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Show "THE PAIN OF DEFEAT" BY GRIFFIN ADAMS /SPORTS PHOTOS BY CHRIS AYERS EDITOR WA KF\G IIP BY RYAN MILLER /ASST. SPORTS EDITOR PHOTOS BY CHRIS AYERS eading up to Saturday's matchup between No. 10 Arizona and No. 8 Utah, Wildcat head coach Sean Miller mentioned how his team needed to figure out a way to upset the Utes. "It's like you're in the middle of a dream," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said about Miller's comments. On Saturday night, Arizona delivered a loud wake-up call. Technically, Utah was the higher seed, so technically the Wildcats' 69-51 win over the Utes could be considered an upset, but technicalities be damned — Saturday night was nothing but Arizona reclaiming its rightful spot at the top of the Pac-12. The Wildcats wanted this game, and Utah could do nothing to stop them from taking it. Utah didn't live up to its ranking, the game didn't live up to its hype, but the Wildcats more than lived up to their reputation. Arizona was more physical, made more plays and ground down the Utes until they broke. This was uncharted territory for this Ute squad — being involved in a game between two highly-ranked teams, played in one of the top venues of college basketball. Sure, Utah has climbed up the rankings on the back of a string of impressive blowouts, but Saturday night proved they aren't quite ready for the brightest lights. L n a game that was hyped up to be potentially one of the best games thus far in the college basketball season, a familiar face ended up doing familiar things. Arizona used the Wildcatbrand of tough play to out-hustle and out-muscle the Utes 69-51 in Tucson, Saturday. "We just got pummeled on the glass" Krystkowiak said. "We are going to have to take on a little different of a persona because that's the definition of a physical team right there" Utah was led by guard Brandon Taylor, who finished with 12 points and four assists, and Jordan Loveridge, who registered 11 points of his own, but the Utes were unable to overcome a 40-19 rebounding deficit in this one. Things could not have started better for Utah following the tip off. After Arizona gained control to start the game, Delon Wright stole the ball and flushed it home for a quick lead. The Utes quickly added a layup, a banked three-point shot from Wright and another deep ball from Taylor, and found themselves up 10-2. However, Wildcats point guard T.J. McConnell responded in a big way, making contested shot after contested shot. McConnell hit two quick buckets to cut the lead, but that was just the beginning of his production for the floor general. If he wasn't making buckets, McConnell was orchestrating the Arizona offense in a fashion that Utah fans are used to seeing from Wright. "He did a hell of a job on his pick-and-roll" Taylor said. "He just dealed whatever he wanted, he got the looks that he wanted ... It's tough for us to be in a game like that and let a player like that get whatever he wants." Behind McConnell, the Wildcats clawed their way back into the game and overtook the Utes for a 31-26 halftime lead. With the five point deficit, Utah found itself in a position it hasn't been in for quite some time. 8 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION ARTS SPORTS I TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 } In the second half, things didn't get much better for Krystkowiak and company. After a Taylor threepointer cut the Arizona lead to 33-30 at the 18:02 mark, the Wildcats reeled off a 13-2 run that Utah simply couldn't overcome. Behind the big run was an even bigger impact made by the crowd, as the Wildcat faithful weren't shy about boasting about its lead. As the second half went along, the momentum disappeared from the Utah bench as Arizona looked like it had more will to win. According to Taylor though, that wasn't the case. "I always felt hope the whole game': he said. And with good reason, as Loveridge scored eight straight points for the Utes to bring the game within reason, forcing Sean Miller to use a timeout. However, the comeback was to no avail as the Wildcats went on another run, this time 12-4, to finish off Utah late in the contest. The 18-point loss was the worst of the season for the Utes. "That's an elite team in our league" Krystkowiak said. "It was an eye-opener for us and we'll have our guys' full attention on Monday" McConnell led the way shooting the ball for Arizona, scoring 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Freshman sensation Stanley Johnson used a strong second half to finish with 18 points and what seemed like an endless amount of hustle plays to put the Wildcats on top. As both teams began to empty their benches and the 'Zona Zoo chanted "overrated," the pain of defeat began to settle in for the Utes. That said, this team will not let one game define a season and is looking forward to a Feb. 28 rematch. "[Arizona's] an elite program and to come in here is definitely not an easy task,"Taylor said. "We got them in February:' Utah will look to rebound from this loss when it takes on Washington State on Jan. 21. g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu @GriffDoug from the dream Following the game, Krystkowiak admitted his team needed to "go back to the drawing board:' And the biggest thing the Utes will be looking for is some physicality. "I told our guys, the one thing we're going to learn the rest of the year is how to rebound and how to block people out" Krystkowiak said. Utah was outrebounded by Arizona, 40-19, and 17 of those Wildcat rebounds came on the offensive side of the ball. Arizona regularly muscled its way past the Utes to loose balls and to second-chance points. They were the more physical team, the stronger team and simply, the better team. With the Utes' struggles the last few years playing in hostile environments, it would be easy to point to the game's venue on National Championship Drive in Tucson as the reason for Utah's performance and defeat. But that wouldn't be accurate. It wasn't the high-energy crowd, or the intimidating environment that got to the Utes. It was a motivated blue blood of college basketball that wanted to show it was still the top dog in the conference. If the Utes had illusions of grandeur entering the Mckale Center on Saturday, they most likely were left there. The season, however, is still young. After last season's humbling loss to Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Krystkowiak said the game showed how far the Utes have to go to be at that level. Utah has closed the gap somewhat, but they're just not quite there yet. The Utes return home to Salt Lake with nothing but a bruised ego. The season isn't anywhere close to being finished — just the fairy tale ride of blowouts has come to an abrupt end. Utah still has the same defense and players they had before Saturday's contest, which had many people believing this could be a Final Four-caliber team. The Utes just now have something higher to reach for. Arizona isn't 18 points better than the Utes, even at their home building, but they may have been 18 points more physical. That is something the Utes can change, and from what Krystkowiak is saying, he's going to do his best to make it change. "It's always good to get a little bit of wake up call" Krystkowiak said following Saturday's contest. Saturday's loss might have been the motivation needed for the Utes to change its past dreams to future realities. r.miller@chronicle.utah.edu @millerjryan 9 |