SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After just 5 points ahead of Utah in the first half, Utah beat Arizona 73-58 on Thursday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Utah basketball beat Arizona for the third time since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. It is also the largest profit margin over the Wildcats since the 1998 team that defeated Arizona by 25 points in the NCAA’s Elite Eight.
Timmy Allen led by 18 points and 9 rebounds. Pelle Larsson added 14 points. Alfonso Plummer threw 12 points off the bench while both Branden Carlson and Riley Battin scored 10 points apiece.
Azuolas Tubelis had 17 points for leading the wildcats. It was a complete defensive feat in the second half, when the Utes shot 57 percent off the ground and Arizona shot down just 28 percent.
Allen, Plummer give Utah a first half boost against Arizona
In the first half the Utes looked locked up defensively and brought the intensity with them. However, there were times when they gave too much intensity to the defensive end of the floor, which allowed Arizona to do some simple build-ups on the edge.
Utah struggled mid-half when they went over three minutes without scoring a goal. Fortunately, Arizona was only three points ahead during that drought. Timmy Allen finished the first half with 7 points while Alfonso Plummer took the lead with 9 points. The duo scored half of Utah’s first half.
They shot 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from the three-point line. Utah was able to force Arizona to flip the ball 8 times and scored 8 points from those mistakes. The Wildcats really tried to get to the edge in the first half as they only tried two three-points and didn’t make either.
Arizona shot 46 percent off the ground in the first half. Utah went into halftime at 32:27.
Utes puts Arizona away in the second half
Utah got off to a great start to the second half when they beat Arizona 19-7 in the first 6 minutes. The runnin ‘utes had to overcome the fierce whistles of officials when 10 fouls were awarded in the first 7 minutes of the second half, 7 in Utah and 3 in Arizona.
The Wildcats responded with their own 9-0 run and drew within 9 points before Pelle Larsson broke the run with a layup. That also stopped a nearly three-minute goalless drought.
Then Utah expanded their lead after a 7-0 run with just under 9 points to 16. Arizona wouldn’t get any closer than 11 points.
The Utes improved their record to 8-7 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-12 game. You will be back on your way to California on Thursday, February 11th. The launch is at 4 p.m. MST and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 networks.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner Podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @ TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast. Here.
