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LAS VEGAS -- T.J. McConnell laid out like a baserunner diving headfirst into a base. He missed the ball, but, after landing with a thud, jumped up and raced the other direction. Aaron Gordon, who did get the steal because of McConnells effort, flipped the ball ahead and Arizonas point guard ran under it, scoring an easy basket in transition. The play, and countless others like it in a spirit-crushing rout over Utah, let the rest of the Pac-12 field -- and the country -- know that one of the nations best defensive is in high gear for the post-season. Playing with a feverish intensity from the opening tip, Arizona raced through the record book and overwhelmed the stunned Utes in a 71-39 rout on Thursday to match the most lopsided game in Pac-12 tournament history. "We were locked in," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Everything that we wanted to do defensively, we were able to do it." Nick Johnson scored 14 points, McConnell 13 and Gordon added 11 for Arizona, which shot 53 per cent. That was just a side note to what the Wildcats were doing defensively. After playing two close games against Utah during the regular season, top-seeded Arizona (29-3) opened the tournament with a have-to-see-it-to-believe-it defensive performance. Energized by a raucous crowd that made it feel like the McKale Center, the Wildcats were at their lane-jumping, shot-contesting best against the Utes (21-11) to move into Fridays semifinals against Colorado or California. Arizona jumped on Utah early and had stamped its name in the record books by then, setting marks for fewest points allowed, fewest field goals (12) and lowest shooting percentage (25). The Wildcats held the Utes to 13 points in the first half, another record, and matched UCLAs 32-point win over Oregon State in 2006 to move into Fridays semifinals against Colorado or California. Jordan Loveridge and Delon Wright, Utahs leading scorers, combined for seven points on 1-of-4 shooting and Utah lost by 13 fewer points than its 10 previous losses combined. "When we get stops and get rebounds and get the push, our athleticism is really at play," Johnson said. "I think finishing with dunks and around the basket gets everybody going. Arizona had hoped to make a statement in the Pac-12 tournament to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Pac-12 regular-season champion Wildcats certainly did in their tournament opener, playing with an intensity Utah had no chance of matching after playing a close game against Washington the night before. The crowd at MGM Grand Garden Arena started chants of "U of A! U of A!" long before the opening tip and the Wildcats turned the game into a rout not long after the ball went up. Racing out for dunks and 3-pointers in transition set up by their climb-in-your-jersey defence, the Wildcats stormed past the Utes with an 18-2 run that put them up 22-6. Arizona kept its foot on the Utes behind its defence, contesting every shot, pass and dribble. The Wildcats held Utah to 5-of-19 shooting while forcing eight turnovers in the first half. Loveridge and Wright, who combine for over 31 points per game, took four shots and had no points between them. "They were really putting on a defensive clinic in the first half," Utah centre Dallin Bachynski said. Second half, more of the same. Utah missed its first 11 shots -- its first field goal came 9:15 in -- and at one point had five players on the court who had yet to score in the game. Yep, it was that bad. The only thing in doubt at that point was whether the Utes would get to 30 points. They got there with 4:17 left, but, boy, was it ugly. "They took pride in guarding us," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. 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Stitched NFL Jerseys .The rookie goalie made 36 saves to help the Calgary Flames blank their Pacific Division rivals 1-0 on Saturday following a 48-hour ordeal that included lost baggage, a cancelled flight and a new pair of contact lenses.PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Ryan Arcidiacono had not made a shot all night. So naturally, he was Jay Wrights choice on the play that wound up deciding Villanovas fate. And it was the right choice. Arcidiaconos 3-pointer with 10.1 seconds left put Villanova on top for good, and the Wildcats upset No. 2 Kansas 63-59 in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday night. "We had a choice who we were going to run that for," said Wright, the Villanova coach whos now 4-1 in last five games against teams ranked in the top five. "And we picked Ryan. I dont think theres a guy on our team who would doubt that. ... Everybody just knows he lives for that. When we practice end of the game situations in practice, he always makes the shot." Sure enough, he delivered. Arcidiacono had missed all five of his previous shots, but made the one that counted -- the only field goal for the Wildcats in the final 7 minutes. "I thought I was wide open, so I just pulled the trigger," Arcidiacono said. Arcidiacono got it off in plenty of time, even as Kansas Perry Ellis -- listed as 5 inches taller -- charged his way. "Almost," Ellis said. Darrun Hilliard and Dylan Ennis each scored 14 for Villanova (6-0), which meets Iowa in Saturday nights championship game. JayVaughn Pinkston scored 13 and James Bell added 10 for the Wildcats. Frank Mason scored 12 for Kansas (5-1). His three-point play with 34.2 seconds left gave Kansas its first lead in more than 25 minutes, but the Jayhawks couldnt hold on in the final moments. "It was not a pretty game," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Certainly, I hate that it came down to one possession like that." Ellis scored 11, while Canadian Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid added 10 each for Kansas, which plays Texas-El Paso in the third-place game Saturday. Villanova led 57-46 with just over seven minutes left, then got outscored 13-1 to lose the lead -- and then found a way at the end to cap a wild night where one team would go on a run, then the other would follow. It held true to the end, with the Wildcats having the last run. Pinkstons layup made it 36-26 early in the second half, before Kansas ran off eight unanswered points in a flash -- four of them by Ellis -- to get within two. Villanova was undeterred. The Wildcats answered with a 12-2 run, capped by Ennis 3-pointer with 12:44 remaining too give Villanova what was its biggest lead, 48-36.dddddddddddd The margin was still 11 with 7:19 left, but the Jayhawks just kept coming. And after Villanova went more than 4 minutes without scoring, Kansas was back within 57-54 with plenty of time left. Masons layin off a lob cut Villanovas lead to one, and the converted ballroom serving as an arena this weekend was simply rocking. Kansas fans had filled the building, and they werent quiet. That is, until Arcidiacono rendered them silent and gave Villanova a huge early win. "He seemed like a tough kid to me," Self said. "Usually, in a game like this, the tough guy is the one making plays. It didnt surprise me at all that hes the one who took the shot." For the first 6 1/2 minutes, Villanova made nothing. Literally, outside of a couple free throws, nothing. It was 11-2 Kansas out of the gate, and Villanova was looking wholly overmatched in the early going. The Wildcats missed their first seven shots, not getting anything from the field to drop until Hilliard -- who had scored 12 by intermission, seven more than anyone from Kansas to that point -- hit a 3-pointer with 13:14 remaining. Just like that, everything changed. Villanova scored 27 of the next 35 points over a stunning 12 1/2-minute stretch, turning that 11-2 deficit into a 29-19 lead, the last point coming when Arcidiacono made one of two free throws awarded after Self was protesting a bit too much with one of the referees during a time-out. The shot by Arcidiacono capped a 12-0 burst by the Wildcats. It was his only point until the 3-pointer in the final moments. Kansas went into the locker room down only 29-22. It could have been so much worse -- after holding Villanova without a field goal for nearly seven minutes to start the game, the Jayhawks went the last eight minutes of the half without one of their own, going 0 for 7 from the floor with five turnovers during that dismal stretch. Combined, the teams were 14 for 53 in the opening 20 minutes. Villanova shot 29 per cent, Kansas 24 per cent, but the Wildcats held a 28-15 rebounding edge in the half. "Were a long ways to go," Self said. "I love our talent, I love our players and all that stuff. But the thing is, theres a difference between trying hard and actually competing. And we have to learn how to compete. And its not going to happen overnight." ' ' '