Takeaways: Utes Overcome Rough Final Minutes to Win
The University of Utah held on for an ugly 76-75 victory against the Cal Bears on Thursday, as the Bears fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit. While there were positives to come away from the games with, there were also cringe-worthy moments.
Here are the takeaways from the Utes victory:
It’s a road winning streak
It wasn't pretty, but the Runnin' Utes have won three games in a row now, Two on the road and one at home. In addition, they have won five out of their last seven, and are back to .500 in conference play. Being 9-7 overall leaves much to be desired by fans, but this team feels like they are starting to turn a corner, albeit a small one. And, this will be talked about below, but a win is a win. Regardless of the magnitude, the Utes are starting to play their best ball of the season as the post season nears.
Martinez was ready for the moment
Timmy Allen may have led the team in scoring with 18 points in 40 minutes, but Ian Martinez was hot off the bench as he saw an increase in minutes due to Rylan Jones’ unfortunate practice injury. Martinez contributed 16 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes. He went 5-5 from the line and made some key baskets down the final stretch, including a three-pointer to give the Utes back the lead. Most importantly, he didn’t shy away from the moment and look confident and unfazed in doing so.
Against the Bears, Ute fans caught a glimpse of the guy they expected to see from the moment Martinez stepped foot on campus. It’s taken him some time to adjust to the college game, but better late than never, as the Utes have an emerging talent that the staff can hopefully find ways to utilize on a consistent basis.
Four brutal minutes of basketball
The ending was bad. Granted, it was a win, but go back and watch those closing minutes and you’ll hear game commentators that sounded dumbfounded, at times. The last Utah bucket came at the 4:05 mark from Martinez. The Utes luckily hit their first eight free-throws in that stretch, but then went 2-6 to close the game out. Getting the ball consistently in the hands of a guy who has struggled with crucial free-throws instead of to Pelle Larsson, a 93% shooter from the line, wasn’t smart basketball. Then to make matters worse, they carelessly almost gave the game away on a lazy and ill-advised turnover from Allen—which gave the Bears opportunities to both win the game or tie it. In the postgame, Krystkowiak acknowledged how lucky his team was and that there were some definitely learning moments that fortunately came in a victory.
A win is a win, but those last four minutes were just ugly basketball.
Up next
The Runnin’ Utes close out the week with a road game on Saturday at 8PM against the Stanford Cardinal. They’ll be aiming for a three game Pac-12 road winning streak.