The Runnin’ Utes came up short.
Utah fell to Butler, 86-84, in the opening round of the College Basketball Crown tournament on Monday.
But it wasn’t for a lack of effort from their loudest — if not their biggest — fan in Las Vegas.
Dressed in the No. 23 of Ute women’s basketball player Maty Wilke, Utah superfan Corey Chidester caught the attention of players, broadcasters and Butler coach Thad Matta as his shrieks filled the arena and distracted the Bulldogs while they were shooting their free throws.
“Right now, our biggest problem is No. 23 across the bench over there — that fan. He’s pretty damn good at was he’s doing,” Matta said on during a timeout interview on FS1.
Utah sophomore Keanue Dawes finished with 19 points. Senior Gabe Madsen had 17.
But Chidester became the story of the game for the Utes.
During his own interview on the broadcast, Chidester said there are “way bigger fans,” but he knew he had to be courtside when he learned his beloved Utes were playing in the new tournament in Las Vegas.
“I love screaming at the free throws. That’s the easiest time to do it,” Chidester said. “But I have [also] been talking a little bit, talking about their shoes, their socks.”
Asked if he thought he was having an impact on the opposing team’s performance, he replied, “I want to humbly say yes. … I can’t do much else. I’ll scream from here and help the team.”
The Bulldogs shot 6-for-13 (65%) from the stripe, below their 74.2% season average. Butler center Andre Screen missed all five of his attempts.
Chidester, however, could not distract Butler’s Pierre Brooks, who scored 22 points, making both of his free throw attempts and scoring the game-winning layup with 3 seconds to play.
Utah was knocked out of the single-elimination tournament.