Utes Come Up Short In Overtime Against Arizona 84-81

TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Utah basketball team played a strong game but couldn’t make big shots in overtime, falling to Arizona 84-81.

Sedrick Barefield led the Utes with 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from the three-point line. Donnie Tillman added 21 points.

The Utes shot 58 percent from the field and 52 from downtown.

Chase Jeter had 20 points to lead the Wildcats while Brandon Randolph chipped in 15 points.

Arizona shot 51 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond-the-arc.

Utes Hang Tough Against Arizona In First Half

Utah’s first 12 points came from Barefield with 7 and Jayce Johnson adding 5 points to give the Utes the early 12-10 lead just five and a half minutes into the game.

After the media timeout, Barfield hit his second triple of the game and Donnie Tillman added a bucket to force Arizona to call a timeout with Utah keeping a 17-10 lead.

Just eight minutes into the game and Barefield hit double figures with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting and 2-for-2 from downtown.

After a 20-10 lead for Utah, Arizona answered with a 9-0 run of their own before Both Gach hit his second three-pointer.

With the Utes holding a 23-21 lead, both teams were scoreless for a three-minute stretch before Barfield scored a layup with six minutes to go.

Utah never allowed Arizona to take the lead but would tie the game multiple times but the Utes kept getting good shot selections and easy baskets when they needed them. The game was tied at 30 with 3:59 remaining in the first half.

Arizona finally took the lead back 34-33 late in the first half but Utah was able to tie the game at 36 at the halftime break.

Barefield scored 19 points in the first half to lead Utah and Chase Jeter led Arizona with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

Utes Hit Big Shots Down The Stretch

Arizona started the second half by outscoring Utah 12-9 to take a 48-45 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats reached their largest lead of the game to that point at six points, 57-51 before Timmy Allen hit an interior bucket. Arizona was up 57-53 with 11:30 left.

Utah was faced with both Barefield and Tillman being saddled with three fouls each with 11 minutes left in the game.

Tillman hit two big back-to-back three-pointers to stop the momentum for Arizona and gave Utah the lead back, 61-60 with 8:45 left.

DT with another 3!!! His third of the game puts Utah back in the lead!
8:30 to play

UTAH 61
ZONA 60

Watch LIVE on @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/3JS4uKnaRo

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 5, 2019

Barefield hit a triple to put Utah on a 9-0 run with less than eight minutes left.

The Utes didn’t make a field goal for over two minutes but was able to keep a 68-66 lead with 3:37 left but Barfield picked up his fourth foul.

With 1:44 left, Barefield fouled and while putting Arizona at the free-throw line where they hit both attempts to lead 71-70. Allen was fouled and hit both free-throws to give the Utes a 72-71 advantage with one minute left.

Ryan Luther made one of his two free-throw attempts for Arizona to tie the game at 72. Utah had the ball with 17 seconds left in the second half but turned it over a bobbled catch from Tillman to Allen. Arizona had possession with five seconds left but Coleman missed the game winning three-pointer and the game went to overtime.

Utah trailed 78-74 with two minutes left when Parker Van Dyke hit a big three-point shot to trim the lead to one. Allen made a free-throw to tie the game but Arizona made two free-throws after that to take an 80-78 lead with 1:30 left in overtime.

Tillman made a fantastic play as he attacked the basket, hitting the shot while getting fouled. He made the free-throw and Utah was back on top with one minute left.

After the Wildcats took the lead, they forced a jump ball with the possession arrow in favor of Arizona. The Utes fouled Arizona and they missed both free throws. Down by one, Utah had the ball with 14 seconds left.

Van Dyke missed the game-winning three-pointer and Arizona escaped with the win.

Final Score from OT. 😔

UTAH 81
ARIZONA 84#GoUtes🏀🔴 | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/iz48RIEp6P

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) January 5, 2019

Up Next

(Utah fell to 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12. They will return home on Thursday against the Washington Huskies at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 8 p.m. on FS1.

The Utes beat Washington in both of their meetings last season with a 70-62 win in Salt Lake City and a 70-58 victory in Seattle. The Huskies are 9-4 overall but will play their first Pac-12 game against Washington State on Saturday at home.