Utes overcome deficit, force OT, beat Oregon Ducks

It’s still football season, and it’s possible the Utah men’s basketball team’s first two exhibition contests may have gotten lost in the fans’ conversations about sports up on the hill.

But coach Alex Jensen and the players have something they want everyone to know: Playing in the Jon M. Huntsman Center is supposed to mean something.

In their third — and final — exhibition game Wednesday night, Trey Campbell and Jackson Holcombe scored 20 points apiece and as the Utes rallied in the final minute to force overtime to overcome the Oregon Ducks 81-77.

It was a small crowd, so it might take a while for news to spread, but the Utes showed a lot of spirit, diving for loose balls and making timely three-pointers. They trailed nearly the entire game but sent the crowd home happy — and themselves, too.

“A really good game for us,” said Jensen, the second-year Ute leader who played for former coach Rick Majerus on some of the school’s best teams in the mid-to-late 1990s.

“We got the win but we have a long way to go — collectively and individually. I will give them credit. They didn’t hang their heads. They kept fighting and they made plays. A number of guys made crucial plays to get us over the edge.”

Finally, Utah got within one possession of Oregon five separate times, but couldn’t get past the hump until Taison Chatman’s buzzer-beating three-pointer forced overtime.

Campbell then opened the five-minute extra session with a deep three-pointer to give the Utes their first lead since the opening basket. After that, momentum stayed on their side, fueled by Oregon’s 1-of-9 shooting and the Utes’ willingness to leap over the taller Ducks for rebounds before turning around and diving to the floor.

“We got every loose ball on the floor,” Jensen said. “That was huge and it sealed the game.”

“Our will to win was there,” said Chatman.

Chatman and Malek Gomma admitted one of their goals was to impress the crowd in their first game this season on the Huntsman floor, where so many contests have gone the Utes’ way previously.

Utah was 8-9 at home last year en route to a 10-22 season.

“One of the things that’s been bothering me the most is the place not being full,” said Jensen. “I don’t blame anybody, but the teams we’ve had in the past have been overachieving teams. There aren’t any top-100 kids out there but they like it when they hear you cheer out there. This place deserves a team like that.

“That’s what we’re used to. This place used to be hard place to win.”

According to the Utes’ website, the team averaged just under 14,000 fans during Jensen’s four years, 1994-95 and then 1997-2000. They have been about one-half of that since the pandemic season (2020-21).

“These exhibitions are so we can get a good feel for each other. We’re getting better each game,” Jensen said. “The more we play, the more they know what each other is going to do.”

Oregon is nowhere near the team it used to be, either. The Ducks’ longtime coach, Dana Altman, retired earlier this month after 16 years, and new coach Tony Stubblefield is still trying to build this year’s club, which is predicted to finish 13th out of the 18 teams in the Big 10 Conference.

Tyrone Riley led Oregon with 16 points.