Takeaways: Runnin Utes vs Colorado
The University of Utah closed out their up and down 2019-20 regular season with a thrilling 74-72 win over the Colorado Buffaloes. They’ll now head into the Pac-12 tournament on a positive note, along with some key contributors suddenly being hot. What that means, well, stay tuned.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
It was absolutely the right call
So about that foul call that sent Both Gach to the line… It was a foul, it absolutely was warranted. Of course, no ref ever wants to end a game with a call like that, but it had to happen. Why? Easy, because Gach wasn’t given space to land after shooting.
This is something that Gach has noticeably worked on, although it was irrelevant on that play. Colorado coach Tad Boyle went off about the whistle because Gach had been drawing fouls by shooting the ball and landing a couple feet forward. This particular one, the electrifying sophomore seemed to go almost straight up and down.
The even bigger reason Boyle went nuts? The careless foul by McKinley Wright sent the Buffs from having the no. 3 seed and a first round Pac-12 bye, clear down to the no. 6 seed.
A quiet lineup change that’s a positive
Over the last two games, the coaching staff inserted Mikael Jantunen into the starting lineup, while also hoping to give life to Riley Battin and his shooting off of the bench. This is a change where I don’t see Jantunen leaving the starting lineup any time soon.
Jantunen is selective with his shots and he’d rather do the dirty work that doesn’t always end up in the box score. He’s totaled 15 points over the last two games and 19 total rebounds. He’s also constantly setting up key screens for the shooters. His progress over the upcoming offseason will be something to be excited about.
As for Battin, he’s a shooter that needs to regain his confidence. He’ll be fine, and if he can regain that confidence in Vegas, the second unit will be unleashing a dynamic player.
From the dog house, to being spark plugs
The Utes offense suddenly has some juice the last few games with the reemergence of Gach and the new found confidence and longer leash of Plummer. Both guys have found themselves in the dog house throughout the season, but they’ve started to come through when the Utes have needed them the most.
The two spark plugs combined for 16-29 shooting and 49 points—a career high of 28 for Gach and a solid 21 for Plummer, respectively. Plummer was 5-11 from long distance, while Gach ran the offense for 42 minutes without an injured Rylan Jones.
Can these two have a few surprises up their sleeves next week in Vegas?
Up next
The Utes ended up in a three-way tie and will be the ninth seed in the Pac-12 tournament, Wednesday against Oregon State. The winner will have the daunting task of facing Oregon the next night. The loser will likely have no shot at any of the lower level tournaments.