Utah basketball: Second-half run propels Arizona past Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — A 13-0 run by Arizona early in the second half was too much for the Utah basketball team, which lost to the Wildcats 77-51 Thursday night at the Huntsman Center.

Utah dropped to 4-14 on the year and 1-5 in Pac-12 play with the loss, while Arizona improved to 13-6 and 4-2.

The Utes only trailed by five at halftime and seemed to have momentum on their side when Arizona's leading scorer, Solomon Hill, was ejected from the game for a flagrant-2 foul on Cedric Martin less than two minutes into the second half.

Utah was down by just three points and had the ball, but the Wildcats sank their next five baskets, including three 3-pointers, while the Utes went scoreless on six straight possessions. So in less than four minutes, the UA lead went from three to 16, and that was it for Utah.

The Utes were playing without their scoring and assists leader, Josh Watkins, who was dismissed from the team Wednesday for violating team rules. Freshman Kareem Storey started in his place and played well, scoring 10 points and handing out six assists before fouling out with 5:34 left.

Jason Washburn led the Utes with 14 points and six rebounds, while Chris Hines added nine points.

Arizona was led by Kyle Fogg and Kevin Parrom with 12 points, Nick Johnson with 11 and Josiah Turner with 10.

The Wildcats shot 50 percent from 3-point range on 12 of 24, but hit just 40.4 percent from the field. Arizona also won the rebound battle 39-29.