DENVER — The Utah basketball team really doesn't want to play in the NIT next week.
That was the undesirable possibility facing the Utes Thursday afternoon, as they trailed San Diego State by four points with less than three minutes left in the Mountain West Conference Tournament first-round game.
However, they kept their NCAA hopes alive with a scintillating come-from-behind 75-69 victory over the Aztecs at the Pepsi Center. Tonight they'll face BYU at 7 in the MWC semifinals after the Cougars defeated Wyoming 79-74 in another quarterfinal game.
The young Utes, who improved to 22-8, had to reach deep for this one. With Nick Jacobson in foul trouble and the Aztecs' pressure causing them problems, the Utes looked like their NCAA hopes were about to disappear. SDSU led 67-63 with less than three minutes left, when the Utes suddenly went on a 10-0 tear to snatch the victory away from the Aztecs.
"I was proud of our guys and the way they hung in there," said Ute coach Kerry Rupp. "We got some big defensive stops at the end and did a great job on the boards. The boards were a big key for us. We turned the tables on them in the second half (26 to 10 edge). It was just a gutty effort by our kids."
Nick Jacobson led the Utes with 24 points, including a school record-tying seven 3-pointers, while Richard Chaney scored 14, Tim Frost had 11 and Justin Hawkins 10. Andrew Bogut led Utah with 12 rebounds and five assists and added nine points.
Afterward, most of the talk revolved around Chaney and Hawkins, who made the big plays in the second half.
Hawkins, a freshman forward, came up with the play of the game with the Utes trailing by two with 1:41 left in the game.
After Frost missed a baseline jumper from the right side, Hawkins soared high to swipe the rebound away from Aerick Sanders, then quickly got the put-back and was fouled by Sanders.
It was Sanders' fifth foul of the game, which really hurt the Aztecs, since he had scored 18 points and is the team's senior leader.
Hawkins' ensuing free throw put the Utes ahead for good at 68-67.
At the other end came the second biggest play of the game — a fortunate bounce for the Utes.
Chris Walton got free up the middle for a drive and attempted a layup over the front of the rim, only to see the ball hit the back of the rim, bounce to the front, pause briefly, before falling out, into the hands of the Utes' Tim Drisdom.
With 1:10 left, Drisdom extended the Ute lead to three at 70-67 with a pair of free throws. After Wesley Stokes lost the ball out of bounds with a wild drive to the basket, Chaney hit a pair of free throws and Drisdom completed the 10-0 run with a free throw with 15 seconds left.
Following a dunk by Marcus Slaughter with 8 seconds left, the Utes appeared home free, but after a timeout, Drisdom's inbounds pass went off the hands of Jacobson, giving the Aztecs some life. However, Walton's 3-pointer missed badly and Chaney added another pair of free throws for the final margin.
"Hawkins gave us great energy — he did a great job defensively," Rupp said. "I'm really proud of Richard Chaney — he really stepped it up big time."
Chaney, who has struggled over the second half of the season, sparked the Utes with his second-half play after getting just two points and one rebound in the opening half.
The 6-4 sophomore scored three of the Utes' first four baskets of the second half and also sank a baseline jumper to put the Utes up 54-51 with 12:30 left.
"Chaney was huge tonight in the second half," said Jacobson. "It seemed like he was in a bit of a funk for the past month, but he really came out today and wanted to have a great second half because we needed him."
With the Utes leading 59-58, Jacobson was whistled with his fourth foul and had to sit down with 9:19 left. It looked like the Utes might be done without their star senior, but they hung tough while he sat out.
Jacobson didn't like having to sit on the bench for 5 1/2 key minutes in the second half but was proud of his young teammates for holding down the fort until he came back in with 3:44 left.
"It was good for us, to be honest," he said. "I've slowly been trying to trust my teammates more and more. It's been difficult because of the age difference between us. But they all stepped it up tonight."
Soon after re-entering the game, Jacobson hit a jumper to pull the Utes within two at 67-65 with 2:35 left. Then came the big basket by Hawkins, and the Utes never trailed.
In the first half, the Aztecs led by as many as five after their own 10-0 spurt gave them a 19-15 lead. The Utes came back and took a 38-37 halftime lead on a putback by Frost an instant before the buzzer.
For the Aztecs it was a disappointing end to a disappointing season that left them at 14-16 with 10 losses in their last 13 games.
"Unfortunately this was a microcosm of our entire season — coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't," said coach Steve Fisher. "We had opportunities that we didn't seal the deal on. When you are four points ahead with three minutes to go, you need to find a way to make a play . . . unfortunately we didn't get it done."
The Utes will meet the Cougars for the third time this year after winning 64-56 in Salt Lake and losing 70-57 in Provo. Utah has a narrow 119-117 edge in the all-time series.
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