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Tucson, Ariz. • Utah had choices, none of them good. The Utes could let T.J. McConnell hit step-back jumpers. They could let Brandon Ashley bang in the post. They could let Stanley Johnson cut through the paint for dunks.

The Utes had to choose, because they couldn't stop all of Arizona's weapons. And every choice in their 69-51 loss to the Wildcats seemed wrong.

Utah (14-3, 4-1) had acquired a No. 8 national ranking and the top spot in the Pac-12 leading into Saturday's matchup at the McKale Center, but reality — and the No. 10 Wildcats (16-2, 4-1) — caught up with them. A brisk start only took the Utes so far, until Arizona unleashed its full arsenal.

"We kind of were playing harder than them in the first few minutes of the game," Brandon Taylor said. "Then they kind of rallied and started hitting us back, and we just couldn't do anything about it."

If physicality is measured in rebounds, the Wildcats proved to be twice as physical as the Utes.

Arizona had a 40-19 advantage on the glass, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second-chance points. While Utah may have had the size to compete, it didn't have the muscle: Johnson, Ashley and McConnell combined for more rebounds than the whole Utes roster.

Larry Krystkowiak said that energy translated to the rest of the game, especially on offense. Utah shot only 39 percent from the floor, led by Taylor's 12 points. Utah was outscored by 20 in the paint, and after scoring nine points in the first half, Utah's senior leader Delon Wright did not hit a basket in the final 20 minutes.

It was sobering for the Utes, which had steamrolled their first four Pac-12 opponents and had won seven in a row overall. Krystkowiak had said before he sought to replicate Arizona's success — and Utah painfully learned again they have a long way to go before that can happen.

"It was a bit of an eye-opener for us," he said. "We'll have our guys' full attention Monday when we talk about playing more physical. To reach the goals we want to reach, we'll have to take on a little different persona. [Arizona] is the the definition of a physical team."

Utah got the start it wanted, especially from its star player. After kicking off the game with a steal and dunk — which has become his signature play — Wright added another lay-up in the paint and a 3-pointer just as the play clock was expiring.

After a Taylor 3-pointer, Utah led 10-2 nearly six minutes in. From that high point, the game started swinging the other direction.

McConnell led the charge back, hitting shots in Taylor's face and then Jakob Poeltl's. The Utes had no answer for his cuts to the basket, nor his jumper. He opened lanes for Kaleb Tarczewski and Brandon Ashley on pick-and-rolls, and Utah's formidable defensive start cracked to trail 31-26 at halftime.

"He's the head of the snake," Krystkowiak said of McConnell, who had 16 points. "Over the last few games, he's been their leading scorer. We didn't have an answer in the pick and roll. We're going to have to get back to the drawing board."

Instead of mustering a second-half comeback, Utah faltered further as Johnson came roaring to life. The freshman forward rallied after a scoreless first half for a game-high 18 points, including double-fisted dunks that snuffed out any embers of Utah's momentum.

Jordan Loveridge had second-half surge of his own, cutting the gap to 10. But the Wildcats finished any serious hope for a close finish with an 11-0 run over four minutes after Loveridge hit his third 3-pointer.

Arizona led by as much as 21, a lead Utah has become accustomed to holding starting out 4-0 with blowout wins in Pac-12 play. Losing by double-digits for the first time this season felt "foreign," Wright said, but hasn't yet crushed Utah's dream of contending with the Wildcats for the Pac-12 title at the end of the year.

A little time from that loss, however — Utah's 11th in a row to Arizona — will be required. There's still growing up to do.

"We'll play them again," Wright said. "We know what to do to beat them. We'll go back to watching film, and see what we did wrong, and try to come back."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Storylines

R 'Cats outrebound Utes by 21 and outscore them 18-3 on second-chance points.

• Stanley Johnson leads Arizona with 18 points, all in the second half.

• Brandon Taylor has 12 points to lead Utah.