Arizona jumped out to its first double-digit lead, 21-11, just eight minutes into the game when Love hit his first a 3-pointer. The Wildcats were shooting 57.1% from the field at that point while …
As they have evolved from a sub-.500 team in mid-December to the Big 12’s second-place team, Arizona has learned to win without Caleb Love at his best.
But when Love is on, that still makes things a lot easier for the Wildcats, who beat Utah 83-66 but struggled to put away a team that just fired its head coach on Monday.
Love had 23 points while hitting 6 of 11 3-pointers, helping the Wildcats lead by up to 16 points in the first half and up to 24 points in the second half. UA was never really challenged by the Utes, who were playing their first game under interim head coach Josh Eilert after fourth-year head coach Craig Smith was fired Monday.
Love also had four rebounds and six assists, including a pass that went half the length of the court to Jaden Bradley, who made a breakaway layup to give UA a 75-56 lead with 5:23 left.
Utah cut Arizona’s lead to just 14 points with 3:32 to go, and again entering the final two minutes, and Love missed a 3 with 1:45 left before Mason Madsen hit a 3 to make it 77-66.
But Henri Veesaar hit a 3-pointer with 1:03 left and the Wildcats went into the final minute with a 14-point lead and UA coach Tommy Lloyd began inserting walkons, with fifth-year senior Grant Weitman hitting a 3-pointer with 30 seconds for the final score.
Veesaar finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Tobe Awaka added his eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Keanu Dawes and Ezra Ausar each had 18 points to lead Utah in scoring, while Dawes also collected 10 rebounds.
The win moved Arizona to 19-9 and 13-4 in the Big 12, where the Wildcats are three games behind first-place Houston with three games to go in the regular season. The Wildcats will play at Iowa State on Saturday before hosting ASU for its regular-season home finale on March 4 and then ending the regular season at Kansas on March 8.
Utah dropped to 15-13 and 7-10, having fired fourth-year coach Craig Smith on Monday and moving assistant Josh Eilert into an interim head coach role.
Love hit his sixth 3-pointer from the left corner with 16:36 left, giving UA a 55-34 lead. Caleb Love’s six 3s (on 10 attempts) are the most he’s made in a game at Arizona, though he did it four times at UNC.
Love had 17 points in the first half while hitting 4 of 7 3-pointers to lead Arizona to a 46-32 halftime lead. The Wildcats shot 42.9% while scoring 17 points off nine Utah turnovers and taking 10 more free throws than the Utes. Arizona was 11 for 14 from the line while Utah hit 3 of 4 free throws.
The Utes, shot 40.0% from the field. Keanu Dawes led the Utes with 11 points and five rebounds in the first half, including a dunk just before the halftime buzzer.
Arizona jumped out to its first double-digit lead, 21-11, just eight minutes into the game when Love hit his first a 3-pointer. The Wildcats were shooting 57.1% from the field at that point while scoring nine points off five Utah turnovers.
After Utah pulled within 25-18, the Wildcats received 3s from Carter Bryant and Caleb Love while Jaden Bradley scored inside after he and Anthony Dell’Orso both missed shots on the same possession.
Bryant finished the first half with seven points and five rebounds while Tobe Awaka had eight points and four rebounds.
Source: Utah News