SALT LAKE CITY -- Chandler Hutchison scored a career high 34 points and Marcus Dickinson added 12 to rally No. 6 seed Boise State for a 73-68 victory over No. 3 seed Utah in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday.

The Broncos trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half before overtaking Utah in the final minutes. Boise State (20-11) will advance to play no. 2 seed Illinois.

Boise State is now 2-0 in NIT openers against the Utes. The Broncos also defeated Utah 62-61 in the 1987 NIT.

Kyle Kuzma scored 21 points and collected nine rebounds and David Collette added 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Utes. Utah (20-12) gave up 16 turnovers, which led to 17 points for Boise State.

Utah carved out a double-digit advantage early in the second half after Gabe Bealer buried 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Utes up 45-34.

Hutchison and Dickinson rallied Boise State by scoring several critical baskets to erase the lead. The Broncos tied it on a 3-pointer from Dickinson and took a 63-61 lead on a layup from Hutchison less than a minute later.

Their baskets helped fuel a decisive 15-1 run for Boise State. Zach Haney finished the spurt off with a 3-point play, giving the Broncos a 71-62 lead with 1:02 left.

It is Utah's third straight opening round NIT loss dating back to 2001. The Utes have not won an NIT game since reaching the NIT Final Four in 1992.

Bealer drilled a corner three and then Devon Daniels and Kuzma followed with back-to-back layups to give Utah an early 14-6 lead. The Utes opened the game by hitting six of their first nine shots.

Hutchison kept the Utes from pulling away further. Hutchison scored 10 of Boise State's first 12 points and it opened the door for the Broncos to rally. Boise State tied it twice and then took its first lead at 21-20 on a layup from Marcus Dickinson.

Utah roared to life after blocking shots on back-to-back possessions to set up baskets on the other end. JoJo Zamora made the first block and followed up with a 3-pointer. Then Kuzma's block led to a tip-in basket from Tyler Rawson moments later.

This four-possession sequence highlighted a 7-0 run that allowed the Utes to take a 29-24 lead with 3:30 left before halftime.