ANAHEIM, Calif. - Ever since the loss of junior guard Miles Simon to academics, UA coach Lute Olson has been calling for someone to take charge and lead the team.

On Saturday, Jason Terry answered.

Terry, a sophomore guard, used a 19-point offensive explosion to lead Arizona to a 69-61 upset victory over No. 3 Utah in the John R. Wooden Classic at the Pond in Anaheim, Calif.

"Jason not only stepped up vocally and on defense, but he also helped us on the offensive end," Olson said. "And we really needed that the way they were keying on Michael (Dickerson)."

Arizona will look to continue its recent success when it squares off against Texas tonight at 7:37 in McKale Center.

With the score tied and 5:30 remaining, Terry came to the forefront for Arizona. After two fruitless trips to the basket for the Wildcats, Terry drained an open three-pointer from the left side to give Arizona its first lead of the game.

"It's been so long since I made one, that it was kind of heart-stopping when I hit it," Terry said. "It really got me going."

Terry wasn't done just yet. On Utah's next possession, he stole the ball and brushed off Utah center Michael Doleac's fifth foul to finish the play with a two-handed jam.

Following the free-throw, Utah saw Terry make back-to-back three-point plays and give the Wildcats a six-point lead.

"J.T. really led us this game," UA freshman forward Eugene Edgerson said. "He got us in the huddle and told us what we had to do. He really gave us some confidence."

The game wasn't all smiles for Arizona, though. The Wildcats had their usual lackluster start, watching the Utes open up a 24-10 lead. After 10 minutes, star Utah forward Keith Van Horn had shredded the UA defense for 12 points.

While Arizona tried to scrape together a comeback, Utah's flawless execution on offense was too much.

"They are really good with the fundamentals," Terry said. "The way that they set their screens is like a truck coming at you every time."

Yet Utah's success was not just on the offensive side - the Utes also held Arizona's top gun, junior Michael Dickerson, to just six first-half points.

"They had the box-and-one on me and really were playing good denial defense," Dickerson said. "So I told the guys that it was either someone else step up, or it's simple, we lose."

Once the half had ended, the score of 40-29 indicated the domination of Utah over the Wildcats.

"When we went into the locker room, J.T. told us that we were all playing like a group of girls," Edgerson said. "You don't want to hear that, so that made us mad. And I think we came out with a totally different attitude in the second half."

That different attitude was apparent from the start, as Arizona began the second half on a 15-8 run. After withstanding a short Utah counterattack, the Wildcats used good team defense to tie the game at 55. Then it was Terry that broke the Utes' backs with his clutch three-pointer.

"It was two different ballgames out there today," Olson said. "They (the Utes) did a super job of doubling up and helping on screens in the first half. The reason our offense opened up in the second half is because we caused open-court opportunities with our defense."

Arizona's team aggressiveness translated to four players finishing in double-figures. In addition to Terry, Dickerson had 17, freshman guard Mike Bibby got 16 and junior Bennett Davison had 10.

Yet Davison's biggest impact on this game was holding Van Horn to just one point in the second half. Plus, Van Horn finished with six of Utah's 22 turnovers.

"Arizona made good second-half adjustments," Van Horn said. "They were fronting the post and we were getting no movement on the weak side to take away the help. It was good defense combined with bad offense that resulted in the outcome."

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