Southern Utah, Utah Valley Renew Rivalry 10 Months After Semifinal Thriller
Southern Utah, Utah Valley Renew Rivalry 10 Months After Semifinal Thriller
First time since that fateful evening at Orleans Arena in March that the T-Birds and Wolverines face each other.
When Utah Valley guard Trey Woodbury knocked down a 3-pointer with 15:42 to play in the WAC semifinals on March 10, 2023 at the Orleans Arena, it looked like the Wolverines were in complete control against in-state rival Southern Utah.
Woodbury gave a loud roar. The Utah Valley faithful were on their feet. Everything had gone Utah Valley’s way through the first 35 minutes against the T-Birds.
It was at that moment that Southern Utah head coach Todd Simon called a timeout.
Sitting on press row, close to the Southern Utah bench, someone, perhaps Harrison Butler, or maybe Tevian Jones, said something that still gives me chills to this day.
“We are not losing this game.”
It was repeated over and over in that Southern Utah huddle during the timeout.
I remember telling the people sitting near me on press row…
“This game is far from over. Just watch.”
Little did I know how true that statement was going to be.
Over the next 10 minutes, Southern Utah chipped away. The T-Birds started to press, forcing turnovers while knocking down shots on the offensive end.
Tevian Jones knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play that cut the deficit to 13.
And a Dee Barnes layup just a minute later cut the deficit to 10.
It was at the 3:58 mark that things started to get crazy.
Le’Tre Darthard fouled Tevian Jones on a 3-point attempt. And Jones calmly sank all three free throws. The deficit was down to seven.
After Blaze Nield hit one of two free throws on the next Utah Valley possession, Harrison Butler hit a three on the other end. The deficit was down to five with 2:47 to play.
A steal, a pair of steals, and a couple of missed free throws later, and Southern Utah had the deficit down to three with 1:43 to play.
After Trey Woodbury missed a pair of free throws, Tevian Jones then went the length of the court, down the paint, and threw down a dunk in traffic. One-point game.
Back-to-back buckets by Trey Woodbury and Justin Harmon pushed the lead back to five and Utah Valley was feeling good at that point with 36 seconds to play.
Maizen Fausett cut it back to three with a layup and Southern Utah had to foul.
Sometimes in a massive comeback, some luck has to go into it. Fortunately for Southern Utah, Utah Valley couldn’t hit free throws down the stretch. Woodbury had missed a pair. And then, following Fausett’s layup, Justin Harmon missed a pair to keep it a one possession ball game.
In order to keep SUU from hitting a 3-pointer, Utah Valley elected to foul. Cam Healy stepped up and hit a pair of free throws to make it a 1-point game with 12 seconds to play.
Le’Tre Darthard then stepped up and knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a 3-point game with 10 seconds left.
You know the rest. Le’Tre Darthard didn’t foul early enough, was late getting to Tevian Jones, who elevated, knocked down a three and got fouled, hit the foul shot and gave Southern Utah a 89-88 lead with four seconds remaining.
“When Tev gets the ball in his hands, something special happens every time,” Drake Allen said. Allen was the point guard on that Southern Utah team and is now at Utah Valley.
“As soon as they let him touch it, I knew it was over. He does it day after day. Makes big shots. As soon as the ball left his hands and I heard the foul, I knew the ball was going in.”
What some may not know is just how close the Southern Utah euphoria was to being diminished.
On the ensuing inbounds, Tahj Small tapped a loose ball to a wide open Justin Harmon who looked to have a layup. But, Harmon couldn’t get control of the tip cleanly and it rolled up and over the rim and Southern Utah celebrated its way into the WAC Tournament title game.
“That was probably one of the craziest moments I’ve had,” Allen said. “The ball somehow bounced off someone’s foot all the way across right into his (Harmon) pocket…it was like slow motion honestly. I honestly thought that layup was going in at the end.”
Well, the layup didn’t go in and the epic comeback or, perhaps we call it an epic collapse, was complete.
10 months later, Drake Allen is in a Utah Valley uniform.
Harrison Butler, Tevian Jones, Trey Woodbury, Le’Tre Darthard, Justin Harmon and a whole lot of other faces have moved on from that epic semifinal.
Both Southern Utah and Utah Valley have new head coaches in Rob Jeter and Todd Phillips.
There is a bevy of new faces. Southern Utah returned just three players from that 2022-23 squad in Braden Housley, Zion Young and Parsa Fallah. Utah Valley returns just two players in Jaden McClanahan and Ethan Potter.
Neither team is on pace for 20-plus wins in 2023. Southern Utah is 0-3 in WAC play and fighting for a trip to WAC Vegas. Utah Valley is 2-1 and is coming off a win in which the Wolverines didn’t make a 3-pointer in a game for the first time in eight years.
Utah Valley has size. Southern Utah has quick guards. The Wolverines play defense. The T-Birds are dead last in points allowed in the WAC.
Utah Valley snapped a 4-game losing streak on Thursday night with a win over California Baptist.
Southern Utah held its own for a half before GCU blew the game out of hand in the second half in Cedar City.
On Saturday afternoon, the third installment as conference foes goes down at the UCCU Center.
Will there be more dramatics in this renewed rivalry?
“It will be a great challenge for us as they come in,” Utah Valley head coach Todd Phillips said. “We’re excited to be home again. You gotta win your home games if you want to win in this league.