No. 1 Arizona swats Utah with balanced effort
Jaden Bradley scored 18 points and Koa Peat added 17 to lead No. 1 Arizona to a 97-78 Big 12 victory over Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Tobe Akawa tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench to help the Wildcats (14-0, 1-0 Big 12) win their ninth straight game by double figures. Brayden Burries chipped in 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 points.
Arizona shot 54% from the floor and went 7 of 18 from 3-point range.
Terrence Brown led Utah (8-6, 0-1) with 26 points and six assists. Keanu Dawes added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Utes while Dom McHenry chipped in 15 points as the Utes lost at home for just the second time this season.
Utah scored the first basket, but never led again as Arizona wasted no time imposing its will on both ends of the court. The Wildcats shot 61% from the floor in the first half and had a 22-12 advantage on the glass before halftime. They also scored 13 points off eight Utah turnovers in that span.
Kharchenkov made back-to-back baskets in the opening minute to ignite a 14-0 run for Arizona. He capped the run with a layup that gave the Wildcats a 14-2 lead at the 16:08 mark. The Utes committed four turnovers in the first four minutes to fall behind by double digits.
Arizona eventually pushed the lead to 27-10 on a rare Akawa 3-pointer.
Utah cut into the deficit before halftime, pulling within 36-28 on a Dawes dunk. The Utes could draw no closer before Arizona sprinted away again. Bradley hit two free throws to spark a 10-0 blitz over 1:57 to restore a 46-28 lead with 4:02 remaining before halftime.
Arizona made six straight baskets to end the first half, punctuated by Burries' steal and layup, to take a 58-39 lead into the locker room.
The Wildcats led by as many as 24 points in the second half.