Utah's 67-61 win over Washington in Wednesday's Pac-12 Tournament opening round provided plenty of late-game drama. But it still was play compared to the real-life events surrounding the Utes' program.

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Eight-year-old Mac Brennan, son of Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration Kyle Brennan, was diagnosed with leukemia this past December. ​Brennan bonded with the Utes this season at practices and games. On the eve of Wednesday's game Brennan told the Utes to "play hard for your brothers" and "finish the game strongly." The Utes took Brennan's advice, finishing strong enough against the Huskies to earn a Thursday quarterfinal matchup with No.1 seed Arizona.

What's more, Utah athletic trainer Trevor Jameson has stage three multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Colleague Clay Jamieson of Oregon presented a special tribute at a dinner for all of the Pac-12's athletic trainers Tuesday night: red wristbands for each trainer in the conference that read "Let's dunk on cancer."