+3
The Wildcats need to keep winning if they hope to reach March Madness.
The Arizona Wildcats are on a roll right now, winning seven of their last ten games, including three in a row against foes ranked in the upper-tier of the Pac-12. This is certainly no time for the UA to take its foot off the gas pedal, especially with a showdown looming next week with the Washington schools, but the team should get somewhat of a break with the Utah Utes coming into the McKale Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Utes lost their best player and starting point guard, Josh Watkins, a month ago when he was kicked off the team for violating team rules. They have lost seven of their eight games since the dismissal, including a 26-point rout from Arizona, and fell to Arizona St. on Thursday evening.
Jason Washburn is the leading scorer for Utah and averages a little more than 10 points and six rebounds a game. Chris Hines, Cedric Martin and Dijon Farr are all capable of scoring a handful of points, but do not expect anything more than that. This is a team that has averaged 53 points in their last five games.
Arizona should have this game wrapped up by early in the second half, if not earlier. Utah suffered a huge blow when they lost Watkins for the season and scoring the basketball has been a continual struggle ever since. I expect the UA to win by 20+ points on Saturday.
Tipoff from McKale Center will come at noon. FOX Sports Arizona will have the TV coverage. Fans can find the game on the radio as well, with 1290 AM The Source calling the action.
The Arizona Wildcats needed to avoid a letdown at home after knocking off two tough opponents on the road. While the game against the Colorado Buffaloes certainly was not pretty for all 40 minutes, the Wildcats executed well down the stretch and locked down CU on the defensive end of the court as they went on to win by a score of 71-57. The victory improved Arizona to 17-8 on the season, including a 8-4 mark in conference play.
Solomon Hill played one of his best game as a Wildcat, scoring 17 points and bringing down 14 rebounds. The junior forward also dished out four assists and only recorded one turnover. Kyle Fogg added 15 points and Jesse Perry had a big second half to end with 13 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Nick Johnson scored nine and brought down five rebounds.
Arizona turned the ball over just 10 times against the Buffaloes and dominated the glass, out-rebounding CU by a total of 43-31.
Andre Roberson led Colorado with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Carlon Brown had an inefficient 11 points, while Austin Dufault and Spencer Dinwiddie added 10 points each.
The Wildcats will need to recover quickly with yet another game less than 48 hours away. The struggling Utah Utes will make their way to McKale Center on Saturday afternoon, with tipoff coming at noon.
The Arizona Wildcats are coming off an improbable sweep of California and Stanford, two teams ranked in the top-tier of the conference. No one was expecting the two wins, especially after the Wildcats had lost their third game in two weeks by two points or fewer. Now, with a ton of momentum on their side, the team returns home to the McKale Center to take on the Colorado Buffaloes, who are tied for second place in the conference and one game ahead of UA in the standings.
The Buffaloes knocked off Arizona by one point last month, winning 64-63 at the buzzer. The Wildcats played well on the road and should have probably won, but awful execution down the stretch caused them the game. With a sellout crowd expected tonight, expect the 'Cats to come out looking for revenge.
Colorado is a talented team that can certainly win tonight, but they're pretty bad on the road and lost some questionable games early in the season. In conference play, the team is 1-3 away from Boulder (with their lone win coming over an awful USC squad) and have lost their games by an average of nearly 15 points. Five of their remaining seven games are on the road, with a home stand with the Bay Area schools also looming.
CU features four players averaging double digits in points, and they are led by Carlon Brown, who had 19 against Arizona in their previous meeting. Austin Dufault, Andre Roberson and Spencer Dinwiddie are the other three scoring threats, and they all shoot higher than 40% from behind the arc.
This is a huge game for both teams, and the Wildcats should be able to win at home, especially given Colorado's recent struggles on the road. Look for a raucous and recharged crowd at McKale Center to be the difference tonight.
The game is scheduled for begin at 7 p.m. in Tucson. ESPN will broadcast the game this evening with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla calling the action.
Wildcats Vs. Utes: Arizona Wins Fourth Game In A Row With 70-61 Win Over Utah
The Arizona Wildcats won their fourth game in a row on Saturday morning when they defeated the Utah Utes at home by a score of 70-61 in the McKale Center. The Wildcats are now 18-8 (9-4 in conference play) and are sitting in third place in the PAC-12, only half a game back from Washington and California, who are both tied for first. The Utes fall to 5-20 (2-11 in conference play), which puts them in second to last place in the conference, half a game ahead of USC.
The Wildcats were led by an 18-point performance by guard Nick Johnson. Forward Solomon Hill added 14 and Brendon Lavender added 12 while Kyle Fogg came off the bench to score 17. The Utes were led by Cedric Martin and Jason Washburn, who each scored 15 points against Arizona. Chris Hines added 11, but the team had little support from the bench as only Javon Dawson and Blake Wilkinson were the only non-starters to score and they only scored two points a piece.
Arizona will look to continue the winning streak on the road against Washington State on Thursday at 6 p.m. (PT) while the Utes will try to avoid losing their seventh game in a row at home against Colorado on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT).
For more on the Wildcats, check out Arizona Desert Swarm, and for more on the Utes, go to Block U.
Feb 11 3:24p by Jason Garrison