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SALT LAKE CITY — Remember the name Alfonso Plummer — and it's certainly going to be the name Colorado wishes it never heard Saturday afternoon.
Colorado built up a 19-point lead with just over 8 minutes left in the game before Plummer got hot in the second half to give Utah a miraculous come-from-behind 77-74 win over the Buffaloes.
Plummer played just one minute in the first half and had 0 points due to early foul trouble before exploding in the final minutes of the game. The senior guard from Utah (7-7, 4-6) finished with 23 points, including 4-of-6 from behind the perimeter, to steal the victory away from a Colorado (13-5, 7-4) team that dominated for most of the game.
The come-from-behind performance gives Utah its first win over Colorado in Boulder since 2017.
"The whole focus is to not quit," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "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, we had an elite rebounding performance.
"But our guys didn't quit and Fons (Alfonso) came in, obviously hit a bunch of big shots and 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."
Prior to Plummer exploding, Colorado couldn't miss from three — or at least it felt that way Saturday afternoon. Colorado finished the matinee game making 13 triples on 27 attempts to overwhelm a Utah team that has struggled in Pac-12 play this season.
Colorado built up a 10-point lead — its largest of the first half — with just over five minutes left in the half and looked to be in full control on a nonexistent defensive effort by Utah on the perimeter. Utah was slow on defensive transitions and Colorado had no problem knocking down shot after shot after shot.
The wide open looks behind the perimeter allowed Colorado to hit 10 threes on 17 attempts in the opening half.
"Our rotations were a little bit haphazard and we weren't getting out to guys — and give credit to them, I think actually four of their 10 first-half threes, they had a guy in the face," Krystkowiak said. "So it was kind of a perfect storm. I thought the second half we were much more dialed in and aware where those shooters were and then tried to make them have to put the ball on the floor."
Can UTE believe it? 🤯@UtahMBB bounced back from a double-digit deficit behind a huge @AlfonsoPlummer9 2nd-half surge of 23 points to take down the Buffs 77-74. pic.twitter.com/G9Vwd9WHgk
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 30, 2021
But despite the defensive woes, Utah stayed close offensively and matched Colorado from the field as the two finished the first half shooting 48%. Utah eventually cut Colorado's lead to two with just 2:55 left in the half off two made free throws by center Brandon Carlson.
Utah, though, failed to score in the final three minutes of the half until junior Timmy Allen, who made the first 6 points of the game, hit a running layup with 5 seconds left to play. But Colorado went into the break with a 7-point lead and the momentum. Allen led all scores at the break with 14 points. He finished the afternoon game as Utah's second-leading scorer with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
That momentum quickly grew for Colorado who wasted no time building upon its lead. And for Utah part, there wasn't much to do to stop them as Colorado went up by 19 points with 8:46 left to play.
It was at that moment, though, when the game turned. Krystkowiak got a technical foul for arguing a call where Utah got a 10-second violation.
Call it a coincidence or a fortuitous break, but Utah got the message and reeled off a 25-4 run that included a 13-0 run where Colorado went scoreless for a three-minute period.
The run was capped off by a Plummer 3-pointer that tied the game 69-69 with 3:24 left to play. Plummer was fouled on the shot and hit the free throw to give Utah the go-ahead score. From there, Utah was in control and held the lead to beat Colorado.
Plummer said the words of his dad just hung in his head: "play hard, don't quit."
"The reason I'm playing like this is my dad," Plummer said. "He teach me how to be a dog, teach me how to be a strong man, sure minded, never quit, and every time you're on the court you show out, and that's what I did."
Colorado's McKinley Wright, who had only 6 points in the first half, finished with a team-high 15 points and four assists in the loss. Jeriah Horne added 10 points and five rebounds.
Utah will return to play Thursday after its Tuesday night matchup against Arizona State was postponed due to COVID-19. Utah will welcome Arizona to the Huntsman Center at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on FS1.
