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SALT LAKE CITY — The Runnin' Utes' second half rally came up just short Sunday afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, where Utah fell to No. 9 Arizona by the score of 68-64.
Senior center Jason Washburn tipped in a Jordan Loveridge miss to tie the game at 51 with 7:29 left in the game, capping a 14-3 Utah run to get the Utes back into the game after being outplayed in the first half.
But the No. 9 team in the nation made the plays it needed down the stretch, responding to Utah's rally with a 7-3 run of its own to regain control, before trading baskets and free throws over the final four minutes to seal the four-point win.
"When you’re in a close game, guys have to step up and make shots like we did last game," Washburn said. "We just couldn’t do that this game. We didn’t step up and make shots when we really needed to make them and we didn’t get stops when we needed to get them. It is a simple game. Those are the things that make or break basketball games."
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Senior guard Mark Lyons led Arizona (21-4, 9-4) with 18 points and five assists, with senior forward Solomon Hill scoring 10 points with eight rebounds. Freshman forward Brandon Ashley added another 10 off the bench, as the Wildcats avoided a third-straight loss.
The Utes were fortunate to be down by just eight at halftime, 33-25, after shooting just 37 percent compared to Arizona's 50 percent.
"In the first half, I thought we missed a bunch of fairly easy shots," said Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak. "We were taken out of rhythm by a really good defensive team. They were physical with us."
Arizona started the second half with an 8-3 run to jump out to its largest lead, 41-28, before Utah began to muster a comeback.
But untimely turnovers and an inability to secure defensive rebounds late in the game proved to be the Utes' downfall.
"I’m proud of our guys," Krystkowiak said. "It leaves me feeling like I want to watch the film and figure out (what went wrong). We had some mindless turnovers, and the thing that killed us was giving up the second shots. But I was encouraged that we came back and were a couple of plays away from making it happen."
Utah (11-14, 3-10) was led by senior guard Jarred DuBois' 16 points, along with 15 points and seven rebounds for Washburn. Freshman center Jeremy Olsen made a big contribution off the bench, scoring 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting with six boards.
Speaking of freshmen, first-year players Olsen, Loveridge, Brandon Taylor, and Dakarai Tucker each played key roles in Utah's comeback effort. Tucker knocked down two crucial 3-pointers late in the contest to keep the Utes in it.
"I thought Dakarai Tucker was a big lift, hitting a couple threes," Krystkowiak said. "The game gets a little bit complicated at times, but that’s how you win games and get back into games — you have to be able add up points. I thought those six points were huge. That gave us a little momentum."
The Utes are yet to win back-to-back conference games since joining the Pac-12, and now face three-straight road match-ups before playing their last two regular season contests at home.
"After coming off the big win against ASU, to beat the No. 9 team in the country would have been big," Washburn said. "More importantly, we need to get those consecutive wins that keep evading us. Our team fought until the very end. We got down big in the second half, came back and we just came up short."
That five-game stretch to close out the regular season begins at Boulder next Thursday, when Utah faces Colorado (17-8, 7-6) — a team it beat on Feb. 2 in Salt Lake City.
Tyson Maddy has covered the University of Utah football and men's basketball teams as a contributing writer for KSL.com Sports since 2011. Follow his Utes coverage on twitter @Tyson_Maddy
