[ad_1]
In an atmospheric setting at the McKale Center in which Arizona could have taken a commanding lead in the Pac-12 race, the Wildcats surrendered first place to the team chosen to finish 10th.
Washington State handed Arizona its first loss at McKale this season, 77-74, when Caleb Love scored 27 points but was forced to take an errant shot from nearly half-court as time expired.
The loss dropped Arizona to 20-6 overall and 11-4, putting the Wildcats a half-game behind the Cougars (21-6 and 12-4). While the teams are tied in the loss column, WSU will own the tiebreaker between them because the Cougars also beat Arizona on Jan. 13 in Pullman.
The Cougars, sweeping the season series against the Wildcats, played with poise during a game that was primarily played over two possessions.
With the game heading into the final minute tied at 71, the Wildcats’ defense forced WSU’s Jaylen Wells into an errant 3-pointer. After Oumar Ballo knocked down the rebound, Love came in for a layup and drew a foul.
Love scored the next and-one to make the score 74-71, but, after Myles Rice missed a 3-pointer, Wells hit a 3-pointer from the left corner when Johnson fouled him.
The 3-pointer tied the game at 74 with 24.6 seconds remaining and caused UA to call a timeout, after which Wells made the free throw to give WSU a 75-74 lead.
On UA’s next possession, Jones rejected Love’s inside shot with 9.3 seconds left, but the ball went out of bounds and Arizona regained possession. Jaden Bradley then made a snap to Keshad Johnson, who passed the ball to Love, but Love slipped as he headed toward the basket and lost the ball. WSU then gave it to Wells, who was fouled and made both free throws to give WSU a 77-74 lead.
As Wells stepped out of line, one of the glo-sticks entered the court and fans were warned that throwing objects on the court could result in a technical foul, an announcement that was met with boos.
After Wells’ shot, the Wildcats had 2.4 seconds to shoot. Kylan Boswell passed to Love along the sideline inside the half-court line, but his last-second 45-footer missed.
Wells finished with 27 points to lead the Cougars, who shot just 41.9% but had just nine turnovers and were outrebounded by just one. Arizona shot 44.8%, but was just 5 of 18 from 3-point range and made just 17 of 27 free throws.
Arizona had a one-point lead with 2:39 left, but Wells hit a 15-footer at the end of the shot clock to give WSU a 71-69 lead with 1:56 left before Johnson tied the score. score at 71 with a short shot from the left baseline with 91 seconds left.
Trailing 34-33 at halftime, Arizona used defense to set up two Johnson dunks to take a 43-39 lead three minutes into the second half.
Ballo first blocked a shot from Isaac Jones, leading to an alley-oop pass from Love to Johnson for a dunk that tied the score at 38. Johnson later set up his own dunk, blocking Jones, leading to another alley-oop pass from I love that Johnson hit while running to the right of the rim.
But WSU went on a 10-1 run to take a 57-51 lead with nine minutes left and, after Love’s 3-pointer brought the Wildcats within two points, they showed their poise again when UA often melts others Opponents: Keshad Johnson ran behind WSU guard Myles Rice to block his fast-break layup, but WSU forward Kymany Houinsou scooped it up and hit it as Johnson’s momentum carried him out of bounds.
Houinsou’s dunk gave WSU a 60-55 lead, but Cougars forward Isaac Jones picked up his third and fourth fouls on consecutive possessions, the first on offense and the second while defending Johnson, who scored two free throws to give UA a brief 61-60 lead. WSU’s Jaylen Wells then hit a 3-pointer to give WSU a 67-63 lead, but another from Love put the Wildcats back ahead 68-67 heading into the final media timeout with 2:39 left.
In the first half, Love scored 17 points, but Arizona trailed WSU 34-33 at halftime.
Arizona and Washington State entered the game separated by just a half-game atop the Pac-12 race and the game quickly reflected the competitiveness of the two teams as the McKale Center lit up with a rowdy, near-capacity crowd to which red globular bars were given. before the game.
The Cougars set the tone immediately, taking an early 9-8 lead at the first media timeout after UA committed three turnovers in the first four minutes. WSU took leads by as many as seven points, 31-24 with 3:54 left, but the Wildcats scored six in a row to get within 31-30 with 2:18 left.
Love then hit a 25-footer to give UA a 33-32 lead with 47 seconds left as the McKale Center crowd rose to its feet, waving red glow sticks that had been placed at each seat before the game. WSU’s Andrej Jakimovski was fouled by Pelle Larsson with 22 seconds left and made the next two free throws to put the Cougars back up 34-33.
Love had a chance to give Arizona the lead heading into halftime, but his final 3-point attempt with two seconds left bounced off the rim.
Love ended up making 5 of 11 field goals in the first half, hitting 2 of 7 three-pointers and making all five of his free throws. Arizona shot 44.8% from the field as a team, but made just 2 of 10 three-pointers.
The Cougars, who beat the Wildcats 73-70 on Jan. 13 in Pullman, shot just 39.4% but matched the Wildcats’ 18 points in the paint, and their shifting defense made it difficult for Arizona to penetrate.
Arizona outrebounded WSU 21-17, but committed eight first-half turnovers and made just 5 of 10 free throws overall, with center Oumar Ballo and forward Keshad Johnson missing both of their shots.