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Las Vegas
The Utah Utes came to Las Vegas hoping for a third shot at Arizona, but they could not take advantage of their second chance against Oregon.
After a 67-64 loss to the Ducks in Friday's late semifinal of the Pac-12 tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, all the Utes can do now is regroup for the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years. That's a nice prize, but the Utes wanted more to show for this breakthrough season. They will have to live with two losses to each of the top two teams in the conference.
The latest defeat came via a shocking shot in the last second, a 3-pointer delivered by Oregon guard Joseph Young — the Pac-12 Player of the Year and therefore the guy the Utes really did not want to hurt them.
Ute guard Delon Wright's teammates wanted to prove that he was the more deserving player, but Young delivered 25 points against them. Wright finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Wright's two free throws with 7.2 seconds left would have forced overtime, but Young topped him
Brandon Taylor scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half, which ended with the Utes being disappointed that they held only a 31-30 lead.
Utah was ahead by six points and in possession of the ball with about a minute left, but committed two turnovers and gave up Young's 3-pointer and Elgin Cook's inside basket.
Then again, the Utes were in better shape than they were as of halftime Thursday, when they trailed Stanford by five points. Utah ended up winning that quarterfinal game 80-56, thanks to a 24-3 run that started midway through the second half.
In this case, the Utes never could separate themselves from Oregon. It didn't help freshman center Jakob Poeltl made only 2 of 6 free throws during a period when he kept missing shots around the basket. Poeltl and forward Jordan Loveridge played well in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Stanford, but that was not the case Friday.
Because the Utes faced Oregon only once in the regular season via the Pac-12's scheduling rotation, this semifinal meeting qualified as a rematch. That prospect motivated the Utes, judging by many times Wright used that word in response to a question after the Stanford game late Thursday.
"You're always excited to play a rematch against a team that beat you," he said. "And we only got to play them one time. So we didn't get that rematch. So this our rematch. And we'll be really excited for the rematch.
To recap: Friday's game was a rematch.
It came in a venue known for its boxing history. That's good for Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak, who's fond of making boxing comparisons to basketball, using terminology such as heavyweight fight, counter-punching and pound-for-pound ability.
"Those sports that are challenging, like boxing and wrestling — I've done 'em both, and they're two of the hardest things I've ever done," he said. "You've got to be in great condition. A lot of our guys probably haven't boxed or wrestled, but those who have experienced it kind of understand the relationship I'm talking about."
As for dealing with the conference Player of the Year, the Utes had done a good job of defending Young last month, when he scored 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting. He shredded Colorado with 30 points in the quarterfinals, even though the Buffaloes thought they had a sound game plan for him.
"We wanted to get the ball out of his hands and make somebody else beat us," said Colorado coach Tad Boyle. "And we didn't. And that's what you call execution, or lack thereof."
The Utes know the feeling.
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