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No. 4 Arizona whips Utah, gains Pac-12 semis

Mar 14, 2014 - 4:46 AM Las Vegas, NV (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Johnson collected 14 points as No. 4 Arizona advanced with a 71-39 takedown of Utah in Pac-12 quarterfinal action.

T.J. McConnell added 13 and Aaron Gordon contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (29-3), winners in six of their last seven heading into a Friday semifinal against Colorado.

"We were locked in, and our effort level, everything that we really wanted to do defensively, we were able to do it," said Arizona coach Sean Miller.

Dallin Bachynski picked up nine points, while Dakarai Tucker and Princeton Onwas each totaled seven points for the Utes (21-11), who topped Washington in the first round but have dropped two of their last three.

"We got punched in the mouth by a really good basketball team, and we saw Arizona, I think at their finest. Defensively it was really, really hard, obviously, for us to score, and they were geared up," said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak.

Arizona assumed control of the contest in the early stages. Already up 7-6, the Wildcats embarked on a 17-2 run to secure a 16-point bulge with 5:49 left in the half. Johnson hit a pair of three-pointers in the burst, and scored his team's final seven points in the run.

Gordon's layup pushed the Arizona edge to 34-13 at the break, and the top seed kept up the pressure to start the second half with a 12-2 run to open up a 46-15 edge on Gabe York's trey less than five minutes in.

Elliott Pitts' bucket with just over three minutes to play maxed out the Wildcats' margin at 68-32 and they cruised to the buzzer.

Game Notes

Arizona coughed up the ball only eight times, while forcing 11 Utah turnovers ... The Utes made just 12-of-47 shots from the floor (25.5 percent, while the Wildcats converted on 27-of-51 (52.9 percent).