CLEVELAND -- Perhaps you've been thinking any day now, the Ute basketball team will finally materialize into its former self. You know, the steady, reliable Utes; the ones you could always count on. The ones who finished strong and always knew what their next move would be.
The old steady-as-the-mountains Utes of recent years.Or maybe not.
Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Utes showed up the way they have most of this year, which is to say not knowing what to expect of themselves. They shot poorly. They turned the ball over 21 times. Their spacing on offense resembled a flock of geese.
And for all but the final seconds, it appeared they would end their season with a loss to Saint Louis.
Aha! Fooled you again, didn't they?
Just when the Utes seemed destined to fall short of their own lofty standards one last time, and their slightly tortured season would expire, they pulled away with a 48-45 win. All it took was a pair of clutch 3-pointers by Phil Cullen and a crazy turnaround 3-point shot by Jeff Johnsen, and the Utes were back in business.
Or at least still showing a pulse.
"We like our fans to get their money's worth," explained forward Mike Puzey.
That the Utes would be going into the final moments before securing the win really wasn't a big surprise. This is a team that has struggled with injuries to begin with. But it's also a team that has a tendency to struggle on nights it shouldn't be having problems at all. For all the preparation coach Rick Majerus put into this team, it has regularly baffled itself and its fans with its escapades. How else do you explain losing by 27 points to Wyoming?
Is this the confident, self-assured, steady program of the past? An insecure, self-doubting enigma? A national power or a team lucky to be in the tournament? A team that has been dragged down by its steady stream of injuries or one with enough depth to fight through even a series of tears, sprains and strains?
Don't ask them. They don't know.
"It didn't look good, but we bucked up and got it done," said Cullen.
How they did that depends on perspective. The Utes credited their defense in a defensive struggle. Maybe that's what you call a game in which neither team can hit the ocean with a hand grenade. It was as ugly as a bunion. Both teams shot 38 percent, and both had double-digit turnovers.
But as the game advanced, it seemed the Billikens might pull off the win by waiting for the Utes to shoot themselves out of contention. They led 39-36 with four minutes to go, until Cullen let fly with the second of three baskets he made from three-point range. A minute later Saint Louis was back to a three-point lead, paving the way for another silky Cullen shot that tied the score again.
That's when the Utes really started looking bad. On a broken play, with the shot clock expiring, Johnsen -- who was 0-6 from the field at that point -- found himself dribbling the ball about 20 feet out with nowhere to go. Teammates began screaming "Butter! Butter!" -- a quirky term used to signal that the shot clock is running out.
Not noted as an outside scorer, Johnsen picked up the dribble with his back to the basket, leaped and spun, making the trey as the shot clock expired for a 46-44 lead with 1:44 remaining.
"I just looked up, saw the clock and let it fly," said Johnsen.
When the Billikens saw that one go in, it's safe to assume they knew they were cooked. How were they supposed to answer that? They did cut the lead to one, but the Utes hung on with free throws.
It was an exhausting, frustrating exercise from start to finish; the sort of game that makes you wish there was no such thing as videotape.
But just like choosing a true love, or even a mechanic, looks aren't always the most important thing. They had used improbable means, true. They had pushed their luck. And they definitely had given themselves a scare.
But they were alive, nonetheless
Said Puzey: "Just bear with us."
Like there's another choice.