Utah Tops Saint Mary's in Overtime, 67-58

Wednesday, March 21

Moraga, Calif.

8:00 PM

University of Utah

22-11

Saint Mary's (California)

30-6

OT 1

Utah

Saint Mary's (CA)

3/22/2018 12:51 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score SMC-Utah | Box Score (PDF)

Utes head to NIT Final Four for the first time since 1992

MORAGA, Calif. – Utah's Sedrick Barefield scored nine of his game-high 19 points in overtime to lead the Runnin' Utes (22-11) to a 67-58 win over Saint Mary's (30-6) Wednesday night at McKeon Pavilion. With the win, Utah advances to next week's semifinals of the NIT, which will be played at Madison Square Garden.

Utah opened the game with a 5-0 run and later had a 10-5 lead, but St. Mary's was able to match both five-point deficits. The Gaels took its first lead of the game late in the period, but a jumper from Justin Bibbins notched things up at 14-all and both teams were all-square after one quarter of play.

A St. Mary's 6-2 run to open the second quarter pushed the home team's lead to 20-16, but Utah responded with an 8-2 run and retook the lead 24-22 following a lay-up from Sedrick Barefield at the 2:45 mark. Both teams traded buckets down the stretch, but the Gaels got the final bucket of the quarter to send the game into halftime tied 26-26.

Utah outshot the Gaels in overall field goal percentage, .522 to .429, but St. Mary's pulled down seven rebounds and tallied nine second-chance points. Utah tallied four steals through the first two quarters of play and totaled 11 points off eight different Gael turnovers.

Both teams combined to score just 17 points in the third quarter, but it was SMC's 7-0 run late in the period that gave them a five-point lead, up 39-34 at the end of the quarter.

Utah opened the final quarter of regulation with a three-pointer and the Utes would later get within a point of the Gaels, down 44-43, following a bucket from Tyler Rawson. SMC pushed its lead to 46-43, but Rawson again answered for the Utes with a three-pointer to notch the game at 46-all. Both teams would trade buckets over the next few minutes and with the score tied at 54-54, SMC registered an offensive foul with 7.3 seconds to play, but Bibbins' last shot was off the mark and the game headed to overtime.

Barefield drained a three-pointer to open the overtime period and later followed with another one to put the Utes up 60-57. One possession later, Gabe Bealer nailed a corner three-pointer and following a Gaels empty possession, Barefield knocked down the three-pointer dagger to put the game away.

Rawson added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, which included a 5-of-7 effort from downtown. He also led the team with seven rebounds. Bibbins totaled 10 points and led the Utes with two steals on the evening.

Utah is headed to the NIT Final Four for the first time since 1992 and will play Western Kentucky on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT at Madison Square Garden.