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Tucson, Ariz.
Utah guard Delon Wright drove into the lane and delivered a pass that sailed into the front row. At the other end, three Arizona players grabbed offensive rebounds, eventually resulting in Brandon Ashley's basket.
That sequence late in the first half told the story of Arizona's 69-51 victory. The alternate universe of Pac-12 basketball that enabled No. 8 Utah to enjoy a higher ranking than No. 10 Arizona stopped spinning Saturday, when the Wildcats pulled off an upset in the frenzied McKale Center.
Well, that's how Arizona coach Sean Miller framed the buildup to this game, to the bemusement of Utah's Larry Krystkowiak. Knocking off Arizona in this environment would have required the Utes' best stuff, and they were nowhere near that level — after the first nine minutes, anyway.
Once the Wildcats got rolling, "We couldn't do anything about it," said Utah guard Brandon Taylor.
The surprising elements of the Utes' performance were that their strong start failed to sustain them for long, and that Krystkowiak's best team would produce his program's worst showing in Tucson in four years of Pac-12 membership.
Afterward, Krystkowiak spoke of "a little bit of an eye-opener," but he didn't overreact to a loss on the home court of the conference's flagship program. Nor should anyone else.
Yet the rankings will correct themselves Monday, and a slight reset of expectations might be merited for Utah (14-3). Krystkowiak's rebuilding work has been remarkable, but not unworldly. Recent projections of a No. 2 seed were mind-boggling for a program that has gone five seasons without playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"It's a long dang season," Krystkowiak said. "Nothing's been accomplished. If nothing's been accomplished, then I don't know how you say anything's been lost."
That's true. The trend of Utah's offensive troubles against top-tier teams is disturbing, but there's comfort in knowing the Utes have until March to fix their problems. Or late February, in the case of Arizona's visit to the Huntsman Center in a game that could decide the Pac-12 championship.
To upset the Wildcats in Tucson, the Utes would have needed Wright to play at a Wooden Award level, freshman center Jakob Poeltl to look like an NBA first-round pick and Krystkowiak to perform as a national coach of the year candidate. None of those descriptions fit them Saturday, but that was mostly Arizona's doing.
Wright scored Utah's first seven points, but finished with only 10 points, to go with seven assists, four rebounds and four turnovers. Poeltl posted six points and four rebounds after having spoken good-naturedly of looking forward to visiting the campus where he made a recruiting trip and "kicking their ass."
That's basically what Arizona did to Utah on the boards. Offensively, the Utes shot 39 percent, fading after taking a 17-10 lead. Krystkowiak and Wright blamed the rebounding issues for the offensive struggles, as Arizona kept Utah from getting transition points and the Wildcats' half-court defense was too much to overcome.
"Everything was set offense; they keyed in on me on the defensive end," Wright said. "They made it tough for us."
Utah's defense eventually wore down, being exposed by T.J. McConnell in the first half and Stanley Johnson in the second half. The Wildcats' 49-percent shooting was one thing; their 17 offensive rebounds were quite another.
That number led Krystkowiak to demand "a little different persona" from his team, going forward. Utah will be motivated for another shot at Arizona.
"We've got 'em in February," Taylor said.
"We'll see 'em again," Wright said.
The Utes have 10 conference contests before the rematch. Utah's job between now and then is to make sure that game means something.
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