Utah Utes basketball: Team can't handle Arizona pressure, bow out

MIAMI — That southern magic that worked so well for the Utah football team a couple of months ago in New Orleans wasn't there for the Utah basketball team Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Arena.

The Utes ran into a buzzsaw in the Arizona Wildcats and the result was an 84-71 defeat that ended the Utes' season at 24-10.

Right from the opening possession of the game when the Wildcats twice knocked the ball away from point guard Luka Drca, forcing him into the backcourt, the pressure was on the Utes, who couldn't handle it and tied their season high with 20 turnovers.

On top of that, the Utes had a tough night shooting, making just 8 of 32 from 3-point range while their best player, Luke Nevill, fought foul trouble all night. The turnovers, poor shooting and foul trouble was just too much to overcome against a determined Arizona team.

"It wasn't one of our better nights, but that happens," said Ute coach Jim Boylen. "We were ready for the press. We practiced for the press. But we didn't do a good job of handling the pressure."

The Utes also couldn't handle the Wildcats' "Big Three" of Nic Wise, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger. The latter two are projected as NBA lottery picks this year, but it was Wise who hurt them the most with 29 points in 39 minutes of play.

The 5-foot-10 Wise sliced his way through the Ute defense for layups and also hit a couple of 3-pointers as well as 7 of 7 from the foul line.

The 6-7 Budinger showed his versatility with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals, while playing all 40 minutes. Hill, a 6-10, 235 pound forward, who may go as high as No. 3 in the draft, finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

"You've got to give them credit," Boylen said. "They played well."

Although they may not have been able to see the games, the Utes had noticed their fellow Beehive State teams, BYU and Utah State, dug themselves early holes that were eventually too difficult to overcome in their opening round games.

That's exactly what happened to them.

The Wildcats raced out to leads of 16-6 and 23-10, before the Utes righted themselves and pulled within five at the half on a 3-pointer by Shaun Green.

However, the Utes turned the ball over to start the second half and trailed between five and 12 points until they made a late run to get back in the game.