USU slips by ranked Utah
UTAH 57, USU 58
LOGAN, Utah — The 22nd-ranked Utah Runnin’ Utes had four chances to win in the final 28 seconds of their 58-57 loss against in-state rival Utah State, but came away with their third loss on the young season.
The final three or four plays of the game were a mixture of hard-fought rebounds and dancing.
USU guard Curtis Bobb found himself dancing along the sideline following a missed shot by Utah’s Travis Spivey that was knocked out of the paint by a half-dozen rebounders. Grabbing the ball on his tip-toes, Bobb called a timeout before he leaned too far out of bounds, with 28 seconds remaining in the game and his Aggies leading Utah 58-57.
USU had taken a 58-53 lead on the visiting Utes, but a heart-stopping three-pointer by Kevin Bradley and a free throw from big man Nate Althoff had brought the Utes to within a basket of a win.
Utah quickly fouled Bobb on the inbounds play. He missed both attempts and Utah grabbed the rebound and cleared the floor for a play, assistant coach Dick Hunsaker said, was designed for Bradley. With about six seconds remaining, Bradley slashed into the lane and tossed up a finger-roll that missed and came back to Bradley. His tip missed and a second tip by teammate Mike Puzey also failed as the buzzer sounded.
“It as a great effort to crash the boards as well as we did,” Hunsaker said. “To his credit, It was a good effort by Bradley. It just didn’t go down.” Hunsaker is bench coach for the Utes while head coach Rick Majerus nurses a knee following surgery. Majerus did not make the trip and will likely not be with the team until later in December.
Hunsaker: “If that last one goes in, we are the happy team and we dance off the floor.”
Utah drops to 4-3 with the loss, USU stands at 5-1.
USU coach Stew Morrill said the final series of shots was “one of those times when your life flashes before your eyes. I really thought that last one was going in, but we got away with a win.”
USU climbed into the second half lead behind the shooting of forward Shawn Daniels, who dropped eight of his 15 points during a 10-1 run that gave USU a lead of 58-53. Daniels scored in double figures for the third time this year and the 30th time in his USU career.
Tony Brown, junior shooting guard, led USU in scoring with 18 points, going 4-7 from the field and hitting all eight of his free throw attempts. He led his team with six assists.
“Tony Brown is a great competitor,” Morrill said. “He made some great passes tonight and I think it was his best game of the year.”
Utah had taken a 38-33 halftime lead, mostly due to five consecutive three-point shots late in the first half, three from reserve Phil Cullen. USU’s Morrill began tinkering with his defense in an attempt to slow down the outside shooting by the Utes.
“When you play a more talented team, sometimes you have to do some things to keep them off balance, so I changed the defense up a little bit,” Morrill said. “We switched it up a time or two. It could have back-fired, but it seemed to work. They missed some shots, which has to happen, and we boarded the ball much better.”
The taller Utah team outrebounded USU 18-9 in the first half, 35-30 for the game.
Aggie reserve Jeremy Vague, who cleared the Spivey miss that ended up in Bobb’s hands, said his team was “out-physicalled” by the visitors in the first half.
“They are a physical team and we knew at halftime we had to do something,” Vague said. “We had to deliver it back to them. I was just glad I got my hand on that last one. My number one priority in that game was to rebound.”
Hunsaker said his team is still looking for leadership and still learning their roles.
“This time of the seaon, we realize how new we are together,” he said, adding his team felt the loss of Majerus. “It’s been a difficult time. I think we have some unfair expectations, based, in part on Rick’s reputation. We might be that good but we’re not that good yet.
“Roles aren’t defined, our leadership is not defined. There will be time for that to evolve.”
Morrill said the evolution will leave Utah in a good position.
“Utah will be just fine. They will be a good basketball team, don’t fool yourself,” Morrill, in his third USU season, said. “When it gets to the Mountain West play, that will be a real good team.”