Wildcats find hard-earned victory on an afternoon when so much else was missing

On an afternoon when Arizona and Utah somehow managed to score a collective 165 points, what was missing mattered the most.

For Arizona, which hung on for an 84-81 win in overtime over the Utes at McKale Center, Justin Coleman’s full health was missing. As a possible result of his still-sore left shoulder, the point guard missed two key shots within the final 24 seconds of regulation — a high-arcing runner and a 3-point attempt he tried with two seconds left.

The Wildcats also left a lot of late points at the line, taking 11 free throws in overtime but making only eight of them. And they only received one made 3-pointer from Brandon Randolph in nine tries over the entire game, leaving them without what is often a big chunk of their offensive attack.

But there was something else also critically missing Saturday: Utah’s standout guard, Sedrick Barefield, fouled out with 1:44 left in regulation to put himself on the bench for the final stretch and all of overtime.

Having scored 57 combined points against Nevada and ASU in his two previous games, Barefield had been continuing his microwavable ways early Saturday, scoring 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting in the first half and netting 26 overall.

His late absence could not be understated.

“I think it goes without saying,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “Sedrick had a heck of game and without him for the last seven minutes of the game or so, we had to get a little bit creative.”

Krystkowiak said the Utes did a “nice job of battling” without Barefield but when the Utes needed key shots down the stretch in regulation and in overtime, they clearly could have used him.

Most notably with six seconds left in overtime, when Parker Van Dyke went up for a 3-pointer with Arizona ahead by a point.

Van Dyke entered the game a 43.3 percent shooter from 3-point range, clearly a viable guy to turn to without Barefield available, but his shot hit the front of the rim, then the backboard … and did not fall into the net.

From there, Utah was forced to foul, tapping Randolph, and he sank two final free throws for the final score.

The way UA coach Sean Miller described it, making Barefield sit on the bench to watch it all play out was part of the plan.

“I thought we did kind of a good job attacking him when he had three and four fouls,” Miller said. “It’s one thing to try to do it. It’s another thing to accomplish it, but fouling him out really changed the game down the stretch and in overtime, playing without him was a different task versus playing with him. He’s a tremendous player.”

In a sense, the Wildcats played the entire game without Coleman, who dislocated his left shoulder in practice on Monday, was limited to just four minutes on Thursday against Colorado and shot 1 for 8 Saturday with a turnover to match each of his three assists.

But Coleman has proven himself much of the season with his passing and scoring, especially in the Maui Invitational and while hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the Wildcats’ close call against UC Davis on Dec. 21.

So the Wildcats went to him again.

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First, with the game tied at 72 and 24 seconds left, Coleman’s runner missed from the right side of the basket and Utah tried to get the ball inside on the other end of the court, but turned it over.

That left UA with the ball and 5.8 seconds to break the tie. After a timeout, Coleman took the ball off an inbounds pass, raced almost to the 3-point line and pulled up with 2.2 seconds left.

But his shot bounced off the rim, and time expired before the Utes could do anything else, sending the game to overtime.

Miller said he thought Coleman wasn’t himself during that play, and that “in hindsight, I probably needed to give the ball to somebody else based on the week that he had.”

Still, in the moment, both Miller and Randolph said they trusted Coleman.

“Justin has helped us throughout many games,” Randolph said. “He’s a very clutch player and we trusted him so I thought that was a good look. It just didn’t fall but we got it done in overtime.”

A big reason they did fall in overtime was Randolph, who put behind him his offensive struggles over much of regulation.

The Wildcats’ leading scorer opened the game on a roll, converting a steal for a dunk to start the scoring, but missed all four 3-pointers he took in the first half, and 3 of 4 he took in the second half.

Yet in overtime, Randolph emerged to score half of Arizona’s 12 points. He first hit a step-back jumper from 15 feet to give UA a 75-72 lead, then returned for a jumper with 54 seconds left that turned out to be the go-ahead basket.

That score put UA ahead 82-81 with 54 seconds left, and both teams failed to score on their next two possessions: Novak Topalovic missed a shot inside and then turned the ball over after rebounding his miss, and Brandon Williams missed two free throws he shot with 33 seconds left.

That left Utah plenty of time for a final shot to win it, but the Wildcats defended the Utes well on the perimeter to begin the possession and, after Utah called a timeout, Van Dyke’s shot missed. Randolph then hit his final two free throws to end the game.

Randolph and center Chase Jeter both finished with 21 points to lead the Wildcats in scoring. For Jeter, the 21 tied the career high he set on Dec. 19 against Alabama, while his 13 rebounds also gave him the fourth double-double of the season.

The Wildcats moved to 11-4 overall on the season and 2-0 in the Pac-12 heading into their first road trip of conference play, starting Wednesday at Stanford.

Arizona moved to 13-1 against the Utes (7-7, 1-1) since they joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, and remained undefeated against Utah at McKale Center over that time.

“To be able to have that toughness, and the will and the fight, from everybody to close that game out in overtime was big for us,” Jeter said. “That’s the best thing that any player could ask for, on this squad especially.”