The Runnin' Utes took down the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats in their Pac-12 opener 81 to 66. Utah never trailed in the game and led by as many as 20. Utah flustered the Arizona offense, holding them well under the season average of 97.5 points per game. It was a great statement win by Craig Smith's squad, and could be a solid stepping stone for the program.
Here are some of the big takeaways from the big win:
Defense set the tone from the beginning
As mentioned above, Utah held the Wildcats to over 30 points below their season average. Throughout the entire game, Utah packed the paint to halt drives to the basket and dared Arizona to shoot make three-pointers. Arizona ended up only shooting 35% from the field and an abysmal 4 of 28 from three-point range (14%). For comparison, Arizona has been averaging 60.2% on field goals and 45.5% from three. The Utes forced 12 turnovers and scored 17 points off them. In addition to locking down Arizona's shooting, Utah outrebounded the Wildcats 51 to 42, led by Keba Keita and Rollie Worster with 11 rebounds each.
Diverse scoring kept Arizona on their heels
Branden Carlson showed his ability to stretch the floor by scoring 15 of his 22 points from three-point range. Nine Utes scored, including four players in double digits. Carlson's threes pulled Arizona's bigs from the paint just often enough to give Utah plenty of scoring opportunities in the paint. Utah's bench outscored Arizona's 19 to 7, and Utah went on a few scoring runs that kept Arizona scrambling to keep up. Timely three-pointers in the second half by Worster and Carlson and some quick buckets right at the basket highlighted the versatility the Utes displayed all night.
Statement win showed signs of things to watch in conference play
Utah's last win against an AP Top 5 team was December 30, 2002 against #1 Alabama over 20 years ago. In addition, Utah was 0-5 against AP Top 5 Arizona teams since joining the Pac-12 and has lost their last 7 games against ranked opponents. Yes, it is early in the conference season and there is still a lot of basketball left in the season, but this game could have easily exposed major weaknesses in Utah. Instead, Utah held off a big Arizona run in the second half as the lead shrank to single digits. Free throw shooting (52.6% for the game) was the biggest negative in this game, and Utah is lucky that Arizona did not shoot well themselves (66.7%). In previous seasons, fans have watched Utah teams let opponents claw back, but this team absorbed Arizona's run, regrouped, and put together a run to push the lead back out of reach. This sign of resiliency and maintaining composure when opponents make runs will serve them well in conference play.
Up next
The Runnin' Utes take the show on the road to Pullman, WA to face the Washington State Cougars at 2:00 PM MT on ESPNU.
