Published Feb 25, 2022
Takeaways: Runnin’ Utes Lose to No. 2 Arizona
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Alex Markham  •  UteNation
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The Runnin’ Utes fell to .500 at home for the 2021-22 season after losing to the no. 2 Arizona Wildcats, 97-77. Utah initially started strong, only to see the Wildcats catch fire and run away with the victory.

Here are the takeaways from the game:


Boy, that escalated quickly

After three ties, the Utes went ahead by one point with 6:44 left to play in the half. The lead lasted all of 32 seconds. From that point until the end of the half, the Utes would go on to be outscored 26-5. Arizona’s Kerr Kriisa scored 15 of his 21 points in that span, drilling five three-pointers. The Utes committed five turnovers in that span, after committing only four in the half before that.

Despite their strong effort early on, it felt like only a matter of time beforehand things got out of hand. After all, Utah brings up the back half of the conference, while Arizona is no. 2 in the nation for a reason.


Silver Lining: The guards lead the way, but in both points and turnovers

Gabe Madsen, David Jenkins Jr., and Both Gach all got things going on the offensive end with 15, 14, and 13 points respectively. They combined for 13-28 from the field, while Madsen went 4-8 from three-point range. The big negative between those three however, was 8 combined turnovers.

The plus side for the guards is that Rollie Worster—who only had four points—had a turnover-free game.


Utah won the battle of the benches

Here’s a positive: The Utes’ bench outscored friend-turned-foe Pelle Larsson and the rest of the Arizona reserves, 45-14. The one thing to note though is, Arizona is heavily reliant on their starters. Even in a blowout, the Wildcats had three bench players get over ten minutes of action, while Utah had five.

Going forward, if Utah gets this same result out of their bench, they’ll be in, and win, plenty of games.


Up next

The Runnin’ Utes will close out the week at home on Saturday at 8 PM MST, against the Arizona State Sun Devils. They close out their regular season a week later at home against the Colorado Buffaloes.