Merely seconds after the official tossed the ball between two future NBA big men, the feeling of promise for Utah sunk into oblivion.
Utah won the opening tip, but the Arizona Wildcats were in a defensive frenzy from the moment the clock read 19:59, and that’s when things got downright atrocious for the Mountain West Conference Champion and No. 5 seed Utes.
They were stifled, they were bothered and they were forced out of their element.
The realized nightmare that a group of immensely talented and ridiculed Arizona players would show up with chips rightly placed on their shoulders and look to play the toughest 40 minutes of their careers was front-and-center.
Unfortunately for the Utes, they never gave the Wildcats a scare.
Not even a fright.
Arizona didn’t need to worry about a fright8212;the Utes took care of all the deflation themselves.
Twenty turnovers. Carlon Brown coughing up the rock with the Utes down 64-62 with 4:55 left, exterminating any chance of Utah knotting it up or taking the lead.
Arizona ran off eight straight points and that was that.
As bitter as the pill might taste, the Utes’ first time dancing since 2005 was over before it started.
Utah was outplayed, outhustled, outmanned and outhearted by a team that was better prepared and better equipped to win an NCAA Tournament basketball game.
It was like an action-packed, shoot-’em-up film starring Clive Owen, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp going up against a B-list romantic comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and seeing which would come out of the box office weekend a winner.
There was no contest.
Brown and Luka Drca looked as if they were playing with a secured blindfold, and the Wildcats proved they did all their homework and then some by forcing Luke Nevill into two quick fouls.
Utah never had a shot8212;not without its two best playmakers seemingly M.I.A. for the evening and its 7-foot-2 Aussie riding pine next to the likes of Josh Sharp and Chris Hines.
Arizona came out with force and showed that it belonged. The last team selected into the field of 65 showcased the arsenal it features, something Utah had absolutely no answer for.
Jordan Hill took the cake of the big man showdown by finishing with 17 points and 13 boards and a few thunderous dunks to boot.
The combo of Chase Budinger and Nic Wise were kryptonite to the Utes’ now 24-10 season.
Budinger showcased his overall game, shaking off defenders and getting to the basket at will. Defenders such as Shaun Green, coinciding with Drca and Brown were fish in a barrel for the swingman. Budinger finished the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
It was Wise who continually proved to be the knife in Utah’s back as he shredded the respectable Utah defense for 29 points, most coming at the rim as he shed off Lawrence Borha like a bad habit.
Utah’s inability to do anything with Arizona’s press, coupled with a 2-for-11 start, coupled with Nevill’s foul trouble, coupled with…youget the picture.
“You know, you’ve got to give them credit, too,” said head coach Jim Boylen. “They played well. You know, that’s not the team tonight I saw n tape for 10, 12 games, and you’ve got to give them credit for that. They played well.”
Yes, Arizona played a hyperactive 40 minutes and rode its three stars to victory, but for Utah, an era hit a screeching halt in South Beach.
There will be no more of Borha’s catchy smiles, no more Shaun Green from 28 feet out, no more Tyler Kepkay keeping his team above water8212;as he did against Arizona, playing his best game as a Ute when it truly mattered.
Alas, no more Luke Nevill. No more double-doubles, no more sky hooks, no more diluted foul trouble.
It’s the closing of one door, the opening to another.
Next year will bring a plethora of new faces to the hill and it will befall unto the shoulders of talented, athletic and turnover-prone tandem of Drca and Brown.
Utah will have its hands full next season with yet another tough non-conference schedule and Boylen will have the daunting task of breaking in more than a handful of newbies. But it was the play of his seniors, no matter the outcome of the first-round matchup with Arizona, that will forever reign supreme in the mind of Utah’s second-year coach.
“I’m going to remember the tough days, the days when they didn’t like me very much, and then I’m going to remember the days that we improved, when we grew together and we trusted each other,” Boylen said. “You know, there’s things that cannot be taken away from these guys now. These guys have never won anything in their lives. Lawrence Borha said, “I’ve never won anything in my life.'”
Utah achieved and performed above all expectations, and that’s the end of this year’s song.
“These guys are leaving winners, they’re leaving Utes, and they’ll be Utes forever and they’ll be my guys forever,” Boylen said.
Chris Kamrani