Runnin’ Utes’ ‘narrow margin of error’ went against them in 2-point loss to West Virginia

There wasn’t a miracle finish in store for the Utah men’s basketball team Tuesday night, not like the one the Utes women’s basketball team had three days earlier in its overtime victory over BYU when Maty Wilke’s halfcourt heave sunk their rivals.

Instead, the Runnin’ Utes were outplayed in the final few minutes as West Virginia edged Utah 71-69 at the Huntsman Center on Senior Night.

“I just looked those guys in the eye, and that was hard to do,” Utah interim coach Josh Eilert said after the bittersweet loss. “For those seniors, I wanted it so badly for them and down the stretch, (West Virginia) made a lot more plays than we did.

“... It was a back-and-forth affair and a heck of a game, but we have a narrow margin of error.”

The Mountaineers won a grind-it-out game that was tied six times and featured 10 lead changes.

The final lead change came with just under four minutes to play.

After Utah went into halftime trailing by one, the Utes moved ahead early in the second half and led by as many as eight points in the final 20 minutes.

West Virginia (18-12, 9-10 Big 12), a team that’s in contention to reach the NCAA tournament but could ill afford a loss to the Utes, kept chipping away at the Utah lead and went ahead for good on a Javon Small 3-pointer with 3:42 to play to make it 61-58 Mountaineers.

Utah (16-14, 8-11 Big 12) made it a two-point game going into the final minute, but again Small came up with the big shot.

This time, he hit a leaner in the lane to put West Virginia up 68-64 with 37 seconds to play, and while the final 30-plus seconds had some theatrics and a handful of free throws, the Utes fell short.

“He’s a really good player, and he’s at the top of our scouting report,” Utah fifth-year senior Gabe Madsen said of Small. “Good players make big-time shots. He did that. Came up clutch for them.”

Madsen’s final 3-pointer at the Huntsman Center, with five seconds to play, made the score 70-67, and Jake Wahlin stole the inbound and scored to make it a one-point game.

West Virginia’s Sencire Harris then hit 1 of 2 free throws before Madsen’s near-midcourt shot was blocked and came up well short as the buzzer sounded.

One game after Utah had a season-low six turnovers in a 26-point win over Arizona State, the Utes gave up 16 turnovers against the Mountaineers.

West Virginia itself had 12 turnovers, though only four in the second half.

In a game as close as this, the extra possessions benefitted the Mountaineers, as they were able to put up seven more shot attempts on the night.

“(It) just comes down to turnovers. I had four turnovers, 16 as a team, and we talked a lot about, you’ve just got to win the possession battle,” Madsen said. “I mean, just got to take care of that ball, and I’ll be the first one to say I gotta be better at that.”

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West Virginia ended up shooting 45.6% to 38% for the Utes and made seven more field goals.

That helped counter Utah’s advantage of getting to the free-throw line. The Utes made 22 of 32 free throws, including 15 of 22 in the second half, while West Virginia was 11 of 16 from the line, including 9 of 11 after halftime.

Small, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12, shot 7 of 14 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers for 18 points. He added a team-high seven assists and four rebounds.

“He’s carried us all year. He’s been terrific,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said of Small. “We’ve asked a lot of him at both ends of the floor.

“He’s got to be a scorer, he’s got to be a playmaker for everybody else, he’s got to be a defender, and he’s really risen in big moments for us and tonight was no different. I thought down the stretch there, he really made some huge plays, especially on the offensive end.”

That led a balanced attack from the Mountaineers, who also got double-figure scoring from Amani Hansberry (12), Joseph Yesufu (12) and Jonathan Powell (10).

Madsen, on a night Utah honored its six seniors, led all scorers with 23 points, as he shot 7 of 16 from the field and 5 of 14 from 3 while making all four of his free-throw attempts.

Madsen also had five rebounds and two assists, though he had a team-high four turnovers.

Mike Sharavjamts, after going scoreless in the first half, ended the night with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Eight of those points came during an 11-2 run that gave Utah a 54-46 lead early in the second half.

Ezra Ausar also scored in double-figures for Utah. While he was 1 of 6 from the floor, Ausar made 9 of 11 from the free-throw line, one of those silver-lining moments from a tough effort that saw the Utes come up short.

That leaves the Utes alone in 11th place in the Big 12 standings with one game to play. Utah will head to Provo Saturday to face the red-hot Cougars, who are coming off a double-overtime win Tuesday night at No. 10 Iowa State.

The Utes’ loss, which snapped a five-game home winning streak, ensures they won’t have a first-round bye in next week’s Big 12 tournament, even if they pull the upset of the Cougars.

Still, the Utes, with their interim coach Eilert in charge, are looking to finish the season the way it should be finished — with effort and a fighting spirit amid the turmoil of playing without their head coach Craig Smith, who was fired last week.

“I mean, that one’s done, and it’s gonna sting for 24-plus hours,” Eilert said. “Tomorrow will be a day off for those guys, and this time of year, that’s as good as a really good, hard day of prep.

“Guys need to get away from it and have a mental day and get their legs under them, but I don’t worry about these guys in terms of how they’ll approach coming in and be business as usual on Thursday.”