Utes trail Arizona by 5 at halftime

SALT LAKE CITY — Playing their first game since leading scorer Josh Watkins was dismissed from the team, the Utah basketball team trails Arizona 33-28 Thursday night at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes are shooting well, 50 percent on 11 of 22 from the field, but have nine turnovers to just six for the Wildcats.

Arizona could only manage 12 of 32 from the field but has hit 6 of 12 from 3-point range. The Wildcats also have a 21-13 edge in rebounding.

Utah has balanced scoring in the first half with Cedric Martin and Kareem Storey each scoring seven points and Jason Washburn and Chris Hines getting six apiece.

Arizona is led by Kyle Fogg, who has six points on a pair of 3-pointers.

Twice it looked like the Wildcats might run away. They took a 21-11 lead with 7:39 on a layup by Josiah Turnner. But the Utes went on an 11-2 run to cut the margin to 23-22 with 3:38 left.

Then after back-to-back baskets by Fogg, the Utes closed the margin to five on a Washburn hook with 8.1 seconds left.