In a game Coach Rick Majerus termed "an affair of the heart," the University of Utah basketball team claimed third place in the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night and closed out its longest season with a 24-11 record, not counting 10 warmup games in Europe and a pair of preseason exhibition games against Athletes in Action and Team Belgium.
The Minnesota Timberwolves should hope to play so long.Setting aside the question of whether tournament consolation games are a reward or a sentence, Utah became one of only three Division I teams in the country (along with the NCAA and NIT tournament winners) that will play into April and still exit the year on a winning note.
"Maybe I've got too much blood sugar here, but this was a well-played game," said Majerus after Utah's 81-78 win over Florida. "There was a lot of heart out there. Florida played hard, and so did Utah."
In the process, the Utes helped rid themselves of Monday night's demons, when defeat was snatched, as they say, from the jaws of victory. In that semifinal game against Notre Dame, Utah led by a point with 9.7 seconds to play and seemingly had the ball on a turnover - at which point all adversity broke loose. Ute center Paul Afeaki was whistled for a bumping foul, Majerus was whistled for a technical foul after protesting the call, and Notre Dame made four resultant free throws to win going away.
So it was a 6:45 p.m. EST start for the Utes Wednesday night, with no ESPN nationally televised broadcast - instead of the featured 9 p.m. championship time slot, reserved for Notre Dame and Virginia. When the Utes and Florida began their semifinal game Madison Square Garden looked like Wendover before gambling was invented. There were more people in line outside for Harry Connick Jr. tickets. The maitre 'd at Toots Shor's across the street was busier than the Garden ushers.
Nonetheless, the Utes went to work and won it for . . . well, as far as their coach was concerned, for themselves.
"They felt they were wronged," said Majerus. "They didn't feel like they'd been beaten (Monday night) by a last-second shot. They'd been beaten by a fool of a coach and . . ." - Majerus paused, coming up with this word wasn't easy - ". . . and by the discretionary call of a referee.
"They didn't respond by grousing in the paper about it, or by complaining. They responded with this.
"If there was any transcendental value in what happened here this week," said Majerus, "it was that a bunch of guys to whom the word `student-athlete' is not an oxymoron showed how to deal with adversity."
Just like that, the Utes were back from the doomed - winning a close one and looking like their usual overachieving selves. Their season didn't end at 30-4 like it did in 1990-91, when most of the adversity happened to the other guy. "But I'd have to say I'm as proud, probably more proud, of this team as I was last year's team," said Majerus. "This team pretty much got everything out of it. Twenty-four and 11 is an outstanding year. We had a wonderful year."
The Utes lose five seniors, including the blue-collar likes of Craig Rydalch, M'Kay McGrath and Paul Afeaki, none of whom will be easily replaced without testosterone injections, but they'll still have a strong nucleus returning. Jimmy Soto, who led all scorers with 18 points against Florida, will be back, as will Byron Wilson, who scored 15, and every-night players Phil Dixon, Tyrone Tate, Antoine Davison and - if he doesn't turn pro - redshirt senior Josh Grant.
So did Wednesday's win rinse out all the bad tastes and get the Utes primed for next season? Majerus laughed.
"I didn't even think about next year tonight," he said. "Next year is like 200 ice cream cones away."
Wednesday night was about this year. About letting bygones be bygones, about getting on with business, and finishing strong.
"All I told them was you've got Utah on your chest and you want to play hard," said Majerus. He couldn't say they didn't listen.