During the 1989-90 season, the Utes had struggled. New head coach Rick Majerus was only able to coach 6 games before he was forced to undergo heart bypass surgery, eliminating him for the season. In his absence, Josh Grant and the scrappy Utes had hung on to finish the season with a winning record -- but just barely, at 15-13.
BYU, on the other hand, had finished the season with a 21-7 record; putting them in a tie with Colorado State for 1st place in the WAC. However, they had lost four of their last six games, including an 98-73 shellacking at the hands of the lowly Utes. Now, in the first round of the WAC tournament, they were ready for a rematch.
Of course, BYU head coach Roger Reid said the game was no big deal to the Cougars. "In all honesty," he said, "I look at it this way: The way we played this year, every team has not been any different for us. The draw we have [of playing Utah] is good, as far as we're concerned. It's not that big a deal.... If you're going to win, you've got to beat who you play, so I haven't approached it like a rivalry. We play Utah in the first round, and if we're going to win, we've go to beat them first."
However, the Utes were not so lacksidasical about the matchup. Said interim coach Joe Cravens, "In a lot of ways BYU is the perfect team for us to play in the WAC tournament. Our team depends on emotion and competitive spirit and our players should be ready to play them."
As it turns out, coach Cravens proved to be the better prophet of the two coaches. Though BYU was heavily favored by nearly every prognosticator questioned, the Utes fought hard through the first half to keep the game close. However, near the end of the half, the Utes received an unexpected blow when guard Tommy Conner was forced to leave the game with a dislocated finger. In the second half, the Cougars switched from a man-to-man defense to a matchup zone, which effectively shut down the Utes most prolific scorer in the game: center Walter Watts. By the time the clock read 11:23, BYU had a nine-point lead despite the fact that Tommy Conner returned to the game.
However, that's when the Utes turned up the defensive pressure. The Utes forced BYU into missing three consecutive 3-point attempts, and the Utes scored on each ensuing possession. Finally, with 3:25 left in the game, Craig Rydalch nailed a 3-pointer to bring Utah within 1 point at 44-43. BYU's Todd Crow missed two free throws at 1:24 with the Cougars leading 46-43 and his teammate Kevin Santiago missed one of two shortly thereafter. Then Josh Grant nailed a 3-pointer at :33 to pull the Utes within one at 47-46. Finally, with :19 left in the game, BYU's Marty Haws missed his first attempt at a one-and-one. The Utes rebounded and sent the ball down court where Walter Watts sent the game into overtime on a rebound shot with :02 to go.
In the overtime, BYU again cruised out to a five-point lead, which they maintained until there were only 24 seconds left. But Scott Moon missed the front end of a one-and-one and Utah got the ball out to Craig Rydalch who nailed a 3-pointer. With :15 to play, BYU was again at the free throw line. But, once again, Marty Haws missed his first attempt. Utah quickly got the ball out to Tommy Conner at the top of the arc -- dislocated finger and all. Conner squared to the basket and let it fly. The game-winning shot settled coolly into the bottom of the net. Now there was only time for BYU's Andy Toolson to throw up a desperation shot at the buzzer. It was no good, and Utah secured the win, 61-62.