Breya Cunningham got into foul trouble early, and the Wildcats went on several cold stretches on offense in a 69-48 loss to Utah at McKale Center on Tuesday.
Arizona looked out of sorts on offense, shooting 34 percent from the field. On the other hand, Utah was very efficient, shooting 52 percent.
“We couldn’t run offense. I don’t know why we were so passive,” Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said. “I don’t know why we weren’t attacking. Because we know individually, Utah is not the best defensive team. They are very good as a team defense, but one on one, we should have been able to attack.
“I mean, they had no problem attacking us. So, I don’t know why we were hesitant. I don’t know why we weren’t going downhill. It’s the same things we do, and I think we have gotten better offensively. Today it didn’t show.”
Cunningham fouled out with about five minutes to go, but her time on the bench because of foul trouble for multiple stretches was evident in the rebounding comparison. Utah outrebounded Arizona 40 to 22.
Barnes chalked up the lack of offense and rebounding to not only limited court time for Cunningham — whom Arizona runs most of its offense through — but to a lack of effort and energy when things started going south.
“We have young players, and our youth really showed today, because of frustration fouls and body language, but those are controllables… Credit to Utah. They did a great job. But I think the disappointing part for me is the controllables, like your attitude, your body language, for your work ethic, your mentality on the court. Those are controllables, and that should never vary,” she said.
Arizona (10-5, 1-1 Big 12) won the turnover battle 21 to 12, but only equaled Utah (11-2, 2-0) with 11 points off turnovers. The Wildcats had eight assists on 20 made field goals. In comparison, Utah had 19 assists. The lack of ball movement was another reason Barnes thought the offense struggled.
“Twelve turnovers to eight assists, so the ball wasn’t moving. Eight assists on 20 field goals. That’s also not cohesive offense,” she said.
Arizona went 4 for 15 from the field in the first quarter. The Wildcats started the game missing its first five shots, Cunningham went to the bench with two fouls early in the first quarter and Utah had a 6-0 lead with 6:30 left in the frame. Utah extended its lead to 16-9 heading into the second quarter.
A steal by Skylar Jones stole near half court led to a fast break layup that cut Utah’s lead to 20-15 midway through the second quarter. A 3 pointer by Gianna Kneepkens extended Utah’s lead to 13 points with 4:48 to go before half. Utah had a 31-19 lead at half.
The Wildcats were down by 17 points when Cunningham picked up her fourth foul midway through the third quarter. The Utes led by as much as 23 in the frame and Arizona’s first points of the quarter didn’t come until Lauryn Swann hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 to go. She followed it up with two more 3s to cut Utah’s lead to 42-28, but a 3-pointer by Kennady McQueen extended Utah’s lead back to 17 points heading into the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer by Kneepkens extended Utah’s lead to 27 points — its largest of the game — with about six minutes to go.
One bright spot for the Wildcats was Lauryn Swann’s performance from late in the third quarter on. She scored 19 of her career-high 22 points in the second half, including five 3s.
“I feel like after I saw that first shot going it was like a sigh of relief, like, ‘okay, back in the flow of it,’ and I guess just the confidence just stayed throughout the whole game,” Swann said of her 19-point second half.
Jada Williams had 11 points and three assists.
Kneepkens led Utah with 18 points. She added nine rebounds and three assists. Inês Vieira led the Utes in assists with 11.
Arizona next plays at UCF (7-4, 0-1) on Saturday at noon.
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER!ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News & the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
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