By Morris Phillips

Having leads against ranked opponents late hasn’t provided a comfort zone for the Cal Bears this season, and that scenario didn’t play out any differently Friday night in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.

Cal led 70-68 with four seconds remaining only to see Lorenzo Bonam drive the length of the floor and score at the buzzer to send the game into overtime where the Utes took control and won 82-78.

“It’s okay to lose but we’re going to go down swinging. We’ve talked a lot about believing in ourselves and it was a fortunate play,” Utah Coach Larry Krystowiak said.

The Utes led just twice in the final 14 minutes of regulation, both in the final minute, only to see those leads disappear when Cal’s Jabari Bird came up with a pair of big baskets, the last an offensive rebound, putback and ensuing made free throw that put Cal up with 4.3 seconds remaining. But Bonam’s do or die drive to the hoop provided life for Utah that they ceased in overtime.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit deflated, and then you assess the situation,” Krystowiak said. “Again, there’s 4.-something seconds left, and if you’re watching college hoops today, the kid hit the 60-foot, 3-point shot, he certainly didn’t think about giving up.”

Cal’s defense which defended Pac-12 Player of the Year Jakob Poeltl one-on-one for most of the game experienced success, holding the Utes to 40 percent shooting during regulation. But in overtime, Utah converted four of five shot attempts and took control.

On the other end, Utah had their hands full stopping Cal’s Tyrone Wallace, who led the Bears with 26 points. But in overtime, Wallace was quiet and the Bears missed nine of 12 shots, many from the perimeter.

The Bears conclude their season 23-10 and await Sunday’s NCAA tournament selections. The Utes advance to Saturday’s tourney final against top-seeded Oregon. Through the first 10 games of the Pac-12 tournament, the higher-seeded team has advanced each time, with Utah surviving two of the tournament’s three overtime contests.

Cal got 13 points each from Bird and Ivan Rabb and 12 from Conference Freshman of the Year, Jaylen Brown. But Brown missed 14 of his 17 shot attempts, including several down the stretch that could have lengthened Cal leads.

The two teams split their two regular season meetings, with both winning at home, setting up the semifinal meeting and dramatic conclusion.

“Both teams battled, both teams played hard, I just thought they made plays down the stretch,” Coach Cuonzo Martin said.