Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round) on March 10, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 73
Final Score
Men's Basketball
66
vs No. 9-Seed Cincinnati (1st Round)
73
The University of Utah Athletics
Fatigue Sets In Down the Stretch
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 30, 1998
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - In the end, Utah's defense and rebounding could not overcome turnovers and fatigue.
The Utes, the best rebounding team in the country, ruled the backboards Monday night. But they were too pooped to shoot down the stretch, making one field goal over the final 5 1/2 minutes in a 78-69 loss to Kentucky in the national title game.
"I think we tired," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "And I think these guys battled, but I probably should have played the bench a little more. I think fatigue factored into it."
The tipoff to the Utes' demise might have come at halftime when most of the team ran off the court, followed slowly by center Michael Doleac. If he was tired then, it was about to get worse even though the Utes led 41-31.
"I'm not sure we got worn out," Doleac said. "I was tired but we're playing for the national championship. You push yourself."
Then he paused, thinking about the fatigue factor.
"Maybe that was it," he sighed.
Majerus has always preached defense and rebounding first and that combination carried the team from the WAC to its first national championship game in 44 years and a 10-point lead in the title game.
Much of the heavy work underneath was done by Doleac, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. But he was running out of steam, along with the rest of this determined young team. Often, he found Kentucky's defenders collapsing in on him in the second half.
"They did a good job on defense," Doleac said. "I got blocked a couple of times. You knew that would happen because they're a good shot blocking team."
"We doubled down on him in the second half," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said, "because he was hurting us in the first half."
Utah looked worn out at the end and it showed in turnovers. The Utes gave the ball away 18 times, far too generous in a title game against an opportunistic team like Kentucky.
They had outrebounded everybody on the road to the championship game and kept it up against Kentucky, ruling the boards 39-24. But the turnovers proved too costly.
The loss was painful. "It's tough," said Drew Hansen. "I never thought it would be this bad."
Hansen thought when Utah survived Kentucky's first run that the Utes might survive. They had restored a four-point lead at 64-60 with 5 1/2 minutes to play.
"It was euphoria," Hansen said. "We were excited. We thought we might break them. Then I made the biggest defensive mistake of my life. I let a guy who only shoots 3-pointers, make a 3-pointer."
Cameron Mills' 3 against Hansen tied the game at 58 with 7:41 left, and it was all downhill after that. Utah scored just five more points the rest of the way.
Point guard Andre Miller, the heart and soul of the team through five tournament victories, committed eight of the turnovers and they were a high price to pay for his 16 points, five assists and six rebounds.
"We know what we have to do to win," Doleac said before the game. "I think mainly it is just defend and rebound, first of all. We think we are the best defensive team in the nation."
Against Kentucky, the Utes were the most generous, too.
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