LAS VEGAS — Lawrence Borha may have only been the third option on the play, but the Ute senior made the most of it.
Borha sank a 3-pointer from the left corner with 0.8 seconds left to give the Utes a thrilling 61-58 win over TCU on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center.
The victory keeps the Utes around for another night, where they'll play the New Mexico-Wyoming winner tonight at 9:30 p.m.
"Lawrence made a huge shot," said Ute coach Jim Boylen. "He's made big plays all year. He's made some clutch, clutch plays."
The Utes had tied the game with 44 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Luke Nevill, who battled foul trouble all night. Then after TCU's Ronnie Moss missed a good look right under the basket, the Utes got the ball with 21 seconds left.
After a timeout, Luka Drca held the ball out front before making his move. Nevill came out to set a pick at the top of the key and Drca drove up the right side, only to throw a pass crosscourt to Borha all alone in the corner. Borha's shot hit nothing but net.
"I hope it goes in," Borha said when asked his thoughts when the ball was in the air. "When it went in, I was just relieved and excited."
Borha said he didn't even know how much time was left, but trusted his point guard.
"I wasn't aware of the time, but Luka is a great player and he finds open players," Borha said. "I was just ready in the corner to shoot the ball if it came to me and I shot it."
According to Drca, Borha was his third option on the last play.
"The last play of the game is usually a 'pick-your-own' because there are plenty of options out of it," Drca said. "The first option is always Luke in the paint, then I look for a layup or shot and the third one is to pass out. Because everyone was in the paint, I looked for LB and he made it."
Earlier this year when Utah beat BYU in overtime, the Utes had a chance to win the game in regulation. However, Drca started the play too early and, after missing a shot, the Cougars nearly beat the Utes with a last-second shot.
This time, Drca timed it perfectly and the Frogs didn't have enough time for a decent try at a game-tying shot.
They led 29-26 at halftime and for most of the second half, but the Frogs stayed close and tied the game at 56 on a 3-pointer by Ronnie Moss with 1:36 left.
At the other end, Drca threw one away and the Frogs took their first lead in 15 minutes on a jumper by Zvonko Buljan with 45 seconds left.
TCU had a chance to take another lead, but Moss' shot from just under the hoop just bounced off the rim and Borha grabbed the rebound, setting up his late heroics.
"I thought it was going in," said Moss. "It was a great look. I might have kind of flicked with my hand a little bit. It just didn't fall."
The Utes were led by Shaun Green, who scored 14 points, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. A couple of his 3s were so long that Green didn't even know he was five feet beyond the line until his teammates told him later.
Borha and Nevill each finished with 10 points, but Nevill was just 1-of-2 from the field, while making 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.
When Nevill picked up two quick fouls in a span of 20 seconds early in the game, the Utes faced the prospect of not playing the league's player of the year for the last 16:05 of the half. Boylen said he sometimes might play Nevill with two fouls in the first half, but decided this wasn't the game.
Perhaps that's because, after the Utes fell behind by seven, they rallied to take the lead behind Tyler Kepkay, who scored all seven of his points in a 2 1/2-minute stretch to help give the Utes the halftime lead.
Buljan led TCU, which concluded its season at 14-17, with 20 points, while Moss had 16.
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