Utah Survives This Knight

Bodies collided, stomachs turned, hearts raced and dreams died in seconds. So that’s why they call it March Madness.

With a place in the Elite Eight up for grabs, Utah and Stanford smacked each other around for an entire game and then some Thursday night in an NCAA West Regional semifinal. But only Utah found comfort after the fight with an 82-77 overtime victory before 18,345 at San Jose Arena.

Second-seeded Utah (29-3) won its 14th consecutive game and is the first Western Athletic Conference team to qualify for the Elite Eight since Brigham Young in 1981. Utah will play top-seeded Kentucky (33-4), the defending national champion, for the West Regional championship Saturday in a rematch of last season’s Midwest Regional semifinalists.

On Thursday, however, Utah Coach Rick Majerus had Stanford on his mind.

“This was an absolutely unbelievable win for us, and considering the circumstances and what was on the line, I don’t know if we’ve ever had any better,” Majerus said as he struggled to compose himself. “Stanford challenged us, we lost the momentum and it was touch and go there.

“But my kids showed great determination and courage. We dug down deep and played--but it sure wasn’t easy to watch.”

The show was no less gut-wrenching for the sellout crowd. How crazy was this whole thing?

Three players on each team fouled out. Utah built a 16-point, second-half lead and Stanford wiped it out behind the incomparable play of All-American point guard Brevin Knight.

But that’s only the Cardinal part of this story--and it’s not the best. Utah All-American forward Keith Van Horn fouled out 34 seconds into overtime, but the Utes, playing with three freshmen, outlasted Stanford despite Knight’s crossover dribble and overflowing confidence.

Talk about showing the money.

“A lot of people think we’re just a one-man team,” said Van Horn, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds. “But we have a lot of guys who can step up, so I wasn’t worried when [I fouled out].

“We’re not a one-man team, and I think everyone sees that now.”

Stanford (22-8) isn’t either, but it sure looked that way in the second half Thursday. Stanford trailed by as many 16 points early in the half and never led in regulation. Utah even led, 44-33, with 12:06 remaining.

But with Knight--who played the final 18:09 with four fouls--darting and dashing through the Utes, Stanford relentlessly stormed back and tied the score at the end of regulation, 67-67. Knight, fittingly, was the man of the moment for the Cardinal.

His corner three-point basket in front of the Stanford bench tied the score with 7.5 seconds left in regulation. Utah did not get off a shot before the final buzzer sounded.

“Brevin got us to that point, but we just didn’t play well enough,” said Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery, whose team shot 31.9% overall. “God, we had such chances. If we could have just done a couple of more things right.”

Knight’s shot wiped away most of the bad first-half memories for Stanford, which shot 31.3% and trailed, 35-21, at the break. And the crowd was clearly on Stanford’s side at that point.

Stanford is located in Palo Alto, which is only about 20 minutes north of San Jose. The crowd was waiting for a reason to get behind Stanford, and Knight, who finished with 27 points and nine assists, provided the spark.

“Yeah, the crowd was behind them, but we just tried not to think about that,” Van Horn said. “We have won on the road before.”

Doing so against Stanford became more difficult when Van Horn fouled Knight and left for good with 4:26 to play in overtime. Still, Utah held on by making its free throws--and thanks to its freshmen.

Freshman forward Hanno Mottola, from Helsinki, Finland, replaced Van Horn. He put the Utes ahead for good in overtime, 75-73, with a turnaround jumper in the lane. Freshman guard David Jackson and freshman forward Jeff Johnsen played tough defense down the stretch.

Center Michael Doleac scored 16 points and came through at the free-throw line, where he was 12 for 12. Point guard Andre Miller scored 19 points while keeping everyone just calm enough to move on.

“[Knight] is the premier point guard on the West Coast,” Majerus said. “He’s just incredible at what he does and it took a lot out of Andre to guard him, so I’m real proud of the job he did. I’m real proud of all my kids.”