With No. 6 Arizona's (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) missing its starting point guard in Kerr Kriisa, the team got off to a slow start, and despite 10 first-half turnovers, Utah (8-9, 1-6) trailed 34-31 at the half. After that, the Wildcats rolled the Utes 82-64 and shot 51% from the field.
After the game, coach Tommy Lloyd stated that Kriisa was out due to an injury he sustained during the team's pregame meal when he and other players were "horsing around," causing the missed start against Utah.
"We'll handle all those issues internally. I will say this, and nothing with this situation specific to that, you know, having a great culture is tough. And winning and being consistently winning and playing at a championship level is tough. And we're not there yet. We're not there yet, said Lloyd on Kriisa's situation.
"I know, a lot of people are trying to anoint us, you know, that we're all this, we're all that. We're not; we're a young team, you know, that's going through some growing pains, and we've just happened to stack up some wins. And we're gonna fight really hard to have a great culture here.
"I mean, Kerr is having an amazing season, and obviously, you guys see how important he is to our team. And you know, Kerr is not the only guy involved in this situation. So, it's just unfortunate that he's the one who had the injury. So yeah, we're going to just handle it as a team and move forward from there."
With the Wildcats needing an offensive boost after a slow start to the game, forward Azuolas Tubelis had his best game of the season, scoring a career-high 32 points on 14 of 24 shooting from the field.
"I felt like I have the best teammates I've ever played with, and they're unbelievable passers, is what I call them," said Tubelis on his performance.
Last season, Tubelis averaged 12.2 points during his freshman season, and under Lloyd's new system, he has raised his average to 15.9 and is shooting 57% from the field.
"I think we all know how talented you can be. And, you know, he's had tremendous moments and tremendous games over the course of his time here. Sometimes he leaves you wanting a little bit more, said Lloyd on the potential of Tubelis.
"Also, I think it's really cool to have a player like him when you need somebody to step up that can step it up to the level he did today, which was exceptional. And we'll see how it goes going forward. I mean, obviously, we'd love that effort every day. But I'm especially happy that he gave it to us today because it was much needed."
As a team, Arizona struggled from the 3-point line going 3 for 18, with Tubelis missing both of his two 3-point attempts. However, the Wildcats were able to dominate the paint, outscoring Utah 56-28.
The low post played a pivotal role for the Wildcats, with center Chrisitan Koloko adding his 16 points and five rebounds to the performance Tubelis had. Arizona got a spark off the bench from center Oumar Ballo who only had five points and three rebounds but was able to impact the defensive side of the court for his team.
"I'm really proud of Oumar. He stepped into a high-level game and really was a difference-maker. And he deserves moments like that, but he's got to understand he's responsible for making moments like that happen, said Lloyd on Ballo's energy.
"That didn't just happen by chance; that happened because he went out and made it happen and was really active defensively, was posting up, you know, underneath the rim, and he's a force when he plays the right way. So, you know, hopefully, that'll be a confidence booster for Oumar because we need everybody. As you guys can see, we need everybody. We don't have a huge margin for error. And when he plays like that, he makes us better."
After 10 first-half turnovers, Arizona was able to clean things up and ended the game with 16 turnovers. However, that makes it 3-straight games were the Wildcats have turned the ball over 15 times or more against their opponents.
The Wildcats will head on the road to face Stanford (10-5, 3-2) on ESPNU with a tip-off time of 9 p.m. (MST).
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