Midway through the second half of Saturday night’s game against Colorado, the Runnin’ Utes looked defeated. The Buffs had just gone on a 16-0 run and were leading by 14 points with 8:15 left to play.
Head coach Larry Krystkowiak told his players during a timeout that if they lost, it would be fine, but what wouldn’t be fine was if they let the game go without a fight. It was this message that struck a cord with seniors Jordan Loveridge, Brandon Taylor and Dakarai Tucker.
“We’re really passionate about winning,” Loveridge said. “We know how important every game is from here on out. One of our goals was to finish in the top of the Pac-12, in the top four, and we didn’t want to leave it up to chance and we knew if we got a win it would seal one of our goals.”
After going without a single point for about seven minutes, the Utes were on the free-throw line, somewhat guaranteed to end the scoring drought. Taylor made his first free throw and missed the second, but Jakob Poeltl grabbed the offensive rebound off of the miss. After working the ball around, Loveridge found himself open for a three-pointer, something the Utes were struggling with all night long, but he took the shot and surprisingly banked it in. Utah scored a quick four points and just like that was only down by 10 points.
“I definitely wasn’t trying to bank it, but it happens,” Loveridge said. “You shoot it wrong and you get a bounce and it’s always nice to get a little luck in a game like that.”
The three seniors were, of course, aided by a few baskets from Lorenzo Bonam and Poeltl, but the seniors were certainly the catalysts. Loveridge, although he finished 2-of-8 from beyond the arc, made his three-pointers when it mattered most. When he made his second one, there was no hesitation, as he was a good few feet behind the arc and he brought the Utes to within one point of the Buffs. Taylor continued to hit clutch free throw after clutch free throw, finishing the game 8-of-10 from the stripe. While Tucker finished with just four points overall, Taylor came up with a crucial block with 2:28 left in the game.
With the seniors at the forefront, the entire team mustered up enough energy for a 19-0 run. They took a five-point lead and held onto this lead for the remainder of the game, winning 57-55.
Krystkowiak does think that the emotions that come with Senior Night played a big role in why the team fell behind, but it’s also one of the main reasons why it managed to come back. The fans, although pretty quiet during Colorado’s 14-point run, immediately got on their feet when Loveridge made his first three-pointer and remained standing for the rest of the game.
“It was a real emotional couple of days,” Krystkowiak said. “I think for me and the guys with their families, it was a little bit surreal. The emotion in the building was really cool and it was quite a fitting ending for our seniors.”
The game was certainly not how the seniors envisioned the night going, but aside from the sheer fact that they got the win, Loveridge feels more confident than ever heading into the Pac-12 tournament. If the Utes continue to rely on their defense, they should fare just fine going up against any opponent.
“Good for us to not shoot as well as we have been so we kind of had to grind out a win,” Loveridge said. “It will definitely help us going into March. You know going into the Pac-12 Tournament you don’t have to shoot as well and if you miss shots you have a chance to win every game if you defend like we do.”
@kbrenneisen