper or balletic fingertip roll, Van Horn both manhandled and mesmerized the increasingly aggravated Horned Frogs.
      And he wasn't trying to show anyone up by opening up his offensive arsenal; he merely was playing the only way he knows.
      All-out.
      The native of Diamond Bar, Calif., was named the tournament most valuable player -- an award he most likely would have received without his complete performance Saturday. Who could have denied him, after his inbounds tip-in with three-tenths of a second remaining Thursday gave the Utes a 59-58 win over Southern Methodist and his high-arcing jumper in the lane with eight-tenths of a second left Friday resulted in a 72-70 victory over 14th-ranked New Mexico?
      Without Van Horn, the Utes would have failed to win their second WAC Tournament title in the last three seasons.
      "I obviously would rather play the 34 minutes solidly than have to rely on the last-second shots," said Van Horn, who hit 12 of 22 shots from the floor, including five of eight 3-pointers, and had 13 defensive rebounds -- two more than TCU had on its offensive end. "I thought we played hard (Friday) night. We just didn't play as smart as we normally do.
      "I thought tonight we really put the whole game together, the whole package together where we didn't have to worry about anything like that."
      The "whole package" performance should be enough to guarantee the Utes, at 26-3, a West No. 1 seed for this week's NCAA Tournament. At least that's what Van Horn is hoping.
      "With some of the other teams ahead of us (Minnesota and Wake Forest) losing today, I really think we deserve a `one,' " he said. "I would find it hard to believe that a team with only three losses at this point in the season wouldn't be a `one.'
      "I think the (NCAA Selection) Committee will have to take a hard look at us."
      Because Utah will host one of the NCAA Tournament West subregionals, if the Utes do earn a No. 1 in the West they would be heading to Tucson, Ariz.
      Lucky Tucsonians. Watching a player of Van Horn's talent play is a real treat.
      His coach, Rick Majerus, knows it firsthand. While he's aware of a few "limitations" in Van Horn's game, he's effusive in his praise of his team leader.
      "He does certain things great," Majerus said. "He's an excellent shooter, a great low-block player, great running the floor, great athlete, great hands. All these are like a nine (or) 10.
      "Defensively, he's moved himself up from a four or five to probably a solid six or seven. He's on the way. (And) he's become probably a seven or eight rebounder.
      "He's very good in a lot of areas, great in some."
      And, lest we forget, perfect in the clutch.
     
      Joe Hawk can be reached by e-mail at Joe--Hawk@lvrj.com.