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Alfonso Plummer's Heroics Lead Utah To Victory Over Colorado

Trailing by 19 in the second half, Alfonso Plummer found the 'dog' within himself and put Utah on his back in helping the Utes come from behind and stun Colorado 77-74 — a victory that could very well save the season
Ryan Kostecka|
Alfonso Plummer's Heroics Lead Utah To Victory Over Colorado
Alfonso Plummer's Heroics Lead Utah To Victory Over Colorado

Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak will be the first person to accept blame for what has largely been an underwhelming season for the Utes thus far.

But when it comes to getting key victories and overcoming insane odds, Krystkowiak will also be the one to tell you that it wasn't the coaching that led to the win — it was the players.

That happened on Saturday afternoon when Utah overcame a 19-point second half deficit to stun Colorado 77-74 in Boulder at the CU Events Center. The win was a huge one for the Utes because not only did it secure them a Quad 1 victory, it came against the Pac-12's top-ranked team in the NET rankings.

"We had an elite rebounding performance," Krystkowiak said postgame "Our guys didn’t quit and Fonz (Alfonso Plummer) came in, obviously hit a bunch of big shots. ... We’re not going to throw in the towel until we’re certain that we don’t have a chance, and there was plenty of optimism along the way.”

Alfonso Plummer was the real story as to how the Utes battled back into the game.

The sharpshooter who can go Steph Curry-nuclear at any second was held scoreless in the first half after playing just two minutes. Vowing to come out and search for his shot more in the second half, Plummer achieved greatness. He scored 23 points in the second half, going 8-of-13 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.

“My dad’s words always stay with me,” Plummer said. “Every time we went into (a game), I feel like my dad is in the (stands) screaming, ‘Hey, play hard, don’t quit.’ The reason I am playing is because of my dad. He (taught) me how to be a dog. And every time on the court, I show out for my dad. That’s what I did.”

Timmy Allen finished with a double-double for the Utes as his inside game proved to be a great compliment to Plummer's outside shooting. He finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Mikael Jantunen added nine points, six rebounds and two assists while Riley Battin added nine points off the bench. 

Pelle Larsson didn't have his best game offensively (eight points, three rebounds) but he might've had the plays of the game. Hid defense on Colorado star guard McKinley Wright was sensational as he helped limit Wright to 35.7% shooting from the floor as his 15 points came more out of volume than efficiency.

The first half was definitely one would've liked to forget as the Buffaloes were blistering shooting the ball. Despite what Krystkowiak called solid defense in the opening 20 minutes, Colorado led 43-36 after knocking down 10-of-17 from beyond the arc.

But it was Allen, Larsson and Ian Martinez who kept the Utes in the game by combing to score 29 of Utah's 36 points in the half.

Colorado appeared poise to run away with the game when it led 65-46 with 8:49 to play. The Utes were desperate on offense as nothing was falling for them and Colorado looked the part of Pac-12 favorite. 

But then Plummer knocked down a shot, which was followed up by a stop and then another bucket. That quick six-point burst gave the Utes the confidence they needed that it wasn't over yet.

With Plummer going nuclear and the team playing great defense, Utah came roaring back and took the lead following a four-point play by the senior guard. This capped a 24-4 run as the Utes never looked back from there.

“Well, the whole focus is to not quit,” Krystkowiak said. “I mean, we don’t make a game of it unless we can cut it to 10 or 12 and I thought that was imperative. There’s no 19-point play, but the guys really moved the ball, we got a number of stops."

Utah will now return home in great spirits with a huge weekend upcoming against Arizona and Arizona State. Tipoff against Arizona is set for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Two wins and the Utes are right back in the thick of things when it comes to the Pac-12 standings and a potential NCAA tournament berth. As it stands right now, the Utes are 2.5 games back of a first-round bye at the conference tournament, and still have 10 more games to play.

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