University of Utah
Western Kentucky
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky | 19 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 64 |
| Utah | 11 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 69 |
Utah slips by Western Kentucky 69-64 to reach NIT title game
3/27/2018 7:52 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK (AP) - Justin Bibbins scored 19 points and Utah beat Western Kentucky 69-64 on Tuesday night in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Sedrick Barefield added 14 points for the Utes (23-11), who advanced to the NIT championship game for the third time. They will play Thursday night against the winner of the second semifinal between Penn State and Mississippi State.
David Collette had 13 points and seven rebounds for second-seeded Utah. Tyler Rawson scored 12, including a 3-pointer that put the Utes ahead to stay with 38.1 seconds left.
Justin Johnson had 24 points for No. 4 seed Western Kentucky (27-11). Lamonte Bearden added 12 and Dwight Coleby scored 10.
The game went back and forth throughout and wasn't decided until the final seconds. Utah took a 66-64 lead when Rawson hit a 3 from the right side to snap an 0-for-7 shooting slump for the Utes, who went 8:23 without a field goal.
On the ensuing possession, Bibbins drew a charge against Bearden and knocked down two free throws. Johnson missed a straightaway 3 at the other end, and Barefield's free throw with five seconds to go made it 69-64.
Johnson's spinning layup with 1:27 remaining put the Hilltoppers ahead 64-63.
Bibbins made all 12 free throws he attempted. He finished 3 for 8 from the field as Utah reached the NIT title game for the first time since losing to Purdue in 1974.
The teams went into halftime tied at 32 after Bearden's buzzer-beating jam, and the score was tied 51-all after the third quarter.
BIG PICTURE
Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers went 7 of 24 from 3-point range, ending an NIT run that included wins over three teams from power conferences: Boston College, top seed Southern California, and Oklahoma State.
Utah: The Utes missed seven of their nine shots from the field in the fourth quarter but advanced because they hit 12 of 14 free throws in the period. ... It was the first meeting between the schools and Utah's first game against a Conference USA opponent since losing 69-60 to Tulsa in the 2008 CBI quarterfinals.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Instead of college basketball's traditional format of two-20 minute halves, the postseason NIT has been played with four 10-minute quarters. The tournament also implemented the FIBA 3-point line (22 feet, 1.75 inches), NBA-width lane of 16 inches, and a 20-second shot clock following offensive rebounds.
UP NEXT
Western Kentucky: Looking ahead to next season.
Utah: A chance to win the NIT for the second time. The school's only title came in 1947 with a 49-45 victory over Kentucky.
---
#2 UTAH vs. #4 WESTERN KENTUCKY | March 27, 2018
GAME NOTES
• Utah moved to 15-12 all-time in the NIT, which includes a 2-2 mark in the semifinals.
• Utah moved to 1-0 all-time against Western Kentucky after playing the Hilltoppers for the first time in school history.
• Utah moved to 20-21 all-time when playing in New York, N.Y.
• Utah fell behind by 13 points with 3:06 left to play in the first quarter, the team's largest deficit in four games of the NIT.
• After trailing by 13 points, Utah took its first lead in the second quarter, going up 27-25 with a jumper from Sedrick Barefield at the 4:00 mark.
• Utah closed the final 6:50 of the second quarter outscoring the Hilltoppers, 16-7, but both teams headed into the locker room deadlocked at 32-all.
• The Utes took its biggest lead of the third quarter, up 39-35 following a bucket from Justin Bibbins, but the quarter ended in a tie at 51-51.
• Tyler Rawson hit a three-pointer with 9:09 left in the fourth quarter to put the Utes up 55-52, but the Utes would not hit another field goal until the 00:38 second mark, which was another three-pointer from Rawson.
• Utah was 12-of-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and finished the game 18-of-23 (.783). Bibbins was a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe, knocking down at least 10 free throws in a game for the third time this season.
• Utah finished the game shooting .479 percent from the field, while limiting the Hilltoppers to .348 on the evening.
• Bibbins led the charge with 19 points, while Barefield added 14 points, David Collette scored 13 points and Rawson chipped in with 12 points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Larry Krystkowiak
David Collette
Justin Bibbins
Utah Utes
Utah - 69, Western Kentucky - 64Q. Coach, how did that feel? How did that feel here in New York?
COACH LARRY KRYSTKOWIAK: That was a great experience. That was awesome. Nothing like it.
Q. For both Justin and Dave, what do you feel like early on, was it just a matter of getting into the flow of the game and what changed as you guys went along for you to get going offensively and tighten up defensively?
David Collette: I just feel like we came out flat with no energy. Biggest thing was just getting our guys going, getting some more energy, flying around out there. That's all we needed.
Justin Bibbins: Just like Dave said, we came out flat, I think just to get the jitters out a little bit. Once we got going, it was fine and we played our type of basketball and we knew, you know, if we kept chipping away, we'll be fine.
Q. Justin, you came up huge at the end with the offensive foul you drew. Have you felt like you've had to take the team on your shoulders?
Justin Bibbins: No, I wouldn't say take it all on my shoulders because the Saint Mary's game, Sedrick had a big game, and I didn't play that well.
But late in the game, I just, you know, was trying to make a play. Coaches was telling me when I drove on the paint, people were opening on the outside, and I looked out and Ty was wide open and I just tried to make the right play and I was happy he knocked it down.
Q. Did you guys do anything different on the Johnson kid there, or was it just a matter of executing a little bit better because it seemed after the first quarter, you had like ten and then you guys were able to tighten up a little bit and make make it a little more tougher for them.
David Collette: Our game plan was kind of the same on him but we decided to be a little more aggressive with him and work on not letting him get the ball more. We were letting him get too much touches down there, so we were trying to be a little bit more aggressive and keep him from getting touches.
Q. Justin, 12-for-12 from the line, can you talk about hitting key free throws down the stretch, too.
Justin Bibbins: They were fouling. You know, the new rule, you get two shots. So I was happy to go to the line and get those two and just take my time, and once I got into the flow and made four in a row, I tried to get there more because my shot wasn't falling on the outside. I just went to the basics and knocked them down.
Q. For both you guys, what does it mean to know that you're going to be playing for an NIT Championship in a couple days here?
Justin Bibbins: It means the world to us. We're seniors, this is our last go-around playing with the guys, and you know, I love this team. I keep wanting to play with them every day, and to extend the game won more day. And to do shootaround and another game with them, this just means the world to us.
David Collette: Yeah, I mean, just excited, couldn't go out any better way, you know. Disappointed, obviously, wanted to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but making it to the NIT Championship, I'll take that any day.
Q. For either player, how do you prepare for tomorrow's game? You don't really know the opponent yet. How will you prepare? Will you watch or how will you get ready for tomorrow's game?
Justin Bibbins: Just like any game, we're going to enjoy this win and get some good food in us. Just like any game, we're going to prepare the same way and take it one game at a time and watch film on them, whoever wins, and just focus on what we can do to win the game.
Q. Dave, before you left Salt Lake, you said you were going to bring a trophy back home. Can you talk about being one step closer? It was a battle, wasn't it.
David Collette: It absolutely was a battle. That's the whole goal we've had the whole time is come to New York and enjoy ourselves and we thought the whole time we could win this thing and bring back the trophy, and we're there. We stick by our word this time.
Q. You got the win a little differently than normal, you out-rebounded your opponents and didn't really hit a lot of threes. Do you feel like you're diverse enough that you can do whatever you need to to get that W?
Justin Bibbins: That felt good that we out rebounded a team and found a way to win. We're trying to find different ways to win games, and that was huge for us to outrebound them. They are a great rebounding team and you know, threes aren't falling, that just shows the maturity of this team that we can find a different way to win the game and go inside and, you know, hit free throws. We're piecing it together now and for the final game and it feels really good.
COACH LARRY KRYSTKOWIAK: Fire away, I think I know your question.
Q. Considering, I think Josh mentioned, out-rebounding them, and then the key charges at the end. To win in that sort of fashion, does it mean anything different? Does it have anything more on it, just the way you guys won that?
COACH LARRY KRYSTKOWIAK: Well, it's interesting because there were some key components I thought. You know, and to get -- to answer your first question about the slow start, we gave Johnson two threes, which we knew we couldn't do. That's six points. And then I think they missed five shots and they got all offensive rebounds.
And then we're sitting there at halftime, we turned the ball over eight times and they scored 15 points off of our turnovers, so they basically got two points for every turnover; we really felt like if we would quit turning the ball over, those pick-sixes are impossible to defend if the half ended.
And then once we got rebounds, and had a little bit better idea with personnel, gave ourselves a chance. You know, you make enough shots with the lead changes back and forth.
This time of year, it's funny, because you watch NCAA games -- and I've told our team since the beginning, you watch NCAA games, NIT games, whatever it is, and the concept in my mind is that there are no little things. You'll see a missed block-out, free throw block-out, something that everybody perceives as little, that ends up changing the trajectory of the entire outcome of the game. It could mean a team advancing to the Final Four with their first game.
So the thing that was cool is we take a lot of pride in taking charges, and this was a team that got a little thirsty to get their feet in the paint at the end, you know. Not necessarily a big three-point shooting team, but to have two guys. We had two charges in the last three minutes. It wasn't just Justin's at the end.
So that's one of those things that on the outside, everything thinks, well, that was a little thing, but that was a key point in the game.
And then Justin's ability to make 12 free throws. I don't think there's a college team -- I may be wrong -- that shoots more free throws in practice. We have fun little competitive games with our teams and we talk about how we wanted to lead the Pac-12 in free throw shooting. You know, that's a little thing, right.
But if you don't practice it and find your rhythm; we've got some guys that really shoot a high percentage of free throws. You know, Justin goes 9-for-12, we're not sitting here at the podium. We're in consoling each other.
It was neat, a couple of the key elements, the rebounding, obviously is a little thing but it's been a big thing for us. So those were real keys in the game.
Q. Seems like Justin Bibbins is a really tough player. How much does that rub off on the team not just tonight but the entire season?
COACH LARRY KRYSTKOWIAK: It's pretty neat. There's a lot of different ways to lead, and Justin has led the -- the best leaders are the guys that do it through actions. He's a very vocal leader, as well, and very upbeat kid, mature, understands it.
So I don't know how it can't help but rub off. I always think point guard position is such a key offensively and defensively. When you see somebody out front that's really the head of your unit, you know, and how it couldn't be contagious.
You know, he's a kid that's undersized but has really, you know, in the old saying, his heart is as big as anybody's. You know, he's a point guard that I think our players I know, and most players, would want to play with. He stands for a lot of what's really positive about college basketball and it's been a thrill for us to have him for the period of time that we have him.
Obviously a sense of urgency with the game Thursday to try to finish this up on a high note. There's only, in my mind, there's really two teams -- and I've said it for many years before we were involved in the NIT. In my mind, there's two teams that end their season on a note that they are really happy about. There's a lot of disappointment along the way, and I consider this tournament one of extreme value, and to be able to go on a little streak at the end of the season would be special for us. So that's what we're shooting for.
Q. It's Utah's first NIT Final since 1974, and I'm sure you've seen the banner, the 1947. Can you expand on having this opportunity?
COACH LARRY KRYSTKOWIAK: It's pretty neat. I got an e-mail last night from Arnie Ferrin, who my office is named after, 1947 Champs, and there are three guys that are still alive from 70 years ago that have that banner and that's back when the NIT was the banner. That was the one you wanted to have. Not that it's diminished anyway but things have changed.
I mentioned to our guys at breakfast this morning and I wore a shirt that said, "Play for more" and that's one of those things, I quizzed everybody in the room, and I had about eight things: Who could we play for? Who could we play for? And they don't need any motivation at this point because they are pretty self-driven, and I went around and guys threw out past players.
I said, "Well, here's the text, here's e-mail from Arnie." We could play for Jas who sprained his ankle in practice yesterday. He couldn't play today but if we win, there's a chance he could play on Thursday.
You know, Dr. Hill, our athletic director, longest tenured athletic director in college sports of 32 years has been a basketball guy through and through and he just coincidentally come back home for the NIT.
As you know, we've had a big emphasis in really committing and dedicating our season to Jon Huntsman, who is one of the best individuals I've ever met on the planet for many reasons, and we've talked about, go big; let's go big like Jon did. We heard that message at his funeral. So that's been a bunch of things that we're trying to gear up for and trying to make it a special ending.
Thanks.
Rick Stansbury
Justin Johnson
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Utah 69, Western Kentucky 64
COACH RICK STANSBURY: Well, first off, give Utah credit. They made the plays in the last minute of the game that you've got to make sometimes to win games, and they stepped up and made their free throws and hit the big three to kind of give them a little bit of separation.
You know, these kind of games, it's a fine line, winning and losing. And again, we can all look back on different plays that we could have and should have made and we didn't make, or a call here or there. When you're playing good teams, you know, like Utah, this late in the year, all of them are fine lines. Like I say, give them credit making the plays.
But I'm also proud of our team. Like I said, we didn't win the basketball game, but it doesn't take away or diminish what these young men did this year. I'm all of proud for them. I know it hurts right now, three seniors, but these guys can all walk away and hold their heads up high. Western Kentucky won because of them and all three of them won individually, too. Proud for them.
And again, there's not going to be but two happy teams. Everybody is going to have this feeling. The team that wins in the NIT National Championship and the team that wins the NCAA Championship.
Right now, I guess there's six teams left that's going to have this feeling, and that's it. Again, we're not going to let this feeling take away what these guys accomplished this year, and all of proud of them.
Q. What did you see on the last play with about 40 seconds on the drive?
JUSTIN JOHNSON: Coach, we scored on the play before. Coach puts the ball in my hands to make a play, and I don't think it's a charge. That's about -- I thought it was going up. I thought he slid under me. I had already left my feet.
The call, you can't change a call. We still were up one, and you get a stop, you still have a chance to win a ballgame.
Q. I know it's obviously fresh on your mind with the loss, but can you just sum up just how much your career has meant how, these four years, how much you'll remember these for the rest of your life?
JUSTIN JOHNSON: You know, I wish I had another year in a Hilltopper uniform. This year has been by far the best year of my career. I mean, coming here four years ago, if I had the chance to come here again and go through the same thing, I would do it over again.
It's been nothing but good to me, even with the ups and downs, I've loved every minute of it. And like I said, I wish I had redid this year and had another year with the same group of guys in that locker room. I've made best friends for a lifetime in that locker room this year, the fun we've had and the memories we've made. Like I said, you wish you had one more go around with those guys.
Q. You got off to such a hot start, 18-5 and offensively things were clicking. Did they do anything differently to slow you down? What were the offensive struggles after that hot start?
JUSTIN JOHNSON: They stayed in the zone pretty much the whole game. Nothing really changed. Just we missed some shots around the basket and we took too many threes early in that game. You know, we got kind of out of rhythm a little bit. We let the offense affect our defense in that second quarter when we had that lead, and then we had a couple costly turnovers that led to easy baskets for them.
You know, but nothing they did really sped us up. They stayed in that zone the whole game until probably about the last couple minutes.
Q. I think I recall you saying once that you wanted to leave this program in better shape when you came and when you left. Do you feel like you've done that, especially after this season?
JUSTIN JOHNSON: That's one thing I told Coach, too. In years to come, I still want to be involved with this program, when I'm back in town and everything. That was my goal when I came here. You know, you want to leave something better than you found it, and leave an impression on it. I hope to have done that and help those young guys in that locker room, along the way, whether it's in life or basketball.
You know, I hope that I'm leaving it in a better spot.
Q. Seemed like the last few minutes, guys had trouble with the shots. What was the offensive break down at the end? It was right there for you it seemed like.
COACH RICK STANSBURY: Well, everything gets magnified towards the end. You can go back -- one of you guys asked a question early. Sometimes when you shoot a lot of threes and make some, it can be fool's gold a little bit. That's not our strength.
You know, we shot some threes early, made some, got some separation, and probably fell in love with it a bit too much early and shot too many threes. That's not who we are.
And again, you know, the game probably in that second quarter is when they made that run and got back and tied it backup. Again, everything is magnified towards the end. You know, but toward the end, all these plays you look back on. There's always some fouls that you don't need to commit that leads to bonuses, two shots, and there's always going to be plays throughout 40 minutes that you're not going to like the call.
But that's where it is. It comes down; winning and losing is a fine line. If one of those plays goes the other way, you know, it may be different. And give them credit. They made those plays and they made the two free throws on that foul and you know, 4-man steps out and majors a huge three. He was 1-for-6 till he makes one, and so he stepped up and made a timely one.
We didn't do a good job -- the wide lane is probably not to our advantage against the zone because it stands our post guys away from the basket a little bit farther. Dwight needs to be around that rim as close as he can and it probably affected him some.
But still, with all that, we didn't shoot it great, Darius goes 1-for-10. Darius goes 1-for-10, Taveion goes 3-for-10, and we still, under a minute to go, it's a one-possession game and that probably hurts more than anything because we know there's a lot of plays we could have gotten that we left on that floor that we didn't make. But again, Utah is a very good team, and they are not the No. 2 seed for what they have done for no reason. They jumped up and made some plays.
Q. How much were these last two and a half weeks and what you did in the NIT something that you can really build off of and take into next year and beyond?
COACH RICK STANSBURY: You know, we always want to be on a platform where you're competing for championships and creating some excitement. I think the biggest thing, besides the experience these young men have had, I think it's just not for them but for our league. I think people look at our league again and understand how good our league is, and our whole university, Western Kentucky. You like seeing that town turned upside down with excitement. That's the way it used to be. That's the way it needs to be. That's what it's about.
You love to see the excitement of coming here and playing. Everybody benefits from that. You know, we want people feeling good about Western Kentucky. We want to believe when we get off that bus to come here and play, we've got a chance to win, and that was the belief. That's what you want as a coach and as a player.
Now, doesn't mean you're going to win every one of them. All you can ask for is an opportunity. We had an opportunity tonight; we didn't finish it off. Utah finished it off. Like I said, there's going to be two happy teams; those two teams that win a national championship. Everybody else is going to have some disappointment.
But we are not going to let any disappointment, after we can reflect just a little bit, take away from what this team accomplished, the kind of people they were. They are sure not about a W or an L. I have some high-character guys, like Justin said, that have fought, overcame a lot of different things and put themselves in this position.
And again, there's eight teams left in America playing, eight teams. And Western Kentucky is one of those eight teams. You know what's good about it? We're disappointed. We're disappointed we're still not playing. I like that. I like that. That means there's some expectations, there's some feelings; how good we are and how good we can be.
Q. Can you summarize what Justin has meant in the two years you've been here and the four years he's been here in his career?
COACH RICK STANSBURY: You know, again, last year, didn't know what we had, and you guys understand the situation. Kind of what we had last year. You know, coming back this year, kind of a whole new group. You know, we didn't have Justin until August the 5th, as you guys know. And like I said, he was 30 pounds heavier and had a bum knee.
But the one thing he's been able to give us because of his character is great leadership. You know, when you get guys lead by example -- and he's really changed who he was when I first got here. You know, I think his first year, it was hard for him to really lead by example because he probably took a shortcut as much as he could.
But he matured through that. He grew up through that and he got better through it. When you get your best player being one of your hardest workers every day, then you've got some leadership.
And when you got good people then around him, you get them to follow a little bit. That's kind of what this group was. Let's start with Justin. I put a lot of confidence in him and he never took advantage of that because he's a high-character guy and again, you know, just what he accomplished tells you just how good a player he was.
We all can see -- I remember this. His first two years as a player, I think he made one three-point shot and everybody said he got lucky on that. Threw it in against somebody. But he deserves a lot of credit for getting in that gym the last two years, made 40- or 50-plus each year and that's a huge improvement, and that's enabled him to be a better player, it's made our team better and it's helped him long-term, too.
