March 9, 2004

PROVO, Utah (AP) - Brigham Young center Rafael Araujo was reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday for hitting an opponent during the Cougars' victory at UNLV last week.

Araujo received a technical foul for hitting UNLV guard Jerel Blassingame in the second half Saturday. He denied throwing a punch at Blassingame, who was knocked to his back and sat out for several minutes.

Araujo later made the game-winning basket in the final second to give BYU an 89-88 win.

The MWC reviewed the game tape and decided to reprimand Araujo for violating the league's sportsmanship policy. Araujo will still be eligible to play for the Cougars when they open the MWC tournament Thursday against Wyoming.

Araujo, a senior from Brazil, was named the conference's co-player of the year Monday, sharing the honor with Air Force's Nick Welch.