It was a little bit of an eye-opener for us and we’ll have our guys’ full attention on Monday when we talk about playing the game a little bit more physical. – Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak
TUCSON, Ariz. — There were plenty of firsts associated with Utah’s 69-51 Pac-12 setback to Arizona in the McKale Center on Saturday.
The most unsettling for the Utes, however, was their initial setback of the season in conference play.
“It was a little bit of an eye-opener for us and we’ll have our guys’ full attention on Monday when we talk about playing the game a little bit more physical,” said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak. “To reach the goals that we want to reach we’re going to have to take on a little different persona because that team right there (Arizona) is the definition of a physical team.”
The 10th-ranked Wildcats (16-2, 4-1) overpowered the eighth-ranked Utes (14-3, 4-1) with a 40-19 rebounding advantage.
“They hit us on the rebounding. It’s no secret,” said Utah guard Brandon Taylor. “They destroyed us on the glass tonight — offensive and defensive boards — so we can’t really compete when we do that poorly.”
The Utes wound up with just four offensive rebounds in a game where they shot just 39 percent (16 of 41) from the field. The Wildcats, meanwhile, converted 17 boards into an 18-2 edge in second-chance points.
Stanley Johnson led the Wildcats with 18 points and nine rebounds. T.J. McConnell finished with 16 points, going 8 for 10 from the field, and Brandon Ashley added 14 points and eight boards.
“I’m very, very proud of our team. We played with incredible energy and effort and we knew this was a big game,” said Arizona coach Sean Miller. “We knew we were playing against a great team that had set a standard all of their own to this point based on their performance from the beginning of the year until now. So for us it was about us being at our best.”
No one on Utah had more than four rebounds. Taylor scored a team-high 12 points. Jordan Loveridge and Delon Wright added 11 and 10, respectively.
“We have to get more physical. Not just the bigs but the guards, too,” Wright said. “They outrebounded us by a lot and that was the main reason why we got beat so bad.”
Although Arizona led by as many as 21 points late in the second half, Utah was in command early in the game. The Utes, in fact, held the lead for more than 14 minutes. They jumped out to a 4-0 edge on back-to-back scores by Wright and eventually built a 10-2 cushion.
The Wildcats chipped away at the deficit and took their first lead — at 22-21 — on a basket by Ashley following a shot-clock violation by the Utes.
Utah responded with a 3-pointer by Taylor, but Arizona later pulled in front for good on a free throw by Kaleb Tarczewski and went on to hold a 31-26 halftime lead. The Utes didn’t get their first offensive rebound until Wright scored on a tip-in with 1:48 to go in the opening half.
Firsts were plentiful on Saturday.
For the Utes, it was their first conference game featuring two top 10 teams in nearly 47 years. On top of that, the contest also marked the first head-to-head top 10 game for the program since the 1998 NCAA finals loss to Kentucky. As far as games outside postseason play, Utah had not played in a battle of top 10 squads for even longer — Dec. 31, 1996 in a loss to Wake Forest.
Saturday’s setback snapped a seven-game win streak for the Utes, who trailed at halftime for the first time since a 63-60 loss to Kansas on Dec. 13. They return to action next Wednesday at home against Washington State.
Wright acknowledged that losing for the first time in more than a month was a foreign feeling. However, he expressed confidence the Utes would get back on track.
“We’ll just try to capitalize on things we did wrong and come back stronger,” Wright said.
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