Why Utah couldn’t keep pace — or stop Arizona from scoring inside — in blowout loss to No. 10 Wildcats

TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 10 Arizona looked the part of a top 10 program Saturday night in its matchup with Utah at the McKale Center.

The Runnin’ Utes looked like they could cobble together a way to match up for a half, as they trailed by just three points at intermission before the more physical and athletic Arizona simply dominated in the second half, sparked by a 13-2 run that ballooned the Wildcats’ lead into double-digits in an eventual 92-73 win.

The Wildcats were simply too strong, particularly inside.

Arizona dominated the post, finishing the game with 50 points in the paint, compared to 26 for Utah.

“When you give up 50 points in the paint on the road — I’m not sure I’ve been a part of that before — and then they shoot just over 60% for the game, that puts an awful lot of pressure on your offense,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.

Lawson Lovering ended up getting two early fouls for the Utes, and then Keba Keita left with an injury just under six minutes in.

Keita headed for the locker room immediately after falling to the ground while battling for a rebound, and though he returned to the bench in the second half, he never returned to the court, playing just four minutes on the night.

Without Keita and his presence inside, the Wildcats — led by center Oumar Ballo — were nearly unstoppable in the paint.

“When your starting 5 man who’s a good post defender gets two quick ones ... and Keba gets hurt right away, now we’re put in some tough positions there,” Smith said.

“We were trying to double we weren’t always very successful getting to the double when we did get to the double. They hit some high-low stuff and (Lovering) was super aggressive and super physical.”

Key takeaways

Top performers: Caleb Love led Arizona with a game-high 23 points, six rebounds and six assists. Teammate Keshad Johnson added 20 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Gabe Madsen, one game after getting shut down by Arizona State, scored 18 points while shooting 4 of 9 from 3-point range for Utah.

Key stretch: After Utah pulled within 47-45 early in the second half on a Madsen layup, Arizona responded with a decisive 13-2 run, building a 61-48 lead with just under 12 minutes to play.

Points in the paint: Arizona ended the night with 50 points in the paint while Utah had 26.

3-point shooting: Utah made 7 of 18 3-pointers in the first half to keep it a three-point game at intermission. The Utes weren’t nearly as efficient in the second half from 3, finishing 10 of 35 (a season-high for attempts) for the game.

While Arizona shot only 18 3-pointers, the Wildcats were far more efficient, making 10.

Ballo had 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, while teammate Caleb Love, a North Carolina transfer guard, introduced himself to the Utes in an emphatic way.

Of his game-high 23 points, 15 came after halftime — that included one stretch in which he went on a personal 10-2 run that featured two 3-pointers and pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 17 with 9:20 to play.

Love added six rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot as Arizona, which shot a scorching 60.3% from the field, had all five starters in double-figures.

Former Ute Pelle Larsson scored 13 and passed the 1,000-point career mark in the second half.

“You can see what he does. When really separated, he made those two 3s, pretty much on back-to-back possessions, and he’s a hot one. He makes one, expect two and three to come quickly,” Smith said of Love. “He’s a very assertive player, three-level scorer.”

At one point, before things got away from Utah in the second half, it looked like the Utes were responding well from a loss at Arizona State two nights earlier.

Utah countered every Arizona spurt in the first half, thanks to Gabe Madsen, some timely 3-pointers and forcing turnovers — the Utes forced Arizona into 17 turnovers on the night, turning into 19 points for the Utes.

Madsen, one game after Arizona State held him to 3 points, kept Utah within striking distance several times. He made 4 of 9 3-pointers, all in the first half.

The Utes ended up shooting a season-high 35 3-point attempts — Utah made 7 of 18 in the first half to stay within 42-39 at intermission.

The 3-point shooting cooled off in the second half, however, as the Runnin’ Utes made just 3 of 17 after halftime, finishing a respectable 10 for 35.

“Some of it’s just what they give you,” Smith said of Utah’s high 3-point attempt count. “You’ve got to be able to take those open shots. ...

“I would like to see us attack more off the bounce consistently. I thought we got to the rim a little bit more late in the game when they had the big lead, but a lot of that’s just how they play and you got to be able to knock down 3s.”

Even in something that went right for Utah — making double-digit 3s — the Wildcats more than matched that effort.

Arizona was more efficient from 3-point range, making 10 of 18.

Smith didn’t have an update on Keita’s status after the contest — “hopefully he’ll be back on Tuesday” at practice, the coach said — or Deivon Smith, who briefly left the game in the second half before returning.

Smith did, however, have a sense of confidence that Utah will bounce back after going 0-2 on its Arizona road trip — not an uncommon thing for the Utes during its Pac-12 days.

“This is a tough road trip. It’s going to be a tough road trip for Pac-12 teams,” the coach said. “We’ve got to learn from this thing.

“We got exposed with some things but I’m confident this group will get back into the gym and show some vigor and determination and develop an edge and get back to who we are.”

What’s next?

Utah (11-4, 2-2 Pac-12) will return home to face UCLA next Thursday (7 p.m. MST, ESPN2). The Bruins lost to Cal Saturday night.

Following that, the Utes will travel to play at Stanford on Sunday, Jan. 14 (3 p.m., Pac-12 Network). The Cardinal fell at USC 93-79 on Saturday.