TUCSON, Ariz. (ABC 4 Sports) – Two months ago, the Runnin’ Utes pulled off a stunner, beating 4th-ranked Arizona by 15 at the Huntsman Center.
Thursday night in Tuscon, it was payback time for the Wildcats.
Kerr Kriisa had 17 points and six assists, Courtney Ramey added 13 points and No. 8 Arizona routed Utah 88-62 on Thursday night.
Arizona (23-4, 12-4 Pac-12) bounced back from a loss at Stanford last weekend, while Utah’s two-game winning streak came to an end.
“They certainly had a great look to them tonight,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said. “They were in a great rhythm all night. We we were trying to disrupt it some, but really didn’t have an answer to anything that way and credit to them for doing that.”
Arizona leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis sat most of the first half in foul trouble, but the rest of the Wildcats picked up the slack.
Arizona shot 56% overall, went 9 of 18 on 3-pointers and outscored Utah 38-10 in the paint. Tubelis finished with 11 points and nine rebounds after being called for a technical foul in a frustrating first half.
Utah scored 81 points and held Arizona to 35% shooting in its win on Dec. 1. The Utes (17-10, 10-6) had nowhere near the same efficiency this time, falling into a 20-point hole early in the second half to remain winless at McKale Center since 1986.
Branden Carlson had 19 points to lead Utah, which shot 32% from the floor.
Tubelis was held to four points while saddled with foul trouble last Saturday’s 88-79 loss to Stanford.
The Lithuanian big man got off to a shaky start against Utah, missing two open 3-pointers when the Utes sagged into the paint on Oumar Ballo. Tubelis missed another shot right at the rim, then was called for a technical for kicking the ball into the stands after a loose-ball foul.
Tubelis headed to the bench and the Wildcats pulled away without him.
Arizona went on a 10-0 run to go up by nine and held Utah scoreless for another three-minute stretch to push the lead to 33-18. The Wildcats kept hitting shots, going 18 of 31 from the field and 5 of 10 from 3 to lead 43-31 at halftime despite Tubelis playing just five minutes.
“I’m looking around like how are we only down 12?” Smith said.
Tubelis returned to the lineup to start the second half and Arizona went on a quick 9-0 run. Kriisa hit a 3-pointer, then set up Ramey for a layup that stretched the lead to 59-39.
Utah finally started to show some offensive life midway through the second half, hitting seven straight shots to pull within 12.
It was the Utes’ last gasp.
Arizona went on an 11-0 run, capped by Ramey’s three-quarter-court alley-oop to former Utes star Pelle Larsson, pushing the lead to 79-56.
“We mixed up our defenses there and that was the one time we maybe got them on their heels, and they call the timeout,” Smith said “But then after that point, we really didn’t have any answers.”
Utah next plays at Arizona State Saturday night.
