It wasn’t pretty at times, but for 25 minutes Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center, it appeared the Utah Runnin’ Utes would do enough to get past the Boise State Broncos in the first round of the NIT.
With 15 minutes remaining, however, the wheels started falling off, and the final six minutes were a complete disaster as the third-seed Utes fell to the sixth-seeded Broncos 73-68 to end a so-so season on a sour note.
Why the Utes lost
As with any loss, there were both things Utah did poorly, as well as things Boise State did well that contributed to the season-ending defeat.
Zooming in on the final few minutes, the Utes were outscored 16-1 during a stretch that saw the score go from a five-point advantage in their favor with 6:09 left to a 10-point hole with 45 seconds remaining. During that stretch, the Broncos had four blocks, and Utah went 0-for-8 from the field.
Overall, the Utes committed 16 turnovers, compared to just nine for Boise State. The Broncos turned the Utah miscues into 17 points. Additionally, the Utes finished just 9-of-16 from the free-throw line, losing three points as Boise State went 12-of-18 from the charity stripe. Defensively, Utah had a four-steal advantage at halftime but ended up losing the category 6-5.
On the Utes’ defensive end, head coach Larry Krystkowiak has long employed the strategy of trying to take away the opponent’s “head of the snake” and letting others beat his team, but on Tuesday, Broncos leading scorer Chandler Hutchison went off for 34 points.
Even so, Utah held a lead while Hutchison did most of his damage, but then the Boise State guards started making life difficult for the Utes by getting to the rim for buckets or fouls with relative ease. Marcus Dickinson finished with 12 points, and Paris Austin had eight for the Broncos.
What it means
The loss moved Utah’s final record to 20-12 in a season with plenty of ups and downs. On the positive side, a team that was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 wound up fourth behind elite teams Arizona, Oregon and UCLA.
On the negative side, the Utes were never able to beat any team of significance, falling short each time they had a chance to do so. Additionally, a number of late collapses led to multiple close losses, and defeats in the first round of both the Pac-12 Tournament and NIT will surely sting until autumn.
For the Broncos, they move on to the second round of the NIT where they’ll face Illinois on the road Friday night.