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Of the 15,508 who came to the Huntsman Center on Saturday afternoon, a few hundred remained 10 minutes after the game.

Wrapping up a postgame interview on ESPN, senior guard Brandon Taylor rose from his seat and threw up his hands. The Utah fans obliged him, growing louder and louder as he gestured his arms higher and higher. Taylor ran back to the locker room with a grin on his face.

The message: Don't hold back. Celebrate. Utah's first victory in 18 years over Arizona was worth it.

The Utes (23-7, 12-5) ended the dreaded streak, knocking off the No. 9 Wildcats 70-64 in front of a packed house with their proven formula of the season: clutch defense, and just enough late shots.

Taylor provided the final basket himself, a dagger 3-pointer with 41 seconds left after crossing over Arizona senior Gabe York, who had the winning points in last year's meeting. Utah's defense forced the Wildcats to miss eight of their final nine shots of the game, and several key rebounds helped seal it in front of a roaring crowd that never left its feet for the final two minutes.

After a week of fretting over court-storming, the Utah faithful stayed in the stands. But players and coaches went to them, slapping high-fives and embracing after Utah's first home win against a top-25 opponent this season.

What was sweeter for coach Larry Krystkowiak: clinching his first win against Sean Miller's Arizona program or clinching a Pac-12 Tournament bye? He might've been considering these thoughts as he sat in front of the media for 20 seconds of opening silence, sucking on a Lifesaver.

"Let's just sit here and savor this one for a minute," he said, eyes closed.

The Utes were fortunate to hold on after Arizona erased their 11-point halftime lead.

After a first half of beating the Wildcats up in the paint, Utah came tumbling down to earth. The Wildcats went on a 17-5 tear to open up the second period, pouncing on four Ute turnovers in less than four minutes.

With a York jumper at the 14:25 mark, the Utes had lost the lead that they had worked so hard to build. A few minutes later after four more lead changes, the Wildcats had a 59-55 lead with 6:17 remaining.

In the past, that might've been the moment Utah would've cracked.

"Basketball is a game of runs, and we just knew that we had to get our team back together on defense especially and stop turning the ball over," sophomore Jakob Poeltl said. "We knew we had a chance to come back in the game."

Taylor was a steadying force, scoring 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half, including hitting 4 for 5 from deep range. After Jordan Loveridge knocked down a 3-point play, Taylor retook the lead with another 3-pointer.

Allonzo Trier, who had twice as many points as any other Arizona player with 23, got his own 3-point play a minute later at the 4:12 mark. But that was the last basket Arizona would make: The Utes left them 0 for 4 in the final four minutes, while a Lorenzo Bonam layup, a Jakob Poeltl free throw and Taylor's 3-pointer put the game out of the Wildcats' claws.

"I was poised in my mind," Taylor said. "I think the good players in those situations get comfortable."

The Utes did a strong job of making Arizona's leading men uncomfortable: Senior Ryan Anderson scored only 11 points, while York scored about half his average at seven points. The Wildcat shot only 43 percent for the game.

Even Miller marveled at how far Utah has come since he reeled off the first of his nine straight wins against them in the Pac-12 era.

"I've been here when we came to this place and no one was at the game, and Taylor and Loveridge came here, and not a of folks knew about Utah and they took their lumps," he said. "I think as a coach you have to admire things that are happening [at Utah]."

Beginning in a back-and-forth with eight lead changes in the first five minutes, the game began to roll Utah's way once the defense locked down Arizona's interior attack. With smart double-teams in the paint, the Utes were able to fluster leading scorer Ryan Anderson initially and get a 19-13 halftime edge on the glass.

Bonam led the way early, scoring 9 points to give Utah a 20-13 lead after nine minutes. Foul trouble threatened the Utes, as three starters including Bonam headed to the bench with two fouls each midway through the first. But the bench extended Utah's lead, as Brekkott Chapman chipped in six points and six rebounds to help give the Utes a 40-29 lead at intermission.

The Utes have made a habit of winning tight ones, notably knocking off Duke, Colorado, Washington and UCLA. Krystkowiak said he was particularly proud of this one, given Utah's 41-hour turnaround between tipoffs. The Utes finished up their prep at an 8 a.m. shootaround and film session Saturday morning, cramming in before the noon showdown.

With a week until their next game, Senior Night against Colorado, there wasn't much to do for the rest of the evening except sit back and savor.

"It took me four years," Taylor said. "Better late than never."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Storylines

R Utah snaps a 12-game losing streak against Arizona before more than 15,500 fans at the Huntsman Center.

• Utah guard Brandon Taylor scores a team-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

• Arizona is held to 43 percent shooting, making only one of its final nine shots.