Arizona stunned by Utah in Pac-12 opener
SALT LAKE CITYIn the week before their first road game of the season, the Arizona Wildcats took home a prestigious tournament trophy, did some Thanksgiving-day snorkeling, took a couple of days off and watched themselves elevated to the No. 4 ranking in the country.
All that was quickly put behind them Thursday, when Utah handed them a shocking 81-66 loss at the Huntsman Center. A team that won just four conference games last season led the Wildcats literally from start to finish and holding what was one of the best-shooting teams in the country to just 35.2% from the field.
The Wildcats missed their first five shots and never really caught up.
“We didn’t have a great approach,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Whether it’s the guys being intoxicated off their success or listening to the things people are saying about them, I don’t know, but we’re definitely going to address it. We’re going to have to play better than we did tonight.”
The loss was the Wildcats’ biggest upset loss under Lloyd so far. Last season, the Wildcats were upset at 79-63 at Colorado, but haven’t won there since 2014-15, and lost 72-60 to lower-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16 to end last season. The Wildcats’ other two losses under Lloyd were at UCLA and at Tennessee.
Most of those were somewhat expected.
This one was not.
“Well, I’m human and losing is part of the deal,” Lloyd said, when reminded of how rarely he has lost at UA. “I don’t have any secret formula that means everything I touch wins. You’ve gotta go out and earn victories.”
Instead, the Wildcats went out and muffed shots from the beginning. Arizona shot just 27.3% from the field and hit only 5 of 14 3-pointers in the first half while Utah shot 47.4%.
Starting guards Kerr Kriisa and Pelle Larsson went scoreless before halftime, while forward Azuolas Tubelis missed his first six shots before scoring inside and from 3-point range late in the half.
Tubelis finished with 20 points but shot 7 of 19, while he and several teammates missed close-in baskets that didn’t exactly have the sort of execution Lloyd was looking for.
They need to “get easier shots,” Lloyd said. “Get 1-inchers. Don’t settle. Put it in the basket. I mean, it’s not more complicated for that … (it was) guys being a little bit casual. They want it to be easy. We’re
not a program that wants things easy. Because the harder it is the more advantage it is for us.”
The Wildcats also had trouble just holding on to the ball in the first place, much less shoot it. While the Wildcats finished with only 12 turnovers, they also had some critical early turnovers the Utes pounced on.
That helped Utah take leads of up to 19 points in the first half, going on a 13-2 run that gave them a 35-18 run late in the first half when missed dunk by Larsson turned into a dunk on the other end from Utah’s Ben Carlson.
“I just think we made a lot of careless mistakes,” UA guard Courtney Ramey said. “I just didn’t think we came in with the same focus that we did in the other games. That’s on us and it’s something that will be fixed. … early on in the game we played a little sloppy.”
ASU tops Colorado in final seconds
BOULDER, Colo. – Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left and Arizona State rallied from a 15point, second-half deficit to beat Colorado 60-59 on Thursday night in Pac-12 Conference opener.
The Sun Devils took their final possession with 12.7 seconds to play. DJ Horne received the ball underneath and passed to Cambridge, who hit nothing but net from the left side of the arc.
Alonzo Gaffney, Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Devan Cambridge each made a 3pointer during a 13-0 run as Arizona State took its first lead since early in the first half, 57-56, with 2:34 to play. Jalen Gabbidon answered for Colorado with a threepoint play for a 59-57 lead with 2:03 left.
ASU's Warren Washington and Colorado's Tristan da Silva each blocked a shot inside the final minute. KJ Simpson missed a 3 for Colorado to end it.
Devan Cambridge scored 18 points to lead Arizona State (7-1, 1-0), which won for the second straight time in Boulder. Desmond Cambridge Jr. finished with 11 points. The brothers combined for four 3s, but the rest of the Sun Devils were 1 of 14 from long range.
Simpson scored 13 points and da Silva had 10 for Colorado (5-3, 0-1).
Colorado took the lead five minutes into the game and closed the first half on a 14-5 run for a 15-point lead at the break. Simpson and J’Vonne Hadley scored four points apiece and Javon Ruffin made a 3 during the span. The Buffaloes led 56-44 with 6:07 to play.
Arizona State hosts Stanford and Colorado plays at Washington on Sunday.