Hot-shooting Arizona basketball handles Utah in sweep of mountain schools
Jan 6, 2024, 8:07 PM | Updated: 8:19 pm
Keshad Johnson #16 of the Arizona Wildcats slam dunks the ball ahead of Branden Carlson #35 of the Utah Utes during the first half of the NCAAB game at McKale Center on January 06, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
No. 10 Arizona men’s basketball splashed and dunked its way to a 92-73 win over Utah at McKale Center on Saturday night, shooting 60% from the field.
Arizona (12-3, 3-1) outscored the mountain schools 189-123 this week at home after a blowout win over Colorado on Thursday.
All five Wildcats starters scored double-digit points against the Utes (11-4, 2-2), led by Caleb Love’s 23 on 15 shots. Keshad Johnson added 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting, while Oumar Ballo was just short of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Kylan Boswell scored 11 with six assists, and Pelle Larsson had 13 points.
Arizona outscored Utah 50-34 in the second half, which started as a dunk show with Ballo and Love throwing down a couple jams and Pelle Larsson finishing an alley-oop from Love. The Wildcats jumped to a 15-2 run, and Utah never cut the deficit back to something manageable.
Excuse me, but where did @caleb2love jump from on this?
📺 @Pac12Network #BearDown pic.twitter.com/AdeHluixHR
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 7, 2024
That Larsson dunk gave him his 1,000th point, and Ballo scored his 1,000th point on a dunk later in the second half.
Arizona scored on 11 dunks and 12 layups, finishing with 50 points in the paint to Utah’s 26.
Boswell set up a Johnson open dunk with this absurd cross-court pass:
The vision 👀👀👀 @BamBam_Boz pic.twitter.com/5iFNcHf9jC
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 7, 2024
Arizona also hit 10-of-18 3-pointers (55.6%), with Love and Boswell connecting on a three triples each.
The Wildcats led 42-39 at halftime despite shooting 62% from the floor and leading for more than 15 minutes. They turned the ball over 10 times, though, which Utah cashed in for nine points. Arizona entered Saturday averaging 12.4 turnovers per game and coughed it up only 11 times in the win over Colorado.
The Wildcats finished with 17 turnovers on Saturday.
Arizona hits the road to face Washington State in Pullman next Saturday. The Wildcats host the Los Angeles schools the following week.
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