Gritty Utah Tops Stanford Lesser-Known Players Shine In Ot As Utes Win Van Horn-Knight Duel

When he fouled out just 34 seconds into overtime, Keith Van Horn did not head toward the Utah bench. Instead, he huddled with his teammates at the foul line and told them to finish the job without him.

Van Horn, the All-America forward who scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, then watched from the bench as the Utes - who led by as many as 16 points just before halftime - held on for a 82-77 win over Stanford in the NCAA West Regional semifinals.

“I told them I had confidence in them and they should have confidence in themselves,” Van Horn said. “This is not a one-man team and we proved it tonight.”

Hanno Mottola, a freshman from Finland, broke the last tie with a short jumper and Andre Miller had five points in overtime as Utah scored its final seven points at the foul line.

Miller had 19 points and Michael Doleac added 16 for Utah, which heads into Saturday’s regional final against Kentucky with a 14-game winning streak.

Stanford point guard Brevin Knight, who got his fourth foul early in the second half, scored 25 of his 27 points after halftime and hit a 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Knight had all nine of Stanford’s assists in the game.

“It was just a nightmare guarding him,” Miller said.

Stanford’s players waved in derision as Van Horn fouled out in overtime, and Knight made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Cardinal their only lead of the game.

But the Utes (29-3) then regained control. Though Stanford (22-8) tied the game twice after that, the Cardinal never led again.

“I can’t get over my disappointment. God, we had such a chance,” said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. “But we got it to a place we’ve never been before, and this guy (Knight) got us there.”

Utah coach Rick Majerus said he was amazed at how his remaining players responded after blowing a big lead and seeing Van Horn and two other starters foul out.

“I thought it was an unbelievable win,” said Utah coach Rick Majerus. “I think our guys responded well when we lost the momentum and lost the lead. When we look back on it, I think our guys will realize how great a win it was.”

It was amazing enough that Stanford, which shot 32 percent in the game, even made it to overtime. The Cardinal missed 12 of their first 13 shots in the game and trailed 35-21 at halftime, their lowest-scoring first half of the season.

But Knight, who spent much of the first half sitting dejectedly on the bench with a towel over his head, took command after getting his fourth foul with 13:09 left in the second half.

Knight, a second-team All-American, led a furious rally that culminated in his 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.

“We were a little bit too pumped up, maybe. I was making things too hard for everybody,” Knight said of the first half. “In the second half, I said I’m going to try to make it easy like I had all season.”

Kentucky 83, St. Joseph’s 68

Defending NCAA champion Kentucky, bigger, quicker and deeper, ganged up on tiny St. Joseph’s with a swarming press to race to victory and a matchup against Utah for a berth in the Final Four.

Even with two of its best swingmen on the bench - Derek Anderson in uniform but out for the year, and Allen Edwards with a cast on his foot - Kentucky (33-4) ran a relentless attack from the start. That reduced pesky St. Joe’s (26-7) to a team with no hope of an upset.

When All-American Ron Mercer stole a ball, slashed toward the hoop and spun 360 degrees for a layup that gave Kentucky a 20-10 lead, it was an early sign the Wildcats would have no trouble.

Mercer finished with 19 points.