The confetti that emerged from the Utah student section with 1:15 to play Thursday night said it all. The Utes have officially put on the Cinderella slipper.
In the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament, tenth-seeded Utah forced overtime after trailing No. 2 Cal in the second half by eight. The Utes then dominated the final five minutes and won 79-69. It was Utah’s fourth consecutive victory.
“It was a fantastic college basketball game,” said Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak. “Obviously the result made it a little bit more appealing. Kids kept with it, the rim opened up for us and we made plays when we needed to.”
More specifically, Jordan Loveridge and Jarred DuBois made clutch plays down the stretch. With the Utes trailing 57-54 with 17.7 left in regulation, Loveridge was fouled behind the 3-point line. The freshman made just two of three from the charity stripe and Utah fouled Allen Crabbe. Entering the game, Crabbe had made 82 percent of his foul shots on the season, but the senior connected on just one of two and the Utes still had life.
With four seconds remaining and with Utah unable to get into its offensive set, DuBois hoisted up a contested three and it tickled the twine to send the game into overtime tied at 59. The scenario was a familiar one for DuBois, as he had missed a 3-pointer at the end of the game at Arizona in January.
“I said if I get in that situation again, I’ll do my best to make it and fortunately it went in,” DuBois said.
The senior led Utah with 21 points.
In the extra session, a pep talk from Krystkowiak to DuBois and Loveridge motivated the pair to lead the Utes to victory. Along with Jason Washburn, the trio combined for Utah’s first nine points of overtime as Cal could not get a defensive stop. The confetti followed.
“I think in overtime once I saw [DuBois] hit that shot, I felt like I had to back him up,” said Loveridge, who finished with 20 points. “I felt like we just needed to turn it on right there. Why not go out and get it? So I felt like as a team we huddled up and decided we’re here already, we might as well go get it.”
In a tournament that was expected to be wide open due to the parity in the Pac-12, Utah has emerged as the only team thus far to bust the bracket. Though the Utes are just two games away from an unexpected birth in the NCAA Tournament, DuBois and Loveridge insist they are not looking ahead to that possibility.
“We can’t look ahead or get ahead of ourselves,” Loveridge said. “We’re just trying to play every game as hard as we can and try to see how far we can make it.”
Waiting for the Utes are the Oregon Ducks. Utah beat the Ducks last weekend in the regular season finale at the Huntsman Center.
“It’s a one-game season,” DuBois said. “You win one night, you play the next. Plain and simple.”
The game will tip off at 9:30 Mountain time.