Deseret News Sports... humbling 88-62 loss in battle Utes a for second place in Pac-12,No. 8 Arizona hands Runnin

Deseret News Sports... humbling 88-62 loss in battle Utes a for second place in Pac-12,No. 8 Arizona hands Runnin...

The Runnin' Utes failed to justify that incredible effort at McKale Center on Thursday night, two and a half months after shocking then-No. 4 Arizona at the Huntsman Center to let the Pac-12 know they would be a force in the conference race.

And even then, it might not be enough.

In front of 14,688 spectators in Tucson, the No. 8 Wildcats got their just desserts, thrashing the fledgling Utes 88-62 in a performance worthy of a club that will likely receive a No. 1.

The Utes lost the race for second place, dropping to 17-10 overall and 10-6 in league play, and demonstrated that they are perhaps not quite ready for grand contests like these without second-leading scorer Gabe Madsen.

Arizona was able to shoot 57% while Utah only managed 32% from the field, and that was pretty much the game's narrative.

Despite Azuolas Tubelis, a Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate, scoring zero points in the opening 20 minutes, Arizona (23-4, 12-4) took a 43-31 advantage into halftime while dominating all statistical categories other than rebounding (37-34 in the Wildcats' favour).

With 14:42 left in the first half, he committed his first foul before kicking the ball into the stands and receiving a technical foul.

Lazar Stefanovic made two technical free throws at that time to give the Utes a 9-8 lead, and it looked like the visitors could need a break to get back in the game.

Try again.

Utah's attempt to add a second Quad 1 victory to its resume was unsuccessful when Arizona went on a 10-0 run, with the exception of a brief period in the second half when freshman Wil Exacte heated up and brought the Utes to within 12.

"We knew we were going to take their best shot since they were coming off a loss (to Stanford) and we beat them in December," Smith said. "Give them credit. They were amazing, in my opinion.

We are still learning how to handle their crowd, an exceptional home court, and their enthusiastic supporters, who at times can be a touch overwhelming.

Arizona dominated Utah 38-10 in the paint despite the fact that front court star Tubelis finished with just 11 points and fellow star Oumar Ballo only had eight.

Arizona's guards completely outperformed Utah's guards as Kerr Kriisa led the Wildcats with 17 points and six assists, and Courtney Rame added 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Arizona out-assisted Utah 12 to 1 and out-scored them 18 to 5 in fast breaks.

They began to move during changeover. "I felt like they got too many run-outs and easy ones, and that is what we really neutralised them in that area at our place," Smith said, alluding to Utah's 81-66 victory on December 1 at the Huntsman Center. "It always starts with your transition defence.

Naturally, Madsen played for the Utes in that contest.

On Thursday, Branden Carlson, who had 19 points on 6 of 13 shooting, provided the majority of their scoring. Marco Anthony contributed 12 points, although it took him nine attempts to do it. Exacte's final scoring total of 10 was his highest since the second game of the season.

We certainly had too many offensive spells of nothing, Smith said. "I thought that in a game where we had more possessions, we only had 12 turnovers," the player said (were costly). We felt that the mistakes we made really affected us.

Utah's backup centre Keba Keita, who Smith thought would play more to offset Arizona's size advantage, played just 11 minutes off the bench and went scoreless. Arizona's bench outscored Utah's bench 30-15.

Smith remarked, "That was just kind of one of those evenings." "Our athletes gave it their best. I'm pleased with what we did. Yet to defeat a team like this, we must execute better.

Next, the Utes head north to Arizona State to take on the Sun Devils in Tempe. On Thursday night, Colorado shocked Arizona State.

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