Utah Utes basketball: Glover gives Utes last-second upset over Illinois

LAS VEGAS — He's just a freshman, but Utah's Shawn Glover was smart enough to know he had to get his shot off in less than a second when Jay Watkins found him alone behind the Illinois defense as the clock ticked down.

Glover quickly put a up an off-balance shot as he glided toward the basket and it banked in at the buzzer to give the Utes a most improbable 60-58 victory over the 20th-ranked Illini Friday night in the HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational at Orleans Arena.

The victory puts the Utes (3-2) in tonight's finals at 8:30 p.m. against Oklahoma State (5-0), which defeated Bradley 68-57 in the earlier game. Illinois (5-1) will play Bradley (3-2) in the preliminary game.

"It was a terrific win," said coach Jim Boylen, whose team overcame a 16-point halftime deficit. "We had a tough week after (losing to) Seattle. At the five-minute mark I told my team, 'We've been here before' and 'We've got to make the plays tonight' and thankfully we did."'

The game was tied 58-58 when Demetri McCamey, who led all scorers with 19 points, tried a jumper from the left angle with five seconds left. The ball came off the right side where Watkins grabbed the rebound with about three seconds left.

Glover took off and Watkins spied him behind the defense. When Glover caught the ball around the free-throw line, there was about a second left. And rather than go in for a dunk, Glover quickly put up a shot that banked in off the backboard, after which the Utes' bench went berserk.

The Utes hurried off the floor, while the officials huddled to make sure the basket was good and Illinois players lingered. After about four minutes, the officials confirmed the basket was good, much to the dismay of the orange-clad Illinois fans.

"I just floated it up there and it went in," said Glover of the first game-winning basket of his life. "I had to get rid of it real quick. As soon as it went in, I saw the ref and he said, 'Count the bucket' and I was like 'Oh yeah.' "

Watkins said he was about to try a desperation shot, but spotted Glover behind the Illinois defense.

"When I got the rebound, I saw that there was two or three seconds left and I was about to shoot it and I saw something moving at the last second and luckily it was Glover," Watkins said. "I passed him the ball and I knew once it hit the backboard it would be good."