Give the ball to Mr. Johnson!

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The Arizona Wildcats became the first team in school history to win 20 consecutive games with a hard fought 65-56 Pac-12 win over the Utah Utes tonight at the McKale Center.

The Wildcats, the No. 1 ranked team in the country for seven consecutive weeks (make it eight now!), made sure shooting guard Nick Johnson got the ball down the stretch and improved to 20-0 overall and 7-0 in the Pac-12 Conference. Johnson scored 22 points to lead all scorers, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists as the Wildcats overcame a poor shooting first half to beat a very good Utah team, which fell to 14-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

Four players scored in double figures for the Wildcats as Aaron Gordon provided much of the muscle with 12 rebounds and 10 points. Brandon Ashley netted 11 points and grabbed seven boards, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came off the bench to grab seven rebounds and 10 points.

Every team in the Pac-12 wants to be the team to dismantle the top-ranked Wildcats. Utah certainly went after Arizona tonight at McKale and it looked midway through the second half as if the Utes just might get the job done.

But in the end, the Wildcats had Mr. Johnson on hand to right the ship and enough firepower from his teammates -- Gordon, Ashley and Hollis-Jefferson to keep the Utes from stealing the show.

It's a great accomplishment for our Wildcats to be 20-0 and No.1 in the country for eight weeks. It's time for Arizona to hit the road next week with games at Stanford and California. It was a tough game tonight…and the Wildcats can expect nothing less as they hit the road.

Good luck, Wildcats. Go get 'em!

Photo: Above photo taken by my son, Michael. He was lucky enough to be at the game tonight.