Arizona let the opposing team dictate the pace on its home court, struggled defensively in the second half and watched as yet another last-second shot caromed off the rim and the backboard.
When the shot finally fell to the floor, the Wildcats walked off with another close victory and another big sigh of relief.
Coming off a nail-biting win in its Pacific-12 Conference opener, No. 3 Arizona escaped with a 60-57 home overtime victory over Utah (8-6 overall, 0-2 Pac-12) on Saturday after a last-second shot by Utes guard Jarred DuBois bounced twice off the rim and once off the backboard before missing.
“We pulled out another lucky one,” Arizona swingman Kevin Parrom said. “We’ve had a lot of lucky ones the past couple of weeks.”
They sure have.
Arizona (14-0, 2-0) pulled out a one-point victory over Florida in a matchup of top-10 teams on Dec. 15 by scoring seven points in the final 56 seconds.
The Wildcats earned another close victory and the Diamondhead Classic title on Christmas, when Nick Johnson swooped in to swat away a shot that secured a one-point win over San Diego State.
Arizona pulled off perhaps its best rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick of the season Thursday, rallying from 16 points down in the second half to beat Colorado, 92-83, in overtime.
The Wildcats seemed to catch a break in that one when the officials waved off Sabatino Chen’s banked 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
Solomon Hill led Arizona with 19 points, Mark Lyons had 12 points and four assists, and Brandon Ashley had 11 points.
Center Jason Washburn had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jordan Loveridge added 17 points for the Utes.
At UCLA 68, Stanford 60: Shabazz Muhammad scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, when the Bruins pulled away to defeat the Cardinal to extend their winning streak to seven.
Jordan Adams added 12 points, and Kyle Anderson had 12 rebounds for the UCLA (12-3, 2-0), which is on its longest run of consecutive wins since taking 10 in a row during the 2008-09 season. The Bruins won their eighth straight at home against Stanford, and 11th in their last 12.
Dwight Powell had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Chasson Randle added 17 points for Stanford (9-6, 0-2).
Cal 72, at USC 64: Allen Crabbe scored 27 points and Tyrone Wallace and Justin Cobbs added 10 each as the Golden Bears (9-5, 1-1) defeated the Trojans.
Crabbe scored 19 points in the second half, including seven straight, for the Bears. He went 9-for-12 from the field and made all eight free-throw attempts.
Eric Wise led USC (6-9, 1-1) with 14 points.
The Associated Press
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