Utes Bow Out Of Pac-12 Tournament After Horrid Shooting Night
Mar 15, 2019, 12:01 AM
Utah Utes forward Donnie Tillman (3) comes under heavy pressure from Oregon Ducks forward Paul White (13) and forward Miles Norris (5) during a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal game at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 14, 2019. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A poor shooting night proved costly for the Utah Utes as they bowed out of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament with a 66-54 loss to Oregon in the quarterfinals.
The Utes, one of the top-shooting teams in the conference, couldn’t buy a basket against the Ducks. For the night, they went just 2-for-23 from beyond the arc and completely collapsed after an impressive defensive performance in the first half.
While they weren’t filling up the basket early either, Utah held the Ducks to just 18 points in the first half thanks to stingy defense.
In the second half, the Ducks’ offense picked up. Utah’s did not. In the second half, the Ducks outscored the Utes 48-30 to knock the third seeded Utes out of the tournament.
The Utes’ frustration in the second half was extremely palpable, peaking with a technical foul given to head coach Larry Krystkowiak for slapping a cup off the scorer’s table after a foul called on center Jayce Johnson.
Coach Krystkowiak was quite unhappy with a call against Jayce Johnson in the Utes' loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. pic.twitter.com/GYGZZd1rWi
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 15, 2019
Senior Sedrick Barefield struggled in perhaps his final game in a Utah uniform. Though he shot 40 percent from beyond the arc during the season, he shot just 1-for-9 in the loss to Oregon.
Donnie Tillman finished with a game-high 18 points. Timmy Allen chipped in 14 points while Johnson nearly had a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
Oregon’s Payton Pritchard and Louis King each had 20 points.
Oregon will move on to face Arizona State in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Utes fall to Oregon 54 to 66.#GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/dDwk6Wdes3
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) March 15, 2019
With the NCAA Tournament not a possibility for the Utes, they will hope to receive a bid to the NIT, although that seems highly unlikely at the moment. It’s possible that they will pursue a lesser postseason tournament or choose to end their season.
