Kardiac Kids Come Alive in Comeback Victory for @UtahMBB in OT

Wednesday, December 4

Salt Lake City, UT

6:00 PM

University of Utah

6-2,0-0Pac-12

102

Brigham Young

6-4,0-0WCC

OT 1

BYU

Utah

102

Photo by: Rob Gray

Kardiac Kids Come Alive in Comeback Victory for @UtahMBB in OT

12/4/2019 10:17 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Highlights Rylan Jones Postgame Interview

The Utah men’s basketball team roared back down as much as 16 in its 102-95 overtime win over in-state rival BYU.

SALT LAKE CITY – Youth was not an excuse for the University of Utah men's basketball team Wednesday night as it roared back in the second half to outscore in-state rival BYU 16-9 in overtime to claim a 102-95 victory in front of a raucous crowd of 11,565 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

With the win Utah is now 12-4 all-time in overtime games against the Cougars and 6-1 when playing at home.

Both teams got off to hot starts, shooting a combined 11-of-14 from the floor but the Utes saw themselves needing a timeout with 15:18 on the clock after BYU's Yoeli Childs scored 11-straight points to put Utah (7-2) behind 18-8.

Turnovers then plagued the Utes while Child showed no rust after sitting out the first nine games of the season, scoring 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and set the Utes back 31-17 with 7:13 to go in the first half.

However, a bucket from Rylan Jones before the timeout from BYU (6-4) at 7:13 followed by back-to-back buckets from Timmy Allen saw the Utah offense come to life and cut the Cougar lead to 31-25 thanks to a 10-0 run. A three from Dalton Nixon put an end to the run for Utah but Allen responded on the other end of the floor, completing an and-1 to bring the Runnin' Utes within 34-28 with 3:20 remaining in the half.

ANNNNNND 1 @timmybuckets35??

?? 27 | ??34 #GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/yCO6e6qnf2
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) December 5, 2019

Both teams then traded baskets out of the media timeout before Lahat Thioune's put-back on a miss from Mikael Jantunen made it 38-33 in favor of the Cougars. However, a late 3-pointer from Nixon sent the Runnin' Utes into the locker room down 41-33.

BYU came out of the break and pushed its lead to 54-40 behind Childs before a 15-7 run by the Utes cut the lead to 67-59. That run was capped off by a nice back-cut from Both Gach followed by an easy lay-in from Riley Battin that forced BYU head coach Mark Pope to call a timeout with 10:08 left to play.

After a baseline jumper from the Cougar's Jake Toolson made it 69-59, a quick 6-0 run courtesy of a couple steals from Battin made it a two-possession game 69-65 and forced yet another timeout from Pope with 8:45 on the clock.

Down 74-65 with 7:57 left in the game, Utah began its charge and went on a 10-2 run to get within 76-75 after Battin nailed a pair at the line with 5:53 remaining. However, some free throws and a three from Toolson set the Utes back 81-77 at the final media break at 3:02.

An offensive board from Mikael Jantunen, who scored a career high 18 points, led to a nice up-and-under move from Allen to get within 81-79 before tying it up two possessions later with a pair of free throws.

TIED BALL GAME!!!

?? 81 | ??81 #GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/C9Gw6llIt9
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) December 5, 2019

Toolson gave BYU an 84-81 lead after draining a deep 3-pointer from the far wing before Allen went to the rack to make it 84-83. Jones again had an opportunity to give Utah a lead but couldn't finish at the rim and sent Alex Barcello to the line for a 1-and-1. Barcello pushed the lead to 86-83 after connecting on both free throws with 30.6 ticks left to play before Jones drilled a triple to tie the game up at 86-86 and sent the game into overtime.

RYLAN JONES DRAINS THE THREE!!!!!??????????????

?? 86 | ??86 #GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/MZo0tWDU8U
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) December 5, 2019

The Utes took an immediate 88-86 lead in the extra period thanks to a pair of free throws from Jaxon Brenchley and never looked back, hitting 5-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line.

Career-high nights from Allen, Jones and Jantunen led the way for the Utes with the sophomore pouring in 27 points with five rebounds and five assists – 18 of which came in the second half and overtime period. Jones posted 25 points with six assists while Jantunen added 18 points and six rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting – including a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.

BY THE NUMBERS
Wednesday night was the eight time that at least one team has scored 100 points … Utah is now 4-5 all-time when either team has scored 100 points in the game … as much as the 3-ball was BYU's calling card (12-of-24), the Utes were just as dominant or more in the paint and outscored the Cougars 62-38 … this is the second time this season that Utah has had two players score 20-plus points, the first coming at Nevada in the season-opener … the 20 forced turnovers is the first since Dec. 25, 2016 when Utah forced 20 Stephen F. Austin turnovers in Honolulu … Utah converted 20 BYU turnovers into 24 points while BYU was only able to convert 15 Utah turnovers into 13 points … this is the first season Utah has been out-rebounded in a game, 33-28 … the last time Utah had 10 steals in a game was against Washington State (11) on Jan. 12, 2019.
Listen to "Utah 102 - BYU 95 Full highlights" on Spreaker.
QUOTABLES
Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak

Coach K on the difference in the first half and second half and how they cut into the lead…
"I don't know if it was so much of a half thing, we cut it to four or five in the first half and then they made some big plays and ended up taking that eight point lead back in. More than anything, I think it was just staying in it. I mean Yolei to start the game, we made a decision that the first three three's were on me and you need to live with something. They are a terrific team with a lot of shooters and they are bringing one of their better bigs into the equation. We wanted to limit some of the three's and for them to have eight at half time was rough. We just stayed in the moment and it was a heck of a fight all the way through."

Coach K on Rylan's game and how a freshman can have a huge affect on a game…
"I think he's an absolute warrior and he understands the game really well. Often times he makes the play that is presented to him. He doesn't get sped up and he is just a real solid point guard and obviously makes us coaches a lot better when you have someone in there nitpick some things and make some reads. He was a big part of tonight, as were a lot of other guys, but he's certainly a special kid."

Coach K on the mentality of the team and how it will help them grow…
"You experience a lot of different things and one of my favorite sayings with our guys is that it's important and it gives a big boost. As I mentioned in the locker room before the game, this is one of those games that whether you like it or not you are going to remember it for the rest of your life. I think we had 11 Utah players playing tonight between both teams, so you can talk about how it's not any more important than another one, the way the game went it was a special but again, you are never as good as you think you are and you are never as bad as you think you are. To say we have defined anything or we've arrived with this squad, it's too early to say that. We just keep chopping wood, it was a heck of a win and for the in-state rivalry that exists. But there's still a lot of meat on the bone and we need to sort some things out."

UP NEXT
Utah will wrap up its three-game homestand this Saturday, Dec. 7, when it welcomes Central Arkansas to the Jon M. Huntsman Center. J.B. Long will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast while Dan Belluomini serves as the analyst at 3 p.m. (MT).

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