Top-ranked Arizona was once again balanced in its scoring and dominant with its rebounding and defensive pressure in a 97-78 drubbing of Utah in the Big 12 opener for both teams Saturday at Salt Lake City.
The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0 Big 12) were led by Tobe Awaka’s 18 points and 12 rebounds, his 12th double-double of his career at Arizona, third this season.
Jaden Bradley (18 points), Koa Peat (17), Brayden Burries (17) and Ivan Kharchenkov (13) also scored in double figures.
Burries also had his first career double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds, which contributed to Arizona’s 43-30 rebounding edge.
The Wildcats finished with 11 steals, led by three each from Kharchenkov and Peat.
Arizona’s streak of beating an opponent by at least 20 points was snapped at eight games, but the Wildcats increased their winning streak over Utah (8-6, 0-1) to five consecutive games.
Arizona was not threatened after taking a 14-2 lead four minutes into the game behind six points from Kharchenkov.
“You always want to get off to a good start,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said in the Wildcats Radio 1290-AM postgame show. “I mean, it just helps. It helps establish a vibe and a presence in the game. It allows you to to absorb some runs.
“At the end of the day, the objective is to win the game. If you can give yourself a little cushion to work with, it just helps.”
Burries’ seventh point of the first half, after two made free throws, increased the lead to 24-8 with 12:38 left before halftime.
Awaka then made the first of his two 3-pointers in the first half to put Arizona up 27-10,
His second 3-pointer was part of a 10-0 run that gave the Wildcats a 46-28 lead with 4:02 remaining in the first half.
Awaka was 3 for 8 in his career from beyond the arc before Saturday. He was 2 of 2 on Saturday.
“He’s a special player and he keeps getting better and better,” Lloyd said of Awaka.
Lloyd mentioned that Awaka’s 4-of-7 performance from the free throw line, “left a little meat on the bone today” when it came to finishing and-one opportunities.
“Listen, I’m being a little bit greedy and I’m nitpicking a little bit, but we have high standards, and Tobe’s a guy that that can meet those standards consistently,” Lloyd said.
A steal and layup by Bradley closed the scoring in the first half with Arizona leading 58-39, the largest lead of the half.
Arizona had eight steals by halftime after averaging 8.8 a game, ranking No. 35 in the country.
The Wildcats built their lead to as much as 24 points in the second half.
A 12-3 run by Utah cut the lead to 73-58 with 11:27 remaining.
Arizona responded with an 7-2 run to take an 88-67 lead with 5:26 left.
Utah’s Terrence Brown had 26 points and Don McHenry and Keanu Dawes each had 15. They shot a combined 22 of 47 from the field. Their teammates were 9 of 23.
The Wildcats will next host Kansas State (9-5, 0-1) on Wednesday at McKale Center at 7 p.m. Kansas State lost 83-73 at home to BYU on Saturday in its Big 12 opener.
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