Brandon Randolph had six points in overtime to help Arizona hang on for an 84-81 win over Utah on Saturday at McKale Center.
Sedrick Barefield led Utah with 26 points but fouled out with 1:44 left in regulation, and his absence was glaring when the Utes needed scoring in overtime.
Chase Jeter led the Wildcats with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona (11-4, 2-0 Pac-12), his fourth double-double of the season.
Both teams shot well throughout the game: Utah shot 58.7 percent from the field and made 10 of 19 3-pointers while Arizona shot 51.1 percent from the field and made 7 of 17 3-pointers.
But in overtime, the game largely was settled at the free-throw line while Utah guard Parker Van Dyke missed a potential go-ahead three for Utah (7-7, 1-1) with four seconds left.
The Wildcats hit six of their first eight free throws in overtime take an 80-78 lead with 1:31 left, but Utah’s Donnie Tillman made a three-point play out of a layup to give Utah a 81-80 lead. After Randolph scored inside to put UA back up by one, the Wildcats regained possession on the arrow after Utah’s Novak Topalovic and UA’s Ryan Luther were tangled up for a jump ball call.
But Brandon Williams was fouled after UA inbounded and missed both free throws. That allowed Utah 33 seconds to get off a shot and, even though the Utes regrouped with a timeout at the 14-second mark and appeared to get the shot they wanted — Van Dyke from 3-point range — his shot didn't go in and the Utes were forced to foul.
Randolph was fouled and hit both his free throws for the final score.
MORE: Wildcats find hard-earned victory on an afternoon where so much else was missing
The Wildcats now depart for their first road trip of the conference season, starting Wednesday at Stanford. Utah, still without a win at McKale Center as a member of the Pac-12, heads home to host the Washington schools.
Toward the end of regulation, Utah had 25 seconds to create a game-winner with the score tied at 72, but Allen couldn’t pull down Tillman’s entry pass and the ball went out of bounds, giving the Wildcats 5.8 seconds left with the ball.
At that point, Barefield had fouled out with 1:44 left, after scoring 19 points in the first half and another seven in the second.
But after a timeout, Justin Coleman took the ball all the way from an inbounds pass and threw up a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left that bounced off the rim, and time expired before the Utes could do anything else.
Utah took a 68-62 lead with 5:32 left but inside scores from Jeter cut the Utes’ lead to 68-66 entering the final four minutes as the McKale Center crowd heated up in what appeared to be its biggest crowd of the season.
Later, Barefield stole the ball from Coleman and the Utes capitalized when Jayce Johnson was left open under the basket and dunked to give Utah a 70-67 lead. The Wildcats then took a 71-67 lead after Williams and Randolph each hit two free throws, before Allen hit both ends of a one-and-one to give Utah a 72-71 lead with 1:29 left.
Luther hit the second of two free throws to tie the game at 72 entering the final minute, before Tillman missed a shot for Utah near the basket, while Justin Coleman put up an errant floater from the right side of the basket before Utah fumbled away its chance to win with 25 seconds left.
The game was tied at 36 at halftime, but the Wildcats hit 5 of 9 3-pointers over the first eight and a half minutes to go ahead 57-53. During that span, Luther hit two 3-pointers, while Randolph, Williams and Smith added one each.
But the Utes shot 7 of 13 from the field over the same stretch to keep the game close, with Tillman answering a 3 from Luther with his own 3 on the left wing.
Tillman later hit a pair of 3s from the left corner to pull Utah ahead 61-60 with 8:45 to go and the Utes went on to lead by six.
FIRST HALF UPDATE:
Sedrick Barefield had 19 points for Utah and Chase Jeter 12 for Arizona en route to a 36-36 halftime tie on Saturday at McKale Center.
The Utes shot 60.9 percent from the field and made 6 of 11 3-pointers. But they coughed up nine turnovers, allowing the Wildcats to take four more field goals and shoot 56 percent on the other end of the court.
Arizona led 36-33 entering the final minute but Barefield hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 36, but both Barefield and UA's Brandon Williams missed shots on their teams' final possessions of the half.
Down by 10 points earlier in the first half, Arizona pulled back into a tie at 26 after Dylan Smith made his second 3-pointer of the game. The Wildcats had scored nine straight points after Utah took a 20-10 lead, getting scores from Ira Lee, Chase Jeter, Devonaire Doutrive and Smith.
To begin the game, Arizona took a quick 4-0 lead on two buckets from Brandon Randolph, including a midcourt steal he turned into a dunk. But the Utes went on a 10-0 run to take a 20-10 lead eight minutes into the game after Barefield and Both Gach hit 3-pointers. Barefield already had 10 points at that point, while Utah was 8 for 12 from the field and had made 3 of 5 3-pointers.
UA coach Sean Miller started point guard Justin Coleman after playing him just four minutes on Thursday against Colorado following a dislocated left shoulder he suffered in practice Monday. Coleman was just 1 of 5 in the first half but had three rebounds and an assist.
