University of Colorado junior forward Trent Beckley, a former walk-on from Battle Mountain High School, will miss the 2008-09 basketball season with a stress fracture in his lumbar spine, coach Jeff Bzdelik announced Wednesday.
Men’s basketball trainer Larry Willock said Beckley’s injury did not require surgery, because the bone tissue is healing.
Beckley played in 10 games last season. He was awarded a scholarship at the beginning of this school year after being a walk-on during his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Tigers sweep CU volleyball.
The Colorado volleyball team (10-9, 4-6 Big 12) lost its fifth straight Big 12 road match, getting swept 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-17) to Missouri (10-10, 4-6) in Columbia. Amber Sutherland was the only Buff to reach double digits in kills, with 12.
UNC hoops picked sixth.
Big Sky Conference men’s basketball coaches and the media agree on the following: Portland State will win the league, and Northern Colorado will finish sixth. Portland, which went 14-2 in the conference last season, was the favorite in the preseason coaches and media polls.
UNC (13-16, 6-10) finished seventh last season, and only the top six teams qualify for the conference tournament. The Bears will count on Jabril Banks, last season’s leading scorer and rebounder (13.2, 5.8), Robert Palacios (5.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and a team-leading 45 steals), Jefferson Mason (9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds) and Will Figures (7.5 points).
Pepsi Center vies for MWC tournaments.
Albuquerque, Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and San Diego have been named finalists to host the Mountain West Conference men’s and women’s basketball championships from 2011 through 2013.
The conference said the winning city will be announced in June.
Previous championships have been held in Las Vegas and Denver. The current series also is in Las Vegas.
The arenas under consideration are The Pit in Albuquerque, the Pepsi Center, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, the Energy Solutions Arena or E Center in Salt Lake City and Cox Arena in San Diego.
