No. 7 Arizona sweeps past No. 12 Utah on the road
SALT LAKE CITY — Analyzing No. 7 Arizona's 63-57 victory against No. 12 Utah:
HOW ARIZONA WON: Saturday's game was close and competitive, if not always pretty. Between an endless stream of fouls and a few lengthy official reviews, the game was too choppy to truly classify as a great game. (Neither team shot better than 35% from the field in the first half, either.) But even if it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing contest, its outcome sure meant a lot to both teams.
The game seesawed back and forth until the final minutes, with seemingly a lead change every possession.
With just under two minutes to play, Brandon Taylor drilled a three to put Utah up 57-55. Arizona guard Gabe York responded by making a free throw and rebounding his own miss on the second attempt, a putback that gave the Wildcats a 58-57 lead. Though Utah got a couple of good looks in its final possessions, it could never get shots to fall and could never catch up. The Wildcats swept the season series.
THE BIG PICTURE: The outcome had major Pac-12 regular-season championship implications, with Arizona having an opportunity to secure at least a share of a league title with a win — which it did.
But perhaps more interesting was what was at stake for Utah, in a macro sense. Was the program really truly ready to challenge Arizona for Pac-12 supremacy? Not quite yet, it seems. The Utes have been rising steadily under coach Larry Krystkowiak, but this has certainly been the breakout season. They've got an All-American-caliber player in Delon Wright, a raw talented big man in Jakob Poeltl and a strong supporting cast. But with the chance to avenge an embarrassing loss and show they're capable of stepping up on the biggest stage, the Utes fell short. They were tough and physical — attributes they were not the first time these two teams met — but the Wildcats' defense proved just too difficult to penetrate.
STAR POWER: In a game pitting the Pac-12's two best teams against one another, there was, understandably, no shortage of stars. There was Arizona freshman and team leading scorer Stanley Johnson — a projected top-five pick in the 2015 NBA draft — who struggled, shooting just 3-of-19 from the field, which actually makes the Wildcats' win all the more impressive, actually. Arizona senior point guard T.J. McConnell did what he does best, managing the game well and distributing the ball where it needs to be, once again making his case as both his team's MVP and perhaps the Pac-12 Player of the year.
For Utah, Delon Wright stuffed the stat sheet, despite shooting just 3-for-10 from the field. Wright had 17 points, five assists, five rebounds, three blocks, one steal and zero turnovers. He had the ball just once in Utah's final three possessions with a chance to tie, and he missed a reverse layup.
KEY STAT: Entering Saturday's game, Utah had beaten all eight Pac-12 teams it had played at home — by a margin of 24.6 points per game.
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