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Three Key Takeaways.
- Utes Close Strong. After a first half that Utah dominated but only led at the break by 11, the Utes were flat of the locker room. It wasn’t pretty, but Fresno State climbed back into the game little by little, taking a 48-47 lead about midway through the second half on a Julien Lewis three.. From that point forward, though, it was all Utah. The Utes responded with a 7-0 run that turned into a 19-2 run, with all the starters getting in on the action. All told, the Bulldogs led for just 33 seconds between the Lewis three and Lorenzo Bonam putting in an end-of-shot-clock jumper to reestablish the lead. Maybe that woke them up.
- Not Every Game Can be a Work of Art. The two teams combined for 34 turnovers. Fresno State had at least three first half airballs. There were missed dunks, sloppy passes and just a heap of all-around ugly play. For Fresno State, these mishaps will haunt them in the future. For Utah, the general aesthetics of this game will be forgotten in the overall celebration of an NCAA win and a chance to play again this weekend.
- Rebounding Domination. Utah doesn’t have a ton of great athletes on this team — Jakob Poeltl can be slow and a little awkward; Jordan Loveridge is earthbound; Brandon Taylor is a 5’9” mighty-mite. But what this team has going for it is size and strength, something Fresno State learned firsthand on the glass tonight. Over the course of the game, the Bulldogs managed just 15 total rebounds. Utah grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. Poeltl had 18 rebounds all by himself. There are plenty of ways to win basketball games, and Utah just happened to pick a grinding, unlovable way to do it tonight.
Star of the Game. Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl was by no means dominant offensively, going for just 16 points on 11 field goal attempts. And Fresno State was able to force him into mistakes (four turnovers) when the Bulldogs doubled him in the post. Still, the Austrian big man utterly dominated the glass (those 18 boards, nine on each end of the court) and dissuaded the Bulldogs from poking around in the lane very often. Though Poeltl didn’t block any shots, he changed plenty of others and generally kept Fresno from even trying.
Sights & Sounds. Packed But Peaceful Pepsi. Once again, the evening session in Denver was packed to the rafters despite wintry conditions outside. Although the game featured two teams from the region including a strong Utah fan base just one state over, it was still a relatively sleepy atmosphere in the arena. Maybe it was because of the after-dinner lull; maybe it was the ugliness of the game; but the crowd seemed to expect more after Little Rock’s big comeback win over Purdue.
Wildcard. Karachi Edo, Fresno State. Perhaps the biggest bright spot for the Bulldogs in the loss was junior forward Karachi Edo, who threw down four dunks on the night and even rejected a Poeltl jump hook. Not only should he be a major part of next year’s team, but he did a good job of exposing that lack of athleticism could be a weakness for the Utes.
Quotable. Larry Krystkowiak, on Fresno State’s turnover-forcing ability. “We actually got a chuckle out of the fact that teams had given up 25 and 27 points to Fresno State off of turnovers. And then I looked down tonight and saw that we gave up 28 points tonight.”
What’s Next? Utah advances to face the winner of Seton Hall vs. Gonzaga on Saturday. Fresno State says goodbye to Marvelle Harris, Julien Lewis and Cezar Guerrero, but with a Mountain West Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance (its first since 2001) in its back pocket, it was still a very successful season.