Analysis: Runnin’ Utes break their conference tournament jinx, but nothing seems to come easy for this team

Four days ago in Salt Lake City, the Runnin’ Utes showed that killer instinct their fans have been waiting for all season, destroying the Arizona State Sun Devils on Senior Day.

Utah didn’t bring that same mentality to Sin City, but no matter — a win is a win, as coach Larry Krystkowiak has said all season.

Nearly blowing what was once a 19-point lead, the Utes weathered a late barrage of 3-pointers from Washington and held off the Huskies 98-95 in a Pac-12 Tournament first-round game at T-Mobile Arena. The Utes, who evened their overall record to 12-12, can get on the positive side of the ledger if they can upset No. 2 seed USC on Thursday in a quarterfinal game.

Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. MST.

“Hopefully this was a little bit of a wake-up call, a correction to be able to win a game but yet not be very sharp coming down the stretch. We are pleased with where we are here but obviously moving forward we gotta sharpen the saw a little bit without a lot of practice time.” — Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak

“Hopefully this was a little bit of a wake-up call, a correction to be able to win a game but yet not be very sharp coming down the stretch,” Utah coach Larry Krystkiowak said. “We are pleased with where we are here but obviously moving forward we gotta sharpen the saw a little bit without a lot of practice time.”

This analysis was going to be about how the Utes are peaking at exactly the right time, as they played well beyond their No. 7 seeding indicated and looked like a bonafide contender for the title. Then the final four minutes happened.

And a rewrite was needed.

“For 36 minutes, I thought we were pretty solid,” Krystkowiak said.

The coach has often said during this season of the pandemic that the year feels like five. Well, those last four minutes felt like 40, the way the Utes almost helplessly looked on as the Huskies came alive.

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Really, it was just par for the course for these Utes, whose season has been defined as a failure to finish — second halves, second halves of halves, etc. You get the picture.

So credit them for actually finishing this time, and give kudos to freshman Ian Martinez for coming up with arguably the biggest blocked shot in Utah conference tournament history. The outstanding leaper rejected a dunk attempt by UW’s Cole Bajema with 34 seconds remaining that prevented the Huskies from cutting the lead to five.

Mikael Jantunen added free throws with 29 seconds remaining, but Utah still wasn’t out of the woods. The Utes went the final minute and 53 seconds without making a field goal. A 3-pointer by Alfonso Plummer gave them a 12-point lead with just under two minutes to play.

“We made just enough plays,” Plummer said.

But, oh, did things get interesting.

In the final minute, Martinez missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and Pelle Larsson, the best free-throw shooter on the team, inexplicably missed a pair. 

That from one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country, and second-best in the Pac-12. Utah was shooting 79.2% from the stripe during the regular season; it finished 20 of 27 on Wednesday (74.1%).

“They out-scrapped us down the stretch,” Krystkowiak acknowledged. “But I loved our offense for 90% of thee game.”

Utah’s defense was stout in the first half, as the Utes took a 47-35 lead. Then the Huskies scored 60 points in the final 20 minutes as Quade Green, Jamel Bey and Hameir Wright took turns torching the Utes. Green had a game-high 31 points on 10 of 18 shooting, including 9 of 9 from the free-throw line.

Good thing the Utes’ offense was as good as it has been this season. Utah finished shooting 60%, and six players reached double figures, led by Allen with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

Plummer chipped in 21 points on 6 of 11 3-point shooting at the same arena in which he made a tournament- and school-record 11 last year. Branden Carlson had 13, Larsson and Mikael Jantunen 12 each and Riley Battin 11.

The Utes made 14 3-pointers, a season-high, on 26 attempts.

“The nature of the game was a little bit up-tempo,” Krystkowiak said. “Our guys shared the basketball, and this is the time of the year when you want to be knocking down shots. To have six people in double figures is a little bit unusual in a college game. But this is the time of year when guys need to be using their rounds of ammunition, and making them.”

Then again, there was plenty to nit-pick about. The Utes committed 16 turnovers, which UW turned into 21 points, and the Huskies got 15 of their points off offensive rebounds.

“The Achilles’ heel for us tonight was sloppy turnovers, just catching and passing, simple plays, whether they were at the end of the game or the beginning,” Krystkowiak said.

So the Utes turn their attention to the Trojans, who would have won the league if they hadn’t stumbled at Utah back on Feb. 27, losing 71-61 while ranked No. 19 in the country.

“I know USC is going to want to get some revenge for what we did to them last time,” Allen said.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Evan Mobley has looked human against the Utes, playing two subpar games. Shutting down the freshman for a third time might be too much to ask.

“I would have to kill you if I gave you our secret sauce (for containing Mobley),” Krystkowiak quipped.

If nothing else, the Utes learned they can win a conference tournament game at T-Mobile, having gone 0-4 in previous tournaments. They did beat No. 6 Kentucky here in 2019.

“It is not a building jinx, it is more of a Pac-12 Tournament jinx,” Krystkowiak said.

So that’s not a thing anymore, but the Utes’ penchant for making their fans sweat out every single victory still is.