Plummer's 3-Point Barrage Not Enough in Pac-12 Tournament Opener

Wednesday, March 11

Las Vegas, NV

1:00 PM

University of Utah

16-15,7-11Pac-12

Oregon State

18-13,7-11Pac-12

Utah

Oregon St.

Douglas Taylor Co.

Plummer's 3-Point Barrage Not Enough in Pac-12 Tournament Opener

3/11/2020 4:54 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Despite a 32 point effort from Alfonso Plummer, the Utah men’s basketball dropped a heart-wrenching 71-69 game to Oregon State.

LAS VEGAS – Despite the herculean effort from Alfonso Plummer, the University of Utah men's basketball team dropped a heart-wrenching Pac-12 Tournament opener to the ninth-seeded Oregon State Beavers Wednesday afternoon inside T-Mobile Arena.

Plummer finished with a career-high 35 points on 11-of-16 shooting from 3-point range and smashed Klay Thompson's Pac-12 Tournament record (2011) of eight while also breaking the Pac-12 and program record for threes in a game.

Not only did @UtahMBB's Alfonso Plummer break the Pac-12 tournament record, he also broke the Pac-12 single-game record most three-pointers in any game with 1?1?#Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/efhBHr44ZN
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 11, 2020

The start of the game was slow for both teams with Utah and Oregon State exchanging baskets. Utah (16-15) then had a stretch where it turned the ball over four times. Luckily, the Beavers weren't able to take advantage and allowed Utah to go on a 6-0 run before Plummer's third triple of the afternoon tied things up at the 7:56 media break, 17-17.

From there, it was the Plummer show as the junior drained three after three after three on Oregon State (18-13) to the tune of 23 points. Thanks to Plummer's 23 points in the first half, including 14 of the team's 22 points after the game was tied 17-17, the Utes were able to take a 39-31 lead heading into the locker room. His 23 points was also just short of tying Klay Thompson's record (25) for points in a half.

It did not take the Fajardo, Puerto Rico, native to tie Thompson's tournament record of eight threes – hitting a triple just 1:36 into the second frame before draining the record-breaking three at the 17:09 mark.

After a quick 6-0 spurt by the Beavers, Utah was forced to call a timeout with 15:58 on the clock to try and to stop the bleeding. The resurgence by Oregon State continued to the tune of a 9-3 run before Riley Battin's jumper made it 52-48 in favor of the Utes at the 11:44 media break.

Battin and Timmy Allen helped Utah maintain a two-possession lead before Jerod Lucas picked up the pace for Oregon State on the offensive end of the floor out of the 4:19 media break. OSU's Tres Tinkle cut Utah's lead down to 62-61 out of the timeout but Allen answered on the other end with a hard drive to the rack but couldn't convert the and-1 opportunity. After a basket from the Beavers cut it back down to 64-63, Jaxon Brenchley drew a foul on OSU's Ethan Thompson when he elevated from the far wing behind the arc. The Providence, Utah, native converted on 2-of-3 at the line pushed the Ute lead back up to 66-63 before Kelley found the bottom of the basket and forced another Utah timeout with 1:29 remaining in the game.

Plummer delivered once again for the Utes out of the break and drained his 11th triple of the game, giving Utah the 69-65 advantage. However, Lucas drilled a deep three on the other end and once again brought the Ute lead back down to one – 69-68. A turnover on the next possession for Utah proved costly with Lucas knocking down the eventual game-winning three out of the OSU timeout with 1.8 seconds left on the clock and handed the Utes the 71-69 loss.

In addition to Plummer's 35 points, Allen added 13 points and six rebounds for the Utes while Branden Carlson and Batting chipped in with seven points apiece.

BY THE NUMBERS
Utah won the battle of the glass 33-20 in the loss … 17 Ute turnovers led to a 24-10 advantage for Oregon State in points off turnovers … Utah now moves to 6-9 all-time in the conference tournament and 1-4 inside T-Mobile Arena … Utah still leads the all-time series against Oregon State 19-15 after Wednesday's loss … Larry Krystkowiak is now 5-5 all-time against his former teammate and assistant coach Wayne Tinkle … the No. 9 seed has now gone 0-7 since Arizona State's win in 2013 … the last Ute to score 35 points in a game was Sedrick Barefield on Dec. 22, 2016, against San Francisco.

UP NEXT
Utah will now head home to Salt Lake City where it'll away if a postseason invitation will come via the NIT (National Invitational Tournament) Sunday evening after the field of 68 is announced for the NCAA Tournament.

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