Salt Lake City • Craig Smith began this week by talking about the concept of malleability. Throughout the year, he argued, teams can change shape, getting better or getting worse. One month, a team might be among the best in the country and next it might play like a conference bottom-dweller.
His point was Utah may be an 11-16 team, and 4-13 in the Pac-12, but recently it was playing above its record. After two road wins, he thought this version of Utah could be competitive against No. 2 ranked Arizona.
But the concept of malleability works in both ways. Utah found that on Thursday night in a 97-77 loss to Arizona. Instead of getting closer to beating one of the country’s best, it found itself further away with a deficit that ballooned quickly and never improved.
“It was a tough night for us,” Smith said. “I thought we looked tentative at times. We did some good things, but obviously not enough ... I thought they suffocated us at times.”
The last time Utah met Arizona, it went down by only three points at the half and lost by 18. The final result was never in doubt, but it was more competitive than most predicted. Thursday was closer to the opposite.
Arizona used the first half to build a 20-point lead as Utah crumbled under a deluge of size and shooting. Kerr Kriisa, Arizona’s sophomore guard, hit seven first-half three-pointers en route to 21 points. The frontcourt combination of Azuikas Tubelis and Christian Koloko combined for 34 points.
If there was a moment that embodied the game, it was the last 10 seconds of the first half. Utah guard Gabe Madsen hit a three-point with five seconds remaining. But before the Utes could file into the locker room, Kriisa took two dribbles and knocked down a half-court shot. Utah, even when it had flashes of competitiveness, looked outplayed and outmatched in every facet of the game.
“That’s just a good team,” Madsen said. “Kriisa went on a little run there by himself. That is going to happen against a good team. But obviously there is a lot we could do better.”
There were some bright spots for Utah. Madsen had 15 points and David Jenkins added 14. Branden Carlson, who was dealing with an ankle injury coming into the week, was effective to start the game and finished 4-12 from the field and 1-for-4 from three-point range.
But there is little question this version of Utah was not the one Smith was hoping to see, or had seen in Utah’s back-to-back wins against Stanford and Cal last week.
Marco Anthony, who was key in breaking Utah’s nearly year-long road losing streak, had more missed free throws than made. He mustered only two points in 24 minutes. The team mostly followed his lead in unforced errors — missing seven free throws and turning the ball over 14 times. Against most teams that wouldn’t work, but against Arizona, it means the deficit will flirt with 30.
Arizona leads the country in pace of play and, for the most part, each turnover led to a fast break dunk of some kind. It is why the Wildcats went on a 23-2 run to end the first half — effectively ending the game —and all five starters were in double-figures.
“We had some catastrophic turnovers,” Smith said. “When they get out in transition, their spurt-ability is incredible. It is like the 1980s Lakers.’
Ultimately, if Thursday was a test of the team’s malleability — like Smith talked about — it showed Utah has a ways to go. And Arizona — a program ranked in the top three in KenPom, the NET rankings and the AP Poll — is the one growing.
“They got it all. You can see their athleticism up and down the lineup. That is where we want to go,” Smith said. “But we obviously got a ways to go.”
