Missed Chances and a Buzzer Beater Try: Arizona Falls 78–75 in OT

[WILD]

Missed Chances and a Buzzer Beater Try: Arizona Falls 78–75 in OT

The No. 1 Arizona Wildcats suffered a tough 78-75 overtime loss to the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, snapping what had been one of the nation's most impressive runs this season. After a 23-0 start that tied program and Big 12 records for consecutive wins, Arizona (23-2, 10-2 Big 12) couldn't finish strong in extra time despite a late rally to force overtime. The Red Raiders (19-6, 9-3) were led by J.T. Toppin, who poured in 31 points and hauled in 13 rebounds, and Christian Anderson chipped in 19 points and eight assists to help Texas Tech control the extra period.

Arizona struggled to find consistent offense down the stretch, shooting just 39.3 % from the field and going 4-for-16 from three-point range, while Texas Tech hit 40.9 % overall and made 5 of 8 shots in overtime to grind out the win. The Wildcats faced adversity entering the game with key contributors affected by health issues — Dwayne Aristode was out due to illness and Koa Peat missed time with a lower-body injury — and those absences were felt late when every possession counted. In the closing seconds of overtime, Arizona's Jaden Bradley had a chance to tie it at the buzzer but missed a potential game-tying shot, sealing a heart-breaking result for the home crowd.

Looking ahead, Arizona must quickly pivot and regroup as it prepares for a mid-week test against No. 22 BYU this Wednesday. The Cougars are a formidable opponent with a balanced offensive attack and will challenge Arizona's defense on both ends of the floor. After a sting of losses and the snapped win streak, this upcoming Big 12 clash offers the Wildcats a chance to reset, tighten up execution, and reassert their title aspirations as the regular season heads into its final stretch.

[LeftCoastCats]

Tough loss, not because of the embedded excuses - but because of how the players who did play and how they executed.

That being said, it's not on Awaka for having to intentionally switch onto their top perimeter player every play for 10 minutes and then we're up in arms when we can't rebound when he's playing 20 feet from the rim on defense.

Nor is it necessarily Bradley's fault for continually running the play Tommy keeps calling which is a poor drive into defenders praying for a foul. Or was it on Bradley for getting the call to run the ball up the court for a prayer 3 when our best player and shooter is inbounding.

Awwwe shucks - maybe next time we'll fix it.

[KansasCityCats]

Our in-boulders intentionally received give-and-go's but TTU was well-coached, prepared and amazing on D.

It was a great defensive battle by both programs, who will likely make deep tourney runs.

Awaka was the only unstoppable force for Arizona. It hurts to lose at home but this wasn't a performance where the Cats were lethargic and making bad plays, similar to Monday.

Upset Houston and we're still atop the conference...

[Jdmarti]

Disappointing L but arizona has not been playing well down the stretch, texas tech played really good defense, poor shooting from, Bradley, burries,ivan, virtually no bench, once peat went out with injury,hope he is alright, an we need aristode  back, as well.

[mvpreed2]

Another game, and another edition of the whackiest series on BearDownU.com!
On this episode of What Reed Sees: Texas Tech Edition.
Enjoy!

Pros
Kharchenkov is coming out EXTREMELY aggressive tonight! It is not showing on the statsheet just yet, but he is letting it fly! (++)

Burries is now the best prospect on this Arizona roster to me and it isn't close anymore! He has leaped over Bradley over the past week with his play on the court. (++)

Arizona is doing a good job of getting Texas Tech in foul trouble, but the two that Arizona NEED to get in foul trouble (Anderson/Toppin) are the ones right now.

Gueye with the post bucket! Way to show up in the clutch! That basket is going to help build his confidence for the remainder of this season, and going into the off-season. I REALLY hope he is able to be C2 next season with Awaka leaving.  (++)

Arizona has done an amazing job of limiting both Anderson/Toppin up to this point in the 2nd half. (++)
UPDATE: Arizona has done a good job on Anderson, but Toppin with that 30pts/15rebs game is insane!

Salute to Awaka for continuing to be put on an island to guard Anderson 1v1 and not give up a foul or a bucket! (+++)

Cons
Paging Peat again! Your team needs you kid. If your ankle is that bad, you need to sit and let Aristode play. You have been neutralized the last couple of games kid.
UPDATE: Peat is out for the rest of game. I did not know Aristode was out too! So Lloyd is going to roll the dice with Awaka/Krivas the entire 2nd half?

Anderson is the other side of that coin where I get nervous about a ball-dominant prospect. He has scored or assisted on like 90% of Tech's points in the first half. 12pts/6asts in the 1st half. Two more to start the 2nd half? This kid is carrying Texas Tech right now! (-)

Texas Tech has done a very good job of minimizing Arizona's best prospects. Bradley has stepped up with Awaka/Krivas on the bench. Burries has to get it going with Peat out for remainder of this game! (-)

At too many points in this game, I have noticed how Bradley/Burries/Peat were not making their presence felt. Arizona cannot have them disappear for long periods of time. They have to be able to make plays. This is why I was not in favor of Lloyd only have an 8-man rotation to start the season. (-)

Even though Atwell was 1-7 up until that point when he hit that 3PT, you still cannot leave him open! He hits the go-ahead 3PT with less than 30secs to go? Even worse, your All-Big 12 and All-American lead guard gets caught ball-watching? (-/-).

Well, you got TWO stops on defense with the clock winding down, but you could not get the rebound? You got bailed out that Watts missed one of his FTs, but you ended up down 3pts and being forced to go 70ft and jacking up a shot? (-)

Comments
Before the game even starts, I know Arizona bet not allow Toppin to go left, or Atwell to catch it and let it fly from deep.
Update: Toppin was able to get to his left about 90% of the time. Atwell struggled, but I would trade some of those misses throughout the game in order to eliminate the two he hit at the end of regulation and the one in OT.

Lloyd went with the true freshman Gueye? I am VERY interested in seeing how long Lloyd is going to leave him in.
Update: I wish Gueye would have been able to stay in longer. His ability to slide/move into position and contest shots seemed to be a better fit against Arizona.

Why did Texas Tech stop putting Toppin in the high PNR action with Anderson? That was their best play to run in the 1st half. Now you completely go away from it and put him in the dunker spot?

Final Thoughts
Arizona allowed Texas Tech to win this game. I won't go down the list of plays that stood out to me. Since Arizona should have won that game without Peat? I am not going to allow that excuse to be brought into this discussion.

Arizona is now 0-2 in the toughest stretch of their schedule.

Next up: BYU
#BearDown

[Jdmarti]

Byu game now must win.

That houston game is going to be a hard game to win, koa can't  play against, houston i don't think we win.

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JB, a good defender, picked a really bad time to fall asleep on defense. I imagine he won't do that again.