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SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time this season, Utah has won back-to-back conference games.
Utah used a strong second-half effort on both sides of the ball to pull away from an Arizona team visiting the Huntsman Center on Thursday night. The Utes outscored the Wildcats 41-31 in the second half to eventually claim a 73-58 win.
It marked the team's third win out of their last four games in a season that started out with numerous conference losses.
Timmy Allen led Utah (8-7, 5-6) with 18 points and nine rebounds as the team shot 51% from the field to outpace an NCAA Tournament-caliber team in Arizona (13-5, 7-5). Pelle Larsson added 14 points, Alfonso Plummer added 12 points, and Riley Battin and Branden Carlson added 10 points apiece to lead the Utes.
And while the offense did well against Arizona, it was the team's defensive performance that allowed Utah to put some distance on the visiting team. Utah held Arizona to 37% shooting from the field and forced several contested shots that fell short of the bucket. During a late stretch in the game, Utah held Arizona to one of its last 11 field goals.
"We knew this was gonna have to be our best defensive outing," Allen said. "It's a really good talented team, and they can score from a lot of different positions and areas. ... So it was big for us to see it, and see it come to light and get the result we wanted."
One area that really helped Utah was the defensive effort from Rylan Jones against Arizona guard James Akinjo, who is the team's leading scorer and one of the biggest all-around playmakers on the team. Akinjo was held to only five points until midway through the second half. The junior only finished with 10 points on a last-second, last-ditch 3-point attempt that went in before the final buzzer sounded.
"We did a good job with Akinjo, and just trying to lock in and lock into the game plan and try to get the ball out of his hands," Allen said.
"Our back court did a terrific job of making him fight for everything he got, and that was the proverbial head of the snake for them," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. Akinjo finished the night only 2-of-9 from the field, with his only two made buckets being 3-pointers, including the late-game bucket.
The defensive performance was a major boon for the Utes, who struggled with foul trouble midway through the second half. Carlson, Larsson and Mikael Jantunen got into foul trouble with four fouls apiece late in the second half, and Jones later joined them with four fouls as the refs singled out Utah. Jantunen eventually fouled out of the game.
But Utah persevered and kept a double-digit lead despite a disadvantage win a multitude of fouls. Larsson said the team stayed "solid" and didn't get worried about the foul trouble. Instead, everything else clicked for Utah, which claimed its largest win over the Wildcats since the 1998 season.
"Just getting good shots on offense. And all the times we didn't foul, we got a good defensive rebound and got off to a good start on offense," Larsson said. "So just staying solid and making everything else work."
Utah controlled a five-point lead at the halfway point, which was the largest lead of the game for the Utes up until that point after Arizona and Utah traded baskets for much of the half. But Utah's defense locked in and held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 3:37 of the half.
Out of the halftime break, the Utes quickly built up a double-digit lead and only saw it grow to 18 points (51-33) before Arizona battled back. But Utah never gave in to Arizona's push and maintained the double-digit to come away with the win.
Arizona was led in scoring by Azuolas Tubelis, who finished the night with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. No other Arizona player managed double figures in the loss.
