Caleb Love scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half as Arizona rolled to an 83-66 win over Utah on Wednesday night. Arizona bounced back after its heartbreaking 96-95 loss to BYU on Saturday, A win in any of their last three games for Arizona will clinch a double-bye to the quarterfinals of the Big XII Tournament.
Arizona had a big advantage in converting 12 Utah turnovers in 19 points. Utah scored 12 points off of seven turnovers. Arizona shot 22-29 from the free-throw line and Utah was 17-22. Arizona was excellent defensively holding Utah to 33.9 percent from the floor and 7-26 on three-point shots.
Arizona used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to extend their lead to 23-11 and were in control for the rest of the game. The Wildcats led 46-32 at halftime. Arizona began the second half by outscoring Utah 11-2 to extend the lead to 57-34 and the game was not in doubt the rest of the way.
Utah was led by Keanu Dawes and Ezra Ausar who each scored 19. Arizona held Utah's leading scorer Gabe Madsen to 10 points on 2-10 from the field which were all three-point attempts. Ausar finished 6-17 from the floor and missed his only three-point shot. No other Utah players scored in double figures.
Goodnight McKale pic.twitter.com/Qq7c3rqqri
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) February 27, 2025
Tobe Awaka had his eighth double-double of the season and third consecutive with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jaden Bradley and Henri Veesaar also scored 12 points as the other Wildcats in double figures. Arizona shot 41.3 percent from the floor and made 9-27 three-point shots.
Arizona plays its penultimate road game of the season on Saturday at Iowa State. The win against Utah was critical to keep Arizona two games in front of Iowa State in the Big XII with three games remaining in the regular season. Arizona is now 13-4 and in sole possession of second place, one game ahead of Texas Tech.
Arizona had clinched at least a tie for fourth place and a double-bye to the Big XII Tournament quarterfinals. The Wildcats need one win in its final four games to clinch the double-bye. Arizona hosts Arizona State on March 4 and finishes the season at Kansas on March 8 after playing Iowa State on Saturday.