Utah stuns Zona on anniversary of Majerus' death

Unranked Utah's biggest triumph of the year, a Pac-12 opening 81-66 upset of No. 4 Arizona connected Thursday night, came precisely 10 years aft the decease of Rick Majerus, the legendary manager who led the Utes to the 1998 nationalist rubric game.

Majerus, who died of bosom nonaccomplishment connected Dec. 1, 2012, astatine 64 years old, led Utah to a 76-51 triumph implicit top-seed Arizona successful the Elite Eight successful 1998 to beforehand to the Final Four that year.

When asked by a newsman astir the anniversary, Utah caput manager Craig Smith said his squad didn't cognize astir it entering the game, but helium said he's ever admired Majerus, the lone caput manager to pb Utah to the nationalist rubric game.

"I retrieve arsenic a young coach, erstwhile helium was doing TV for a while, I would conscionable emotion to perceive to him due to the fact that of his item and quality to communicate," Smith said aft his team's location triumph implicit the Wildcats connected Thursday, 2 weeks aft it had suffered a nonaccomplishment to Sam Houston State. "What a legendary figure. It's beauteous cool. But we did not stock that with our guys, but I americium going to stock that tomorrow."

Majerus, an adjunct with Al McGuire's 1977 Marquette squad that won a nationalist championship, coached Utah from 1989 to 2004. During that stretch, Utah reached the NCAA tourney 10 times.

Thursday's crippled was the program's archetypal triumph implicit an Associated Press top-five squad since Dec. 30, 2000, erstwhile it defeated then-No. 1 Alabama, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The programme had mislaid 12 games successful a enactment against top-five teams anterior to Thursday's win.

The Wildcats, ranked archetypal successful the state with a 64.5 percent clip wrong the arc, struggled passim their league opener. After finishing 9-for-33 successful the archetypal fractional and entering the interruption with a 42-25 deficit, Arizona couldn't adjacent the spread successful the 2nd half. Although the Wildcats pulled wrong six points with 14:06 to play successful the game, a Utah squad that was much relentless than it was businesslike (the squad changeable 44 percent from the field) extended its pb down the stretch.

Senior Branden Carlson was 1 of 4 Utes who finished with treble figures.

Arizona has been wide viewed arsenic 1 of America's astir talented teams, contempt losing 3 players who were selected wrong the top-33 picks of past summer's NBA draft. The Wildcats play the fastest tempo successful the state but person someway managed to besides play immoderate of the astir businesslike hoops successful the nation, too.

That was until Thursday, erstwhile a Wildcats squad that had defeated No. 24 San Diego State and No. 7 Creighton successful back-to-back games anterior to facing Utah connected Thursday couldn't find immoderate answers.

Tommy Lloyd said his squad mightiness person been affected by overconfidence.

"Today, we didn't person a large approach, whether it's the guys being a small spot intoxicated disconnected their occurrence oregon the things radical are saying to them, I don't know," helium told reporters aft the game. "But we're decidedly going to person to code it and we're decidedly going to person to play amended than we did tonight."