That's it for me tonight! Hope you have a great rest of your evening wherever you may be!
Utah ends their 16-0 unbeat run at home with this defeat. But they should be proud of the way they played and will be a force in the NCAA Tournament.
2nd Half (:00) Arizona wins on the road and clinches at least a share of the PAC-12 title! 63-57.
2nd Half (:1.7) Utah misses a three and York gets fouled. He makes both free throws and that's the game!
2nd Half (:10.8) He misses the first, but makes the second. 61-57.
2nd Half (:10.8) Talor misses an easy lay-up and RHJ draws the foul on the rebound.
2nd Half (:34.2) Hollis-Jefferson makes both free throws 60.57
2nd Half (:35.7) Arizona ball.
2nd Half (:35.7) Last off of Bachynski and it's Arizona 58-57.
2nd Half (:43.8) McConnell gets an offensive foul.
2nd Half (1:39) He makes only one, grabs his own rebound and lays it in. 58-57.
2nd Half (1:39) York drives the lane and picks up a foul and Poetle has now fouled out as well. 55-57.
2nd Half (1:55) Taylor with a huge three to take a two point lead. 55-57
2nd Half (2:35) Offensive rebound for McConnell. Johnson looses the ball, but Arizona holds onto it.
2nd Half (3:33) Hollis-Jefferson with the big slam gives Arizona a 55-54 lead.
2nd Half (3:56) He makes all three. 53-54
2nd Half (3:56) Isaiah Wright gets fould from beyond the arc while shooting. 53-51.
2nd Half (4:33) Ashley with feet on the line makes a jumper 53-51.
2nd Half (5:18) Chapman fouls out now and RHJ makes only one free throw. 51-51.
2nd Half (5:36) Taylor with the jumper from mid range. 50-51.
2nd Half (5:45) Bachynski drives to the basket and draws a foul. 50-49.
2nd Half (6:12) Rondae makes both free throws and Arizona takes the one point lead. 50-49.
2nd Half (6:12) Hollis-Jefferson draws the block on Wright. 48-49.
2nd Half (6:51) He misses the free throws and the ball goes to Utah out of bounds. 48-49
2nd Half (6:51) Tarczewski with a beautiful move along the baseline, makes the bucket and draws the foul. 48-49.
2nd Half (7:25) Hollis-Jefferson with the slam cuts the lead to one.
2nd Half (7:53) York hits his first tripple of the night, 44-47.
2nd Half (8:11) Taylor burries a deep three, extending Utah's lead to 6.
2nd Half (8:46) McConnell drives to the lane, makes it 41-44.
2nd Half (8:59) Loveridge gets called for the block, his fourth.
2nd Half (9:27) Arizona just can't buy a basket, ball goes out of bounds, giving Utah the ball.
2nd Half (9:46) Hollis-Jefferson gets called for a foul on Wright. The senior makes two free throws.
2nd Half (10:03) Johnson is heading back to the line for two more free throws.
2nd Half (10:35) Stanley Johnson makes both of his free throws, 38-40.
2nd Half (11:00) Johnson misses a three from the wing.
2nd Half (11:24) Chapman is called for a blocking foul, his fourth personal.
2nd Half (11:40) Now Bachynski burries a jumper from just inside the three point line.
2nd Half (12:05) Kaleb with a mid range jumper cutting the lead to two once more.
2nd Half (12:40) Johnson shoots through the lane, steals the ball and lays it in.
2nd Half (13:26) Wright with a nice drive to the bucket and lays the ball in.
2nd Half (13:47) Tarczewski misses a tip in right at the rim.
2nd Half (14:25) McConnell gets his second personal foul for fouling Wright.
2nd Half (15:04) Bachynski throws ball out of bounds.
2nd Half (15:20) Champan corner three off the mark, but York touches the ball as it goes out, getting a fresh 35.
Shotclock malfunction
2nd Half (15:56) Now he picks up a foul down the other end, sending the game to the under 16 media timeout.
2nd Half (16:05) Stanley Johnson drives to the lane, misses two shots, but gets the foul. And the freshman makes both, cutting the lead to two.
2nd Half (16:33) Loveridge gets a nice bounce and Utah leads by four now.
2nd Half (16:58) Wright makes two technical fouls and they'll get the ball.
Kaleb Tarczewski gets a contact deadball fall because of timeout.
2nd Half (16:58) Both offenses starting out sloppy, Tarczewski picks up the loose ball and Sean Miller calls a timeout.
2nd Half (17:15) Tarczewski draws another foul on Poetle, his third. Misses his first attempt, but makes his second. 30-30.
2nd Half (17:41) Delon Wright with the off balance shot and it's good.
2nd Half (18:06) Poetle with the air ball.
2nd Half (18:57) Now McConnell misses his jumper.
2nd Half (19:35) Wright draws contact, misses jump shot.
2nd Half (20:00) And we are back underway!
We will be back soon for the second half of this game!
For the Runnin Utes, senior point guard Delon Wright leads both teams with nine points, making just one basket from the field, however.
Ready for some stats? Of course you are! Kaleb Tarczewski leads all scorers with 8 points, with six of them coming from the line.
1st Half (:00) At the end of the first half of play, Arizona will take a one point lead into the break.
1st Half (:01.8) Pitts now draws a foul with little time remaining in the half. And he makes both of them.
1st Half (:06.8) Now Pitts picks up his third foul. Wright misses his first... but makes the second.
1st Half (:39.7) Olsen picks up a foul now, sending McConnell to the line. He makes just one.
1st Half (:49.7) He makes one of two from the line.
1st Half (:49.7) Reyes draws a foul and will head to the line.
1st Half (1:24) Johnson misses two shots around the rim and gives the ball back to the Utes.
1st Half (1:46) Jeremy Olsen misses both of his free throws.
1st Half (2:30) Ashley with the put back ties it at 26.
1st Half (2:52) Delon Wright makes both of his free throws, pushing the Utes lead to two.
1st Half (3:01) Bachynski picks up his third fould, sending Tarczewski to the line. Ties the game at 24.
1st Half (3:34) McConnell fouls Wright and the senior will go to the line. Makes both of them.
1st Half (3:43) Brandon Ashley makes one of his two free throws.
1st Half (4:00) Bachynski banks it in to give Utah the one point lead, 22-21.
1st Half (4:50) Wright makes his first three of the half.
1st Half (5:16) TJ makes the second of his 1 and 1, giving Arizona a four point lead.
1st Half (5:36) Offensive foul on Kaleb Tarczewski.
1st Half (5:55) Looks like the ball was deflected, but it's Arizona's ball.
1st Half (6:32) He misses his free throw.
1st Half (6:32) Ashley will go to the line after the under seven TV timeout.
1st Half (6:41) Champman from the other side of the court hits another shot from beyond the arc. Timeout, Arizona.
1st Half (7:10) Pitts' three too strong.
1st Half (7:45) With a hand in his face, Chapman drills a three.
1st Half (8:17) Tarczweski makes both free throws, 19-11.
1st Half (8:27) Loveridge drains his second three of the game right out of the timeout.
1st Half (8:45) Johnson this times makes his three pointer from the wing extending Arizona's lead to nine. Time out, Utah.
1st Half (9;30) Johnson attacking the lane, looses the ball going up and gives the ball to the Utes.
1st Half (10:10) Pitts with the strip, but ball goes back to Utah.
1st Half (10:39) Illegal screen on Poetle, his second personal foul.
1st Half (11:01) Parker misses his corner three.
1st Half (11:36) Utah picks up sixth team foul as Poetle picks up his first... Tarczewski makes both free throws.
1st Half (11:55) Taylor goes out of bounds and is the first player to touch the ball afterwards; ball back to Arizona. Media timeout. 12-8 Wildcats
1st Half (12:08) Offensive foul on Johnson, his first foul.
1st Half (12:37) Tucker steps out of bounds and turns the ball over.
1st Half (13:05) TJ gets his first two points of the game.
1st Half (13:30) Stanley Johnson with the good drive and the finish. Misses free throw, 10-8 Arizona.
1st Half (13:51) Loveridge gets called for a travel.
1st Half (14:21) Tarczewski gets called for a goal tend, tied at 8.
1st Half (14:36) Corner three from York is no good and he picks up a foul at the other end.
1st Half (15:20) York with a nice drive to the basket and lays it in for two.
1st Half (15:39) Wright makes one of two free throws to tie game.
At the under 16 media timeout, the Wildcats lead 6-5.
1st Half (15:42) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson picks up his first for a foul on Delon Wright.
1st Half (16:14) Tarczewski draws the offensive foul
Johnson beign looked at behind Arizona's bench.
1st Half (16:36) Reyes picks up his first foul.
1st Half (17:07) Poetle with the bucket down low, Utah leads 5-4
1st Half (17:20) Brandon Ashley with the travel.
1st Half (18:20) Utah with the three to take the lead.
1st Half (19:05) Reyes' jumper comes up short.
1st Half (19:38) Ashley makes a long jumper to start out the game.
1st Half (20:00) And we're off!
Just a couple of minutes left now!
The anticipation is growing and growing as there is just 15 minutes left until tipoff!
We are just 30 minutes away from this huge PAC-12 clash! Hope you are ready!
“It was a shock to see how strong they were and how physical they played. This time around, we’re more prepared,” said senior point guard Delon Wright on they style that their opponent plays with.
Here is Arizona head coach Sean Miller on playing in these big marquee games, “You hope to play in these meaningful games late in the year. We recognized a long time ago that Utah had a special team. From our perspective to be able, with three games left, to have a chance to beat a team that has an equal amount at stake, that’s a good feeling…”
As far as Utah goes, they will most likely end up as a three or a four seed, leaning more towards the three. The Utes played a fairly tough preseason schedule defeating the then eighth ranked Wichita State Shockers before going on the road to the Sprint Center as they lost by just three points to Kansas when Brannan Greene sunk two clutch free throws with 14 seconds remaining in the game.
Arizona’s seeding is still really up in the air. They defeated Gonzaga in the Sonoran desert in 2014, but the Zags pushed them to overtime where they eventually won by three points. The Cats were as high as number two in the country before losing to UNLV on the road in a tight contest. It always seems that Arizona gets fired up after a loss and since their last defeat to ASU they have scored in the 80s in four of their last five games. Their game against UCLA was almost like a loss as the Bruins went on a 17-0 run to start the second half but still found a way to pull out the victory.
Delon Wright, a senior point guard from Los Angeles, has been steady all season long. Against Arizona State on Thursday night, Wright only scored 12 points but played very well on both sides of the ball. He held the opposite point guard, Tra Holder, to exactly zero points on 0-5 shooting. The senior pg really does carry this team. Utah can only go as far as Wright will take them and he will have to be at his very best tonight, and the rest of the season if the Utes want to make any kind of noise in the postseason.
In Salt Lake City, two of the best ten shooting teams in the country will be meeting at the Jon M. Huntsman Center with the Utes shooting 49.5% on the season, good enough for sixth. Arizona is not too bad themselves, sitting in eighth for shooting with 49.1%. But both of these programs are known for their defensive work and can easily hold their opposition in the 50s as well.
Utah will have to have Austrian born Jakob Poetl be on top of his game tonight as Kaleb Tarczewski has been on an absolute tear on the offensive side of the glass in recent games. In the game against Colorado, on his 22nd birthday, the senior forward scored 14 points dominating the paint area. Poetl is not really a threat on offense but does play great defense and always gives the opposition big a handful time in and time out and will have to do just that tonight.
The last time these two schools met was all the way back on January 17th at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona. Sean Miller’s squad ran away with an 18 point lead as Utah were never really able to get going. TJ McConnell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson held Utah’s explosive point guard Delon Wright to just ten points on 4-9 shooting. On the other hand, freshman sensation Stanley Johnson scored all 18 points in the second half in a fantastic performance in the final twenty minute of the game.
Meanwhile, the Utes absolutely demolished Arizona State in their previous game, holding the Sun Devils to just nine points at halftime. Yes, you read that right. Although ASU put up 32 points in the second half of that game, Utah still ran away with the victory scoring 83 of their own.
Arizona is coming off a thumping of the Colorado Buffaloes as they put up 82 points while only allowing 54 to their opposition this past Thursday night. The Wildcats never trailed in that game. Brandon Ashley opened up the scoring 59 seconds into that matchup and they never looked back.
The #7 Arizona Wildcats (25-3, 13-2) travel to Salt Lake City tonight to take on the #13 Utah Utes (22-5, 12-3) in what is essentially the deciding game for the PAC-12 Championship.