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SALT LAKE CITY β With 6:44 left in the first half, Utah took a 1-point lead against the visiting No. 2 Arizona Wildcats.
That subtle lead β the first and only for the home Utes β was enough for Arizona to get going and turn the tide.
In a minute's time, Arizona went on a 9-0 run on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers. It was part of a 26-5 run over the last six minutes of the first half that gave them a 20-point lead into the halftime break.
The impressive run was capped off on a deep buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Kerr Kriisa, who did not play in the first meeting this season between the two programs.
To make matters worse for Utah (11-17, 4-14 Pac-12), the team committed five of their nine first-half turnovers in the final six minutes β many of which were careless β and propelled Arizona to easy transition buckets.
The run, which included a stifling defense from Arizona, and Utah's turnovers were enough to keep the Utes from challenging in the second half with such a big deficit against one of the best teams in the country. Behind 23 points from Arizona's Azuolas Tubelis, the Wildcats rolled to an easy 97-77 victory at the Huntsman Center.
"Well, obviously, a tough night for us," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "I thought we did some good things, but certainly not enough. You play a team like this, they're ranked No. 2 in the country for a reason; they do it all.
"Everyone wants to talk about their offense, and deservedly so; however, they're very good defensively. I mean, it's so hard to score in the paint on those guys. You can see their athleticism up and down the lineup at every position, and it's just really, really difficult to score. You're going to have to make threes to have to beat those guys."
The Wildcats (25-2, 15-1 Pac-12) put on a show on the road, including the traditional "U-of-A" chants from the several fans in attendance. It's a program that's hit its stride as it prepares for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in Tommy Lloyd's first season as the team's head coach.
If it wasn't the hot shooting from 3-point range (12 of 28), it was the multiple highlight dunks from many Arizona players that gave fans their money's worth β even Dallas Mavericks 7-footer Boban MarjanoviΔ, who was in attendance Thursday night, enjoyed the show from the front row.
Kriisa had 21 points, all of which were 3-pointers on 10 attempts, and finished with 10 rebounds and 10 assists to record a triple-double in the win. Kriisa was taken out of the game with three minutes left and was one rebound short of the mark, but was later inserted into the lineup to secure the triple-double. He became the first Arizona player with a triple-double since Andre Iguodala in 2004.
"He's their spark plug," Smith said of Kriisa. "When we played them the first time, we didn't have (Branden Carlson) and they didn't have him; and he, obviously, you can see the emotion that he plays with and the energy that he brings, and look what he does tonight."
All three other starters for the Wildcats β Bennedict Mathurin, Dalen Terry and Christian Koloko β scored in double figures in the road contest and combined for 39 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Arizona shot 52% from the field and an impressive 43% from 3-point range, but most impressive was their 24 assists on 37 made baskets Thursday night.
All of it was just too much for Smith's team to contain for all 40 minutes of action.
"They're a great team," Smith said. "It's definitely a legitimate team that can win it all."
The Wildcats started the second half much like they finished the first and jumped out on a quick 9-0 run as Utah missed easy buckets around the rim. Utah fought back and got the deficit down to 17 points, but Arizona was too much to handle as the more talented team and pushed the lead to as much as 28 points before easing off the gas down the stretch.
Utah's Gabe Madsen led the team in scoring with 15 points β all 3-pointers β and David Jenkins Jr. added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in the loss. Both Gach and Branden Carlson, who combined for 14 of the team's first 15 points of the game, finished with a combined 23 points.
Former Utes guard Pelle Larsson, who made his first return to Salt Lake City since transferring to Arizona in the offseason, was held scoreless in the first half on two shot attempts, including an airballed 3-pointer that got the fans loudly chanting "airball" every time he touched the ball.
Larsson finished the game with 2 points β a garbage-minutes score β and added seven rebounds and two assists.
