Allen leads balanced Utah past Arizona 73-58
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Timmy Allen scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half as Utah broke away from Arizona 73-58 on Feb. 4.
Eight out of nine Runnin’ Utes (8-7, 5-6 Pacific-12 Conference) in the lineup scored with five reaching double figures. Pelle Larsson scored 14 points, Alfonso Plummer 12 while Branden Carlson and Riley Battin scored 10 each.
Arizona (13-5, 7-5) was held to 37% shooting (20 of 54) and made just 2 of 9 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
Freshman Azuolas Tubelis led the Wildcats with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He made 7 of 8 free throws. Arizona’s leading scorer James Akinjo (14.8 ppg) added 10 points but was scoreless until well after halftime. The Georgetown transfer missed his first six shots before hitting a 3-pointer at the 11:47 mark of the second half.
After seven lead changes and a pair of ties through most of the first half, Utah headed into the break on a 9-1 rally to grab a 32-27 lead, then opened the second half with a 14-4 burst to take control. Carlson scored eight and Allen five in the second-half surge.
The Utes shot 58% in the second half, hitting 15 of 26 from the field, including 5 of 6 3-pointers.
Arizona, after the gap grew to 18, came back with a 9-0 run in two-plus minutes to cut the Utah lead in half but got no closer. The Utes held a double digit lead the last 10 minutes.
Arizona and Utah State were the only teams in the country that had not been out-rebounded by an opponent in a game this season. When the dust settled Thursday .... (drumroll) both could still make that claim. The rebounding was dead even, 32-32.
Next, Arizona visits Colorado on Saturday. Utah announced before tipoff Thursday that its Sunday game against Arizona State has been postponed by COVID-19 concerns in the Sun Devils program. The Utes will next play Feb. 11 at Cal, kicking off a four-game road swing.
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