The focus was on the seniors for their final game in Haas Pavilion, especially Paris Austin. While Kareem South has been a fixture in Cal's rotation this year, and both Jacob Orender and David Serge have had their moments, Austin is the local standout. He had, by his estimates, somewhere between fifteen and twenty family members and friends in attendance, and the Oakland native got one of the biggest compliments I've heard from Mark Fox.

“Paris Austin has had, I think a season that has changed the momentum of Cal basketball," Fox said in the aftermath of Cal's 86-79 overtime win over Utah. "For the rest of his life, he should get credit for that and I’m extremely thankful I had a chance to coach him.”

It was a fitting end for Austin, as the Bishop O'Dowd product played his final high school game in Haas Pavilion (a state title win), and now he's played his final game at home of his college career.

"It meant a lot," Austin said, "being able to create a memory from high school, one I’ll never get, then finishing my last college game here, I’ll never forget that. I was super happy being able to play in front of my family and all of my friends, coming out with the win and getting to play with my teammates."

Austin did go 2-4 on free throws in the final minutes of regulation, allowing the Utes to tie the game at 69 to force overtime, but knocked in two to put the Bears up 6 with less than a minute left in overtime, closing things out.

That's a microcosm of the year Austin has had, starting the year on the bench, then excelling through Pac-12 play, getting to the line and shooting 83.6% in conference play, and even making subtle plays, like his late layup (a change of pace play where Austin backed out looking to run clock, then buzzed right by Utah's Mikael Jantunen), or his defense a week ago on Washington State star CJ Elleby. He did commit four turnovers, but settled down for when the Bears needed him, against a Utah team that didn't really have a point guard after Rylan Jones left with an apparent concussion.

Now, Austin will hand the starting point guard duties off to Joel Brown and some of the scoring to a recruit he hosted in fellow Bishop O'Dowd forward Monty Bowser.

"I see potential," Austin said about the team moving forward. "The young guys are getting a lot of experience this year playing, and we’re winning, I think next year, coach Fox will have a better understanding of the team, this is his first year with the team, and then there’s a couple new guys, I think we’re going to put together a good team together. I hosted Monty when he came here, I think he’s a really good kid, Monty’s gonna be a good player for years to come."

Cal did not play their best game against Utah. After a sterling performance against Colorado, the Bears played somewhere at around 70% of that level against Utah, who relied on brute force with Timmy Allen and Both Gach driving and Alfonso Plummer heating up to the tune of five 3s.

Brown did end up playing one of his best games late, despite having to go get stitches for a cut between his fingers.

"He comes over and he’s got blood everywhere and he shows it to me like what I am supposed to do about it, you know,” Fox noted. “So I don’t know how many stitches he had, but to come back after that and to get on the floor for loose balls, to make plays, and to really impact the game, that shows a great competitive character that Joel has and I know we’re all thankful for that today.”

The true freshman finished with 11 points, his first time in double figures since the UNLV game, capped with a steal and breakaway layup late, along with two free throws (despite shooting under 50% from the line). He only played 15 minutes thanks to the stitches, but Brown showcased some of the speed and aggressive defense that makes him an intriguing player moving into the future.

Andre Kelly was the MVP of the game, per Kenpom, thanks to his 15 points, 9 rebounds, and a career high of five blocked shots. In addition, Grant Anticevich has 15 of his 17 in the second half, two days after hitting only one field goal against Colorado. Both made impacts on the offensive glass (seven combined offensive boards). Both played 30+ minutes, with Anticevich eclipsing the 40 minute mark.

A play that stood out came with 3:04 left. Cal had been running a high screen with Anticevich to get Matt Bradley the ball at the top of the key. The Utah defender on Anticevich hedged to deny the ball, and Anticevich made a run at the rim to open space. Austin lobbed it in, Anticevich knocked in the layup, drew a foul, made the ensuing free throw and gave the Bears a four point lead. Mark Fox noted that Anticevich has made a larger jump in playing time from year to year than just about anyone, and he's handled it with aplomb, getting into double figures for the 11th time and being the only Cal player to start every game.

Kelly handled a bigger center in Branden Carlson throughout the afternoon, and was a big reason why the Bears had 20 second chance points off 18 offensive boards. The Bears need production from their bigs going into their final 3+ games of the season, as there may be favorable matchups against the Oregon schools ahead.

- Matt Bradley produced his 11th 20+ point game against Utah thanks to some late free throws. Bradley also kept his streak of making at least one three pointer alive, one that has been alive since the start of conference play.

- This was the first time the Bears have had five players in double figures all year, as Bradley (21), Anticevich (17), Kelly (15), Austin (15), and Brown (11) all broke into that range

- Cal moved to 3-0 in overtime games, after wins over UNLV and Washington at home

- It was the first time Cal swept the mountain schools since the 2016-17 season

Cal basketball in the post-season would be a longshot, as they'd likely not play in the CBI or CIT (which are pay-to-play tournaments), but here's how it could potentially happen.

- The 'easiest' (which is far from easy) would be to win the Pac-12 tournament and get the automatic big to the NCAA Tournament. Cal is likely projected for the 8 seed, which would mean a rematch against Washington State, who the Bears beat in both matchups this season. A win there would make for a date with the 1 seed, right now UCLA. Cal fell to the Bruins 50-40 in Pauley Pavilion, as they barely made it to 40 points. If Cal got that far, the Bears would be slotted against either Arizona State (the current 4 seed), USC (the current 5 seed) or Washington (the 12 seed). After that semifinal is the championship game.

- The other scenario could have the Bears make the NIT, but that would require the Bears sweeping the Oregon schools on the road and getting to the .500 mark or over with two or three wins in the conference tournament. It's not even a sure thing at that point, as the team with the most losses in the NIT a year ago had was 16 (both Butler and Texas came in at 16-16, and the Longhorns ended up winning the tournament).

Either way, the Bears have at least exceeded the expectations of outside prognosticators, and they have something to build on moving into the 2020-21 season with three games to go in this one.