Arizona Stuns UConn 71–67 Behind Bradley’s Late Heroics

[WILD]

Arizona Stuns UConn 71–67 Behind Bradley's Late Heroics

Arizona pulled off a gutsy road win in Storrs, edging No. 3 UConn 71–67 in a high-stakes battle. The Wildcats powered the game on the glass, outrebounding the Huskies a lofty 43–23, which translated into 16 second-chance points. Koa Peat spearheaded that effort with a double-double — 16 points and 12 boards — while Motiejus Krivas added 9 points and 14 rebounds, showing tremendous toughness inside. UConn, playing without injured forward Tarris Reed Jr., struggled from the perimeter (just 8-of-25 on threes) and at the free-throw line (making only 9 of 18), allowing Arizona to control the rhythm.

When the game tightened in the final moments, Jaden Bradley stepped up in a big way. He scored 21 points, and with the game hanging in the balance, he drove for a clutch layup with 16.3 seconds left, capping off a decisive 7-0 Arizona run. Head coach Tommy Lloyd has repeatedly said Bradley doesn't need the limelight — "he'll let his play speak for itself" — and tonight, that approach paid off. Tobe Awaka also came through in the closing seconds, sinking four critical free throws to seal the victory. Bradley's poise under pressure, combined with Arizona's dominant rebounding and disciplined execution, proved to be the difference.

[KansasCityCats]

UConn's defense was NASTY. Arizona found alternative ways to score when the perimeter shots weren't available.

Tough road win.

[Naterade]

UConn's defense was NASTY. Arizona found alternative ways to score when the perimeter shots weren't available.

Tough road win.

I agree, this team has enough scoring threats to find a way against any defense. Gotta give a big shout out to Awaka for those CLUTH free throws and Krivas for really becoming a force on both ends and doing it in a big game.

[arxpert]

UConn's defense was NASTY. Arizona found alternative ways to score when the perimeter shots weren't available.

Tough road win.

While UConn was tenacious, it was a rough game and they didn't have their best player for the matchup available. I think Tommy blew what could have been a 20pt win going away down the stretch when he refused to call a timeout when UConn made a slight 7-0 type push when we were up 13 or so. He kept 3 Timeouts and didn't use one at the end to get Awaka out of the game. Luckily TOBIAS manned TF up and knocked down the most clutch FTs of his life which I am sure pissed off Hurley to no end.

[mvpreed2]

I just finished watching the game on my DVR.
Let me see how compact I can make these notes this time.

(+) Thank you Lloyd for putting Burries/Peat in actions off of made basket to slow the game down for them. (Psst! I think you should use that Burries/Peat on-ball screen a lot more)

(+) Thank you again Lloyd for involving Krivas in the half-court. You could clearly see he gave you more on the defensive end because of the offensive touches. Do not only feature him because of the height advantage coach. He is 7'1 and is tough to stop with that baby hook!

(-) Krivas, I need you to start punching that ****! You are 7'1. You are going to MISS a lot of easy shots because you are not willing to throw it down. I don't know what your stat line was, but you left about 6-8pts on the floor because you didn't punch it in.

(+) Thank you for drawing up NEW plays to get the ball in the hands of your star(s). That play where you ran essentially a high/low to get it to Peat on the right block? Nice! Also, that was the quietest double-double I have ever seen. Peat walked off that floor with 16/12/3/2. Good job kid!

(+) The 1v1 on-ball defense seemed to look a lot better. I am also saying this while ignoring the fact you planted Krivas in the paint. I remember when Miller used to do that. I hate the notion of doing it, but Hurley did not adjust to it, so let it ride.

(+) Good job on forcing Hurley/Reibe to make a decision. I did not like the move at first, but the longer the game went, you could see Reibe did not want to shoot that ball. Even when he started to knock them down, I would have been fine with losing that game because Reibe went 5-9 from deep.

(-) Putting Krivas in that drop coverage left the midrange wide open coach. You got lucky that you built a big enough lead to point for point, but those UConn guards hit that FT line extended range and got busy! Ball/Demary continued to knock down shots from that area.

All in all, I can see you are not as stuck in your ways as you seemed to be when you first got here coach.
You won two games (Florida/UConn) that I did not think you would be able to win coming into this season.
5-0 with three top 25 wins is a feat that you deserve to be patted on the back.
I expect this program to be #1 in the nation come Monday.
#BearDown

[FOOS]

I just finished watching the game on my DVR.
Let me see how compact I can make these notes this time.

(+) Thank you Lloyd for putting Burries/Peat in actions off of made basket to slow the game down for them. (Psst! I think you should use that Burries/Peat on-ball screen a lot more)

(+) Thank you again Lloyd for involving Krivas in the half-court. You could clearly see he gave you more on the defensive end because of the offensive touches. Do not only feature him because of the height advantage coach. He is 7'1 and is tough to stop with that baby hook!

(-) Krivas, I need you to start punching that ****! You are 7'1. You are going to MISS a lot of easy shots because you are not willing to throw it down. I don't know what your stat line was, but you left about 6-8pts on the floor because you didn't punch it in.

(+) Thank you for drawing up NEW plays to get the ball in the hands of your star(s). That play where you ran essentially a high/low to get it to Peat on the right block? Nice! Also, that was the quietest double-double I have ever seen. Peat walked off that floor with 16/12/3/2. Good job kid!

(+) The 1v1 on-ball defense seemed to look a lot better. I am also saying this while ignoring the fact you planted Krivas in the paint. I remember when Miller used to do that. I hate the notion of doing it, but Hurley did not adjust to it, so let it ride.

(+) Good job on forcing Hurley/Reibe to make a decision. I did not like the move at first, but the longer the game went, you could see Reibe did not want to shoot that ball. Even when he started to knock them down, I would have been fine with losing that game because Reibe went 5-9 from deep.

(-) Putting Krivas in that drop coverage left the midrange wide open coach. You got lucky that you built a big enough lead to point for point, but those UConn guards hit that FT line extended range and got busy! Ball/Demary continued to knock down shots from that area.

All in all, I can see you are not as stuck in your ways as you seemed to be when you first got here coach.
You won two games (Florida/UConn) that I did not think you would be able to win coming into this season.
5-0 with three top 25 wins is a feat that you deserve to be patted on the back.
I expect this program to be #1 in the nation come Monday.
#BearDown

Great write up !  I think Purdue and Houston would have to lose for us to be #1.  We will definitely get the votes.  I would guess we will be #3.  BEAR DOWN !

[Cactus🌵Cat]

Arizona's best players, post UConn update according to Evan Miya: 1. JB, 2. Awaka, 3. Peat, 4. D3lly, 5. Krivas, 6. Burries, 7. Ivan, 8. Aristode

[KansasCityCats]

Arizona's best players, post UConn update according to Evan Miya: 1. JB, 2. Awaka, 3. Peat, 4. D3lly, 5. Krivas, 6. Burries, 7. Ivan, 8. Aristode

Strictly based on yesterday's performance, I would have ranked them differently:

1. JB
2. Krivas
3. Peat
4. Awaka
5. Delly
6. Ivan (strictly because of his D)
7. Burries
8. Aristode
9. Solo Ball

Sorry, thought Ball was on our team because he wasn't helping Uconn in any way.  Oops.

[Cactus🌵Cat]

Arizona's best players, post UConn update according to Evan Miya: 1. JB, 2. Awaka, 3. Peat, 4. D3lly, 5. Krivas, 6. Burries, 7. Ivan, 8. Aristode

Strictly based on yesterday's performance, I would have ranked them differently:

1. JB
2. Krivas
3. Peat
4. Awaka
5. Delly
6. Ivan (strictly because of his D)
7. Burries
8. Aristode
9. Solo Ball

Sorry, thought Ball was on our team because he wasn't helping Uconn in any way.  Oops.

His ranking is based upon the 4 games this season not only the UConn game, sorry if I wasn't clear about that.

[KansasCityCats]

Ooh, gotcha. I may throw Delly and Peat above Awaka but they're all top-4 contributors IMO.

I'm intrigued to see what our frontcourt will look like when Awaka or Krivas get into foul trouble. We have big bodies and I'm hoping the freshmen are gradually getting better as they practice against our starters.