#4 Arizona Wildcats 67
Utah Utes 63
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No. 4 Arizona Hands Utah Just Second Home Loss
Courtesy: Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Gabe York and Nick Johnson each scored 15 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 13 and No. 4 Arizona escaped with a 67-63 overtime victory against Utah on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats (24-2, 11-2 Pac-12) beat Utah for the ninth straight time since a loss in the 1998 NCAA tournament. Arizona also held onto sole possession of first place in the Pac-12, one game ahead of UCLA.
Brandon Taylor had 13 points and Dallin Bachynski and Delon Wright each scored 12 for the Utes (17-9, 6-8), who lost at home for the second time this season.
The score was tied at 58 before Hollis-Jefferson made two baskets to give the Wildcats a four-point lead with 1:52 left in overtime. His second bucket came after Taylor, an 86 percent free throw shooter, missed three straight from the line to prevent Utah from taking the lead.
Wright made a pair of free throws to cut it to 62-60, but threw the ball away with 33.9 seconds left. Johnson and T.J. McConnell each made free throws to help secure the victory in the final seconds.
Utah lost despite outrebounding Arizona 37-31 and finishing with a 34-23 edge in points in the paint.
Arizona started strong, making its first four field goal attempts and taking a 9-8 lead.
Utah kept pace by hitting seven of its first 10 shots from the field. Princeton Onwas stole the ball from Hollis-Jefferson and dunked it on the other end to cap a 6-0 spurt.
Arizona went on a 14-0 run later in the half. York capped the surge by hitting a 3-pointer and then taking his own steal from Taylor in for a layup, giving the Wildcats a 25-16 lead.
Utah briefly trimmed the deficit to five after baskets from Taylor and Bachynski. Arizona quickly answered, pushing the lead to double digits with 3s from York and Hollis-Jefferson that made it 35-24.
The Utes cut it to single digits again when Onwas took another steal in for a dunk to make it 35-26. Arizona had a chance to take a 12-point lead into the locker room when Jordin Mayes nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the officials waved it off during halftime.
Utah cut the lead to 40-33 when Taylor stole the ball from Johnson and took it in for a layup. The Wildcats thwarted the rally for a time, going back up by 12 on McConnell's jumper.
But the Utes ripped off a 10-2 run to get back into the game. A pair of big baskets from freshman Ahmad Fields cut the deficit to 48-44. Arizona endured a short cold spell after a layup from McConnell made it 52-44 with 6:41 left, going 3:13 without a field goal.
Utah took advantage with an 11-2 run and went ahead 55-54 on a runner from Jordan Loveridge with 3:09 remaining.
Arizona regained a one-point lead on Johnson's jumper with 2:21 left. Utah tied it when Loveridge made one of two free throws with 28 seconds to go. McConnell had a chance to win it for the Wildcats in regulation, but missed a runner in the lane as time expired.