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Show SHOCKING THE SHOCKERS BY GRIFFIN ADAMS /SPORTS EDITOR PHOTO BY ERIN BURNS S ometimes words cannot adequately describe a situation. Such was the case late Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. With 14,319 screaming Utah fans cheering on their team, Utah used a nifty runner in the lane from point guard Brandon Taylor and some stingy defense on the other end to hold on to a late-night overtime upset over No. 8 Wichita State, 69-68, ending the Shockers' 35-regular season game winning streak. "That was a grinder',' said Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak following the game. "I really respect what [Wichita State] is doing ... I have tremendous respect for what they do, and rather than think about ending anything of theirs, I'd rather think about beginning something for us." Leading the way for the Runnin' Utes was Taylor, who finished the game with 17 points to go along with his four assists, while freshman center Jakob Poeltl registered a doubledouble with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with his three blocks. Utah also got productive play from its bench as both Dakarai Tucker and Brekkott Chapman saw significant minutes. Tucker finished with 13 points and some timely three-pointers while Chapman contributed eight points and five rebounds. The game could not have started better for the visiting Shockers, reeling off a 10-0 run to put Utah in an early double-digit deficit. However, after a Utah timeout, the Runnin' Utes made the necessary adjustments to respond with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within three early in the half. There was a lot of back-and-forth play the remainder of the half, but it was the Shockers who went into the locker rooms with the halftime lead, 33-29. In the second half, Utah was a team on a mission. While the statistics in each half were nearly identical for the Utes, the crowd started to rub off on the players as they began to play with a deeper desire and more confidence. From Dallin Bachynski grabbing offensive board after offensive board to Taylor hustling for the loose ball, Utah was showing it wanted to win this game. With 5:19 left, the game was Utah's for the taking. The Runnin' Utes held an 11-point lead and essentially had the game in their back pocket before the improbable began to happen. Utah began to get complacent on offense as it had the late edge, but Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall and his Shockers did not want their streak to end quite yet. After a few costly turnovers and some big three-pointers from Fred VanVleet, Wichita State found itself with a 60-58 lead with just 37 seconds remaining on the clock. "I knew they weren't going to go away,"Taylor said. "They aren't No. 8 for nothing. It was incredible how that team kept coming back after we kept going on runs and runs. They kept coming and that's a good team." With the Utes' offense struggling throughout the night, fans were on the edge of their seats waiting to see what Krystkowiak drew up. With the clock at 19 seconds, Tucker took the ball from the right wing and drove into the paint where he was fouled and put on the line. Luckily for Utah, Tucker had been preparing for this moment. "I was just thinking all about fundamentals — stay focused and knock them down," Tucker said. After Tucker's free throws tied the game up at 60 apiece, Utah used a smart foul and some solid defense from Taylor to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, things played out very similarly to the rest of the game. With some more back-and-forth play, the lead changed four times until finally point guard Delon Wright gave Utah the lead with 14 seconds left on the clock with a pretty floater in the lane. While the Huntsman Center was rocking, there was still plenty of time left on the clock for Wichita State to draw up some sort of play to try and go home to Kansas with its streak still intact. But after a missed shot from VanVleet, forward Chris Reyes grabbed the defensive rebound before getting fouled to try and seal the game. However, Reyes missed his one-and-one free throw, holding the door open for the Shockers for a second longer. Or maybe even less, thanks to Poeltl sneaking into the lane and grabbing the offensive board. The center was immediately fouled, giving the Utes another chance to seal the victory, but Poeltl missed both free throws. In the end, the inevitable was just delayed as Wichita State's desperation heave was no good, finally giving Utah the victory. "I was more hyped than nervous;' Taylor said when the final shot went up. "I was just like, 'They can't get this shot, at all:" The Shockers were led by star guard Ron Baker, who finished with 15 points, while Tekele Cotton and VanVleet finished with 14 and 13 respectively. 8 THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014 } Utah will next compete when it travels down south to take on in-state rival BYU in Provo on Dec. 10. g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu @GriffDoug t's not supposed to be easy. Utah spent the 2013-14 season trying to move up to the upper echelon of the sport. The Utes had the look of a top team but couldn't find top results. A season ago, a ranked Oregon team toppled the Utes with a steal and dunk at the buzzer, missed free throws spelled Utah's demise against Arizona and porous late-game execution caused the Utes to be eliminated in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament at the hands of Saint Mary's. "I felt like last year we kind of panicked a little bit'," Brandon Taylor said. "Me? I know I did:' Up by seven on No. 8 Wichita State with just under three minutes remaining, it looked like the Utes were once again hitting the panic button. Wichita State's Fred VanVleet hit a three to cut the Utah lead to four. Moments later, after a five-second violation on the Utes, Tekele Cotton hit a three to bring the Shockers to within one. And when Wichita State stole the ensuing Utah inbound pass and VanVleet struck again from behind the arc, the Ute lead was suddenly gone. Nine points in 34 seconds, and a seven-point Utah lead turned to a twopoint deficit. Even after the shocking offensive burst from the Shockers, Taylor and the Utes were determined to not let last season's flaws show up again. "I was still looking forward to the next play this time around," Taylor said. "I was like, 'Don't panic, everything is cool, the next play's the right play.'" The Utes have changed a lot since last season. Freshmen Jakob Poeltl, Brekkott Chapman, Isaiah Wright and Kyle Kuzma have all provided lifts for the Utes, but the biggest difference manifested itself in the final moments of the fourth quarter Wednesday. There was no panic. On the ensuing Ute possession, Dakarai Tucker drove down the baseline and drew a foul. Tucker calmly sank both free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Utes had every reason to falter, to come out flat and deflated, but they didn't. Utah stood toe-to-toe with the No. 8 team in the country, as the teams exchanged go-ahead baskets throughout the extra session. With 14 seconds remaining, Delon Wright went to the post, backed in his defender and hit a jumper in the lane for the game-winning bucket. With the win, it's time for the weight to be lifted off the Utes' shoulders. Everyone knew they had the talent to compete against the top teams in the nation — now they've proved they have the mettle as well. Just six games into the season, the Utes have already slain their biggest demon from a year ago. Wichita State hadn't lost in 35 regular season games and is just two years removed from a Final Four appearance. The Shockers might not have the name power of Duke, Syracuse or Kentucky, but over the last two seasons, they might just have the better résumé. And they wanted this win. As the threes piled up and the comeback began, the Shocker bench was beside itself. They had all the confidence in the world, yet Utah still found a way to win. This would not have happened a season ago. This is the new signature win of the Larry Krystkowiak era, and with it Utah may have just earned a seat at the table of the nation's elite. r.miller@chronicle.utah.edu @millerjryan 9 |