I tried to evade it, really I did. But there was no denying coach Jim Boylen when he came bursting out of the locker room with sweat still beading down his forehead following the Utes stunning 67-65 victory over Cal tonight.

As the only reporter standing in the hall, I got caught in a victory hug.

"That was great, wasn't it?" Boylen said.

You have to admit, it was pretty impressive. The Utes played solid defense, holding the Golden Bears to a season-low 65 points, and held together down the stretch amid the crucible of a deafening Haas Pavilion. Even coach Ben Braun of Cal was impressed -- at least with Boylen's post-game speed.

"He ran off there fast," Braun said. "Only the refs ran faster."

Braun said he would have liked to ask the referees a question, but never had the chance. We can guess what it might have been about, considering that Braun hinted that he thought Utah's Shaun Green traveled before flinging up the final miraculous shot that won the game. "Maybe [he] shuffled a little bit," Braun said. Later, he flat-out said that center Luke Nevill "took a train to get there," for most of his baskets.

"Or a bus," Braun added. "Whatever."

Nonetheless, the victory was surely one on which the Utes will look back and cite as a major accomplishment in their rebuilding effort.

Even before the game, Boylen had said privately that the thought the Golden Bears were better than either Oregon or Washington -- he said so outright, after the game -- and the Utes respectably held their own inside against a monstrous rebounding team, after having struggled in that department against the Ducks and Huskies.

The Utes actually lost the rebounding battle, but only 31-26 -- not bad against a team that had pounded some opponents by double-figures this season. And they again were outshot at the free-throw line, 18 to 7, but they made all seven of their shots, making them 24 of 25 over the last two games.

What's more, they won despite those statistical shortcoming, in a building where Cal had been 57-7 in the last nine seasons.

The best part, though, was definitely watching Green get mauled by his teammates at halfcourt after making the game-winning shot -- then watching the way the Golden Bears reacted. Forward Ryan Anderson called the shot a "prayer," which certainly was not inaccurate, while adding that "lucky stuff like that happens in basketball. That's why it's such a fun game to watch. You never know what's going to happen."

Center Devon Hardin was better, still, smiling and shaking his head -- almost laughing -- at the idea that Green's shot actually fell while he was preparing to rebound it.

"You throw something up like that," he said, "I figured it was coming off."

Not this time.