The table was set for the Utes to get into the Sweet 16. North Carolina-Wilmington had topped Southern Cal 93-89 in overtime in the game preceeding Utah’s contest.
All Utah had to do was get past Indiana?not quite a pushover.
Plagued by turnovers and an insurmountable Hoosier lead due to streaky first-half shooting, the No. 12 seed Utah (21-9) saw its season come to an end as No. 5 Indiana (21-11) handed the Utes their worst loss of the year, 75-56, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Sacramento’s ARCO Arena.
“Indiana played terrific and took it to us and they whooped us. They beat us up physically,” coach Rick Majerus said. “We’ve beat ourselves [in other games], but tonight they beat us.”
Indiana advanced to the second round for the first time since 1998, and will play the NC-Wilmington Seahawks for a berth into the Sweet 16 Saturday.
“I’m confident they’ll go on here with success,” Majerus said.
In Thursday night’s match-up, the Utes were behind before they knew what hit them. Following a Travis Spivey turnover on a cross-court pass, Indiana’s Tom Coverdale hit a three.
The next time down, Big Ten Player of the Year Jared Jeffries hit a turn-around hook. Another turnover, this one by center Cameron Koford, resulted in a deuce by Jarrad Odle.
Utah found itself down 7-0 before Nick Jacobson got the U on the board with a high arcing jumper.
Utah cut the lead to 7-4, but the Hoosiers worked it back up to seven at 11-4.
Then 6-foot-9 senior forward/center Phil Cullen got involved.
Cullen hit consecutive three pointers, after fluid ball movement and assists by Trace Caton and Britton Johnsen.
Cullen followed with another long range bomb, this one a fade away deuce, and Utah kept the deficit at 13-12.
However, the Hoosiers got the momentum-builder they needed.
Coverdale got spacing between him and back-up U point guard Martin Osimani. Coverdale sank a deep three, and Osimani committed a sliding foul. Coverdale hit the free toss, and it was 17-12 Hoosiers.
After a Caton charge, Coverdale hit Jeffries for a lay-up plus a foul by Ute Eric Osmundson.
The lead was eight, and although five straight points by Spivey would trim the lead to five, the Hoosiers were far from done.
Indiana went on a 17-2 run to claim a 39-19 lead with 3:41 in the first half. The Hoosiers did it with Utah turnovers and missed free throws, but also with few missed shots, as Indiana got a lot of clean looks in the paint.
At that point, IU was shooting 16-22 (72 percent), even though Jeffries was riding the pine in foul trouble.
Utah was behind by 20, but had trailed UNLV 20-3 the week prior at the Mountain West tournament before rallying for a second half lead.
Cullen hit two more treys, and Utah cut the IU lead to 39-25. The lead was nearly the same as the teams hit the locker room, as Indiana held a 42-27 lead.
Indiana set the tone in the second half, building a 46-27 lead after hoops by Jeffries and Coverdale.
Utah got it as close as 13 points in the second half, after Cullen three with 13:44. The senior went out in style with 25 points on 7-9 threes.
The same could not be said about the Utes as a unit, as Utah committed 17 game turnovers.
“It started with me with a careless turnover on our first possession,” Spivey said. “I can’t do that in a big-time game.”
Down the stretch, Indiana made its defensive rotations and free throws to protect the lead for the 75-56 win.
The loss was the first by coach Rick Majerus in an NCAA Tournament first round game in nine tries.