Stanford Falls To Utah On Hines' Late 3-Pointer

SALT LAKE CITY (CBS/AP) -- In the end, Larry Krystkowiak was speechless.

That was fine by him, after so much strife, and so many tough losses in his first season as Utah coach.

"It was almost neat just to hear the silence," Krystkowiak said of the Utah locker room following Saturday's 58-57 victory over Stanford. "We sat in there before with heads down and not the same vibe. I really just didn't want to walk out of the room. I wanted to feel those chills that we were feeling at the end of the game."

Utah's final home game of its inaugural Pac-12 Conference campaign was tight from start to finish.

Chris Hines, one of two holdovers from last year's squad, won it with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left and finished with a team-leading 19 points.

Freshman Chasson Randle had a chance to win it for Stanford but missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We were tired of moral victories and close losses, and people telling us we played well," said junior center Jason Washburn, the other holdover. "This team showed a lot of resiliency."

The Utes (6-22, 3-13 Pac 12) still finished only 6-9 at home — their first losing mark at home in 38 years.

Yet they gave the 8,933 in attendance Saturday something to cheer about, and perhaps something to look forward to next season.

"Hopefully with some wins and great production out of our team we can start filling this place up again," Krystkowiak said of Huntsman Arena. "(The win) is more of a thank you to everybody for still supporting us. It's just pretty neat that they hung with us."

Stanford, meanwhile, was lamenting one that got away.

The Cardinal led by as many as nine points early, and was ahead 56-55 on Dwight Powell's putback with 40 seconds left, only to see Hines hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game.

Josh Owens then made only one of two free throws with eight seconds left that would have tied the game.

"They wanted it more and we didn't bring the (right) mindset that we needed to have," said Randle, who led Stanford with 19 points. "That's the reason we came up short."

With UCLA losing earlier, the Cardinal (19-10, 9-8) had a prime opportunity to move up in the standings.

Stanford was coming off a 74-50 road victory at Colorado, and still harbored hopes of a top-half Pac-12 finish, which would mean avoiding having to play Cal or Washington in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament should the Cardinal win its first-round game.

Now, there are doubts going forward.

"We need to find out who we are -- whether or not we want to get tough and continue our season or just be done after our first game in the tournament," Randle said.

Stanford closes out its regular season March 4 against California. The Pac-12 tourney starts March 7.

The Cardinal won the first meeting with Utah, 68-65, in Palo Alto on Jan. 12.

This one was just as close, with 16 lead changes.

Utah led 34-33 at halftime, thanks to four 3-pointers (three by Hines) and 14 of 16 free throws.

The latter was a stark contrast to the first meeting when the Utes made only one of nine from the charity stripe.

The Utes also got inspired play from Washburn, who scored Utah's first six points and followed a first-half steal with a 3-pointer during the Utes' 8-0 run.

He had 11 points, three blocks, a steal and two rebounds in the first half, and finished with 17 points, six blocks and five rebounds.

"He's a terrific player," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said of the 6-10 center. "I have been watching him on tape throughout the year. He is a quality player . one of the best in our conference."

Hines showed he is one of the most competitive, and fearless, putting up the final 3-pointer when some would have settled for a two.

"I got a little bit of room and a nice look," Hines said of the game-winner.

Krystkowiak, who lost star big man David Foster in November to foot surgery and booted leading scorer Josh Watkins in mid-January for violating team rules, was pleased with the leadership Hines and Washburn provided.

"They're not real vocal kind of leaders, but when Chris Hines says something, it's pretty spot-on," Krystkowiak said. "He is a not a guy that makes a lot of noise whereas Jason is more of a rah-rah guy. They are both leading by example and playing a lot of minutes. They are getting better. It is a pretty good story for those guys."

Stanford will have to figure out its own ending, and ways to score.

The Cardinal went through two stretches of about six minutes each Saturday where it could not score — two days after blowing out the Buffs.

"It's difficult to explain," Dawkins said. "I think it has to do with some inconsistency from younger players. It starts in the backcourt, to have a freshman and sophomore. They are going to have nights that are up and down."

Combined Randle and Anthony Brown were just 11-25 shooting, and Randle committed five turnovers.

"Give them credit first," Dawkins said of the Utes. "They defended during that period of time and got some stops. We didn't execute as well and turned it over too much."

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed)