York, Arizona get revenge on Arizona St.
TEMPE, ARIZ. >> Gabe York scored 22 points, Allonzo Trier added 20 and No. 8 Arizona outlasted rival Arizona State 94-82 Sunday in both teams’ Pac-12 opener.
Arizona (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12) dominated inside in the first half and built a 16-point lead in the second on a barrage of 3-pointers. The Wildcats shot 55 percent overall and made 7 of 12 from 3-point range, including 5 of 8 in the second half.
The Sun Devils (10-4, 0-1) cut Arizona’s lead to six with three minutes left but couldn’t climb all the way back. York hit three 3-pointers during a big second-half run and made eight free throws in the final 1:18, including four on a pair of technical fouls against Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, who was ejected.
Tra Holder had 24 points and Obinna Oleka added 17 for the Sun Devils.
Arizona State was one of the surprises of the nonconference season, playing at an uptempo pace. The Sun Devils did not shoot well from the perimeter early in the season before starting to find their stroke the past three games. They had the range dialed early against their rivals, hitting 5 of 11 from the arc while building a nine-point lead.
Arizona State’s shooting took a dip when Arizona turned up the defensive pressure, going more than five minutes without a point.
Arizona ran through its nonconference schedule with one loss — to No. 12 Providence — despite playing eight games without 7-foot center Kaleb Tarczewski (foot injury) and six without junior guard Elliott Pitts (personal reasons).
Tarczewski returned, but came off the bench, though Pitts spent the game in street clothes again.
Tarczewski gave the Wildcats a spark after they fell into the early hole, scoring five points during a 14-0 run. He and Dusan Ristic helped the Wildcats dominate Arizona State inside, scoring 15 combined points to put Arizona up 4135 at halftime.
The second half was a defensive battle early before Arizona kicked its offense into higher gear. Sparked by York’s trio of 3-pointers, the Wildcats used a 13-4 run to go up 66-53 and pushed the lead to 16. CALIFORNIA 71, NO. 21 UTAH 58 >> Ivan Rabb scored 11 of his season-high 19 points in the final 6:45 and California handed Utah its second straight loss.
Jordan Mathews added 14 points, hitting two late 3-pointers, and Tyrone Wallace had 10 points and six assists for the Golden Bears (12-3, 2-0 Pac-12).
Jakob Poeltl led Utah (11-4, 0-2) with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Kevin Taylor added 15 points. The Utes were coming off an overtime loss at Stanford on Friday night. NO. 18 LOUISVILLE 65, WAKE FOREST 57 >> Freshman Donovan Mitchell had season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds in his first start and No. 18 Louisville held off Wake Forest.
Chinanu Onuaku added 12 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and blocked four shots for Louisville (12-2) in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Damion Lee also had 12 points.
Wake Forest (9-4) trailed by eight at halftime, but tied it with 2:31 to play on Bryant Crawford’s 3-pointer from the left wing. Crawford turned to silence the crowd with a finger to his lips after hitting the shot, but the Demon Deacons hit just one of their six free throws after that.