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Show 5 SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com Thursday, December 11,2008 Men's Basketball Final Saturda Frida Men's Basketball Volleyball Women's Basketball Utah @ Washington Utah § Oklahoma Santa Clara @ Utah . 9:00 PM, Ml Seattle, Wash. 3:00 P.M., G, Norman, Oklahoma 2:00P.M.,MT MEN'S BASKETBALL Utah buried by last-minute 3 Marco Villano STAFF WRITER The most hyped game to date this season for the Runnin' Utes came down to a desperation 3-point attempt by Tyler Kepkay. He missed, allowing Cal to exact revenge on last year's last-second loss to Utah. Jerome Randle scored 21 points, including the game-win- ning 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left. Cal beat Utah 72-69 in a finish that was eerily similar to last year's finish in Berkley, Calif., when Shaun Green hit a shot with fewer than two seconds left to give Utah a slim road victory. "I don't know if it's luck, or karma—it just happens," said Ute guard Carlon Brown. Coming out of a time-out with the game tied at 69 apiece, Cal had 12 seconds on the shot clock to get an attempt off. Randle came off of a screen, a few feet beyond the 3-point line, was handed the ball and shot the game-winning 3-pointer over 6-foot-io-inch forward Kim Tillie. Utah inbounded the ball without a time-out, and Kepkay took the ball down the length of the floor and shot a 35footer over three defenders that bounced high off the rim. 69 72 Runnin' Utes could learn from Boylen "We knew that guy was going to shoot that and he just made the shot over us," said Ute head coach Jim Boylen of Randle's shot. "We wanted to switch (the screen) with a bigger guy, someone who could slide his feet, like Kim, and NICHOLAS you gotta give the kid credit. He made a shot." PAPPAS Ute guard Carlon Brown kept the Utes in the game until the end. He scored five of Utah's last seven points, and dished an assist to Luke Nevill on the Utes' final omeone should tell Jim Boylen he has a basket, a score that tied the game chair. at 69-69. Brown finished with a His red-and-white seat sat vacant the season-high 15 points. entire Cal game as Boylen paced back and forth on the sidelines. He raised his arms in Utah's starting guard, Luka disbelief when Lawrence Borha took an illDrca, missed the game because advised shot outside the paint. He made a beeof an ankle injury. Freshman Jace line to the referee during a time-out to tell him Tavita stepped in to start for Drca exactly how he felt about the last call. When and played 17 minutes, contributhe needed a rest, he got as close to the court ing in aspects other than scoring. as possible and took a knee. In the second half, "Jace did what I hoped he would I halfway expected him to start directing trafdo," Boylen said. "He didn't shoot fic in the lane with glow sticks. the ball, which is OK, he tried to play within himself, he tried to The Huntsman Center is where the Crimget other guys the ball. It's fun to son Club goes to die, and Jim Boylen's energy play a freshman." is enough to cause a heart attack. I don't know how the man does it. Have After falling behind 34-29 at the you ever looked closely at where Boylen has end of thefirsthalf, the Utes made been in his coaching career? He studied under a comeback. Kepkay came out of Jud Heathcote, the legendary Michigan State the locker room hot, scoring 12 coach who was the floor director behind the points in the first 6:30 minutes of famed 1979 Magic vs. Bird national championthe second half. He finished the ship. Boylen was an assistant coach for the game with 17 points. Houston Rockets during their back-to-back Although he injured his hip finals, guiding the footwork of Hakeem Olajumidway through the second half, won. He helped Yao Ming feel comfortable on Nevill played through the pain American hardwood. and scored a team-high 18 points, 10 of those coming in the second He is an easily excited man who has been in half. He made clutch free throws electrified atmospheres. The Huntsman Centhroughout the game, something ter has all the electricity of a pacemaker. the team as a whole didn't do. It's surreal, really. Amid the dusty air and The Utes were 2O-for-3i from sound of oxygen tanks, Boylen sticks out like a the charity stripe, while the Bears sore thumb. went i7~for-26. :, ,:. , . >, The Runnin' Utes have been up and down all season. They've had resume-building wins "We have to work so hard to get against Ole Miss and Missouri State coupled to the line that when we get there, with point-and-laugh losses to Southwest we gotta make them," Boylen Baptist and Idaho State. said. "We didn't do a good job of doing that tonight, and it's painful The game Wednesday night against Cal was to lose a game at the line." business as usual. Utah played well enough to lose. There were bright spots, including three Four players finished with 3-point buckets in a row at the start of the all but five points for the Bears. second half, but the game ended with a lastRandle led the Bears on 8-of~i3 second shot by Cal guard Jerome Randle that shooting. sealed the victory "It's not like he made easy shots," Kepkay said. "The first Yet it didn't matter whether the Utes were half, there were a couple shots he down by eight or up byfive.Jim Boylen never made and I fouled the guy. The changed his persona. He clapped, waved, second half he made a couple wandered and shook his fists. During each free layups over Luke and a 3-pointer throw, he put his hand on a guard's shoulder over a 6-10 guy. He was on toand offered advice. night." I don't understand how his energy doesn't Going into the game, the Utes intoxicate the team. These young players felt they had the advantage on the should be drinking Boylen up and going wild glass. Cal outrebounded the Utes after every shot. It just isn't happening. The 32 to 29, eight of those on the ofgame had as much energy as the rest of the fensive end, allowing it to score 13 Huntsman Retirement Center. The only thing second-chance points. used less than Boylen's chair was Luke NevilTs facial expressions. Known for their shooting from 3-point range, it took them 10 minThis is a team with talent. It is a team that utes for the Bears to make one. In knows how to defend and play with intellithe final 30 minutes of the game gence. What it lacks right now is heart. Utah they made six more 3-pointers on football went undefeated because it never 10 attempts. believed it would lose. Paul Kruger made it a habit to wave his arms in the air every game to The Utes were i-of-7 from get the crowd behind him. 3-point range in the first half. They finished the game with five The Ute basketball team could learn from made 3s on 16 attempts. m.villano@chronicle.utah.edu See BOYLEN Page 7 S TYLER COBB/fte Daily Utah (iuonldt Cal guard Jerome Randle sunk a 3-point shot over Utah's Kim Tillie with 6.1 seconds left to give the Bears the lead. Cal defeated Utah 72-69. MEN'S BASKETBALL Missed free throws haunt Utes all night Christopher Kamrani ASST. SPORTS EDITOR As he sat down in the postgame press room, tired and worn from trying to pull his team back into the game, small forward Carlon Brown was asked the inevitable question after a loss: What was the difference tonight? He answered with the same response as head coach Jim Boylen, guard Tyler Kepkay and center Luke Nevill. "I think we lost it on the free-throw line," Brown said. After that, Brown rambled off a list of Ute players who had missed free throws on the night. The list was long. Seven different Utes missed free throws en route to their 72-69 loss to the visiting California Golden Bears. Utah shot 20-for31 from the charity stripe, an unimpressive 64.5 percent from the line. After Boylen was asked to make an open- ing statement regarding the game, the traditional long pause was given, followed by his response: "We missed n free throws," he said. "I thought that was kind of a difference in the game." Through Dec. 7, Utah was ranked No. 10 in the nation in terms of free-throw shooting with an average of 77.8 percent. Utah had previously sunk i26-of-i62 free throws in its first seven games, an average of 5.1 misses per contest. On a night when a talented Pac-10 team came marching into the Huntsman Center, missing 11 from the line would prove to be Utah's ultimate undoing. "We're a very good free-throw shooting team," Boylen said. "(Cal) missed nine, we missed 11. Maybe it's a wash, I don't know." Boylen hinted at the fact that his aggressive style of basketball commits fouls and receives fouls. Making the ensuing free See FREEBIES Page 6 TYLER CObB/IhtDaily Ulafi (hionide Jordan Cyphers, who went O-for-4 from the free throw line, gets an earful from head coach Jim Boylen. Utah shot 20-for-31 from the line against Cal, 13 percent below its season average. |