Utah Basketball Suffers Fifth Straight Loss, Falling To No. 6 Arizona
Jan 15, 2022, 8:17 PM
(Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
(Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah basketball team gave great effort for a good portion of the game but ultimately fell to No. 6 Arizona 82-64 on Saturday night.
Utah led for most of the first half and hung in there for the first part of the second half before Arizona went on a 21-0 run late to take the win at home over the Runnin’ Utes.
Both Gach led Utah with 12 points, while Dusan Mahorcic and Lahat Thioune both chipped in 10 points.
Arizona was led by Azuolas Tubelis with a career-high 32 points, along with eight rebounds and five assists. Christian Koloko dropped 16 points and five boards. Bennedict Mathurin had 11 points and four rebounds.
On to the next one. pic.twitter.com/NimztZt3hU
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 16, 2022
Utah Controls Most Of The First Half
It was evident that Arizona want to run a fast-paced offense but Utah was doing a nice job of slowing the tempo and controlling the game. Shots were falling more for the Runnin’ Utes than the Wildcats through the first 16 minutes of the first half. Their largest lead was six points and held the lead for 15 minutes.
As expected from a top 10 team in the country, Arizona made a run. They were able get some easy buckets off of turnovers and get to the free throw line. Arizona took a 34-31 lead at the halftime break.
Marco Anthony led the Utes with seven points. Dusan Mahorcic and Gabe Madsen each chipped in six points. Utah shot 45% from the field, went 3-of-7 from the three-point line and only shot two free throws, making both attempts.
Azuolas Tubelis dropped 16 points in the first half to lead Arizona. Christian Koloko added eight points. The Wildcats made 42% of their field goals, went just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc and 5-of-7 from the foul line.
Utah Falls To Arizona After Struggling In Second Half
For the first four minutes of the second half, Utah was hanging with Arizona. But the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run over a span of 1:10 and held their biggest lead of the game to that point, 44-35 with 14:27 remaining in the game.
The Utes countered with back-to-back triples from Both Gach. Just as Utah had some life, Arizona went on a 10-0 run over a stretch of 2:31 and the Utes were scoreless over the next 2:55. Arizona’s lead grew to 56-45 with 9:29 remaining.
That same run reached 18-2 and Utah went scoreless for nearly six minutes.
The Runnin’ Utes dropped their record to 8-9 overall and 1-6 in Pac-12 play. They will stay on the road to face Arizona State on Monday, January 17 at 2 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.
