Another Test Passed: Wildcats Win Gritty 84–77 at UCF

[WILD]

Another Test Passed: Wildcats Win Gritty 84–77 at UCF

No. 1 Arizona Grinds Out Road Win Over UCF
Top-ranked Arizona continued its perfect season with an 84–77 road win over UCF on Friday night, improving to 18-0 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats were tested throughout, especially with star freshman Koa Peat limited by foul trouble, but Arizona's depth stepped up. Jaden Bradley led all Wildcats with 23 points, adding six rebounds and five assists, while Brayden Burries chipped in 18 points. Center Motiejus Krivas controlled the paint, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds to anchor Arizona on both ends of the floor.

Key Stats and Turning Points
Arizona's balance proved decisive, as the Wildcats outscored UCF 36–28 in the paint and hit timely free throws late to keep the Knights at bay. UCF stayed within striking distance behind a big night from Themus Fulks, who poured in 30 points, but overall shooting efficiency hurt the home team. The Knights shot 40 percent from the field and just 30.8 percent from three-point range, while Arizona consistently found quality looks and limited second-chance opportunities. Even as UCF trimmed the deficit in the final minutes, Arizona's poise and defensive discipline sealed another statement win.

Up Next for the Wildcats
Arizona now returns to McKale Memorial Center for its next Big 12 challenge against Cincinnati. The Bearcats enter the matchup at 10-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play, bringing confidence after a recent upset of a top-five opponent. For Arizona, the focus will be on maintaining its unbeaten run, tightening up defensively, and continuing to get production from multiple scorers as conference play intensifies. With momentum firmly on their side, the Wildcats will look to protect home court and keep pace at the top of the Big 12.

[mvpreed2]

The clock has hit zeros!
On this edition on What Reed Sees: UCF Edition!

Pros
I like how Lloyd would tell the Arizona fans in the crowd to hype up the team during the game. Crowd momentum is a VERY underrated aspect to a team's play on the floor (+)

You have to commend Peat for his play in the 2nd half. You can see he is frustrated with his lack of production, but he continues to play hard and the stats eventually come (+)

Burries looks like a completely different prospect now that he is hitting those shots he usually missed against UConn/Florida (+)

The way Bradley is able to pick his spots on when he is going to be the go-to guy for Arizona always seems like it is at the perfect time for Arizona (++)

Cons
The analysts just said that they watched Arizona's pre-game practice and they were working on shutting down the FT-extended area. That is the EXACT same spot UCF is getting to while they have gone on their run at the end of the 1st half! (-)

Fulks is killing Arizona! Since that run to end the 1st half going into the start of the 2nd half? Arizona has not been able to slow him down, and he is raising the level of play of his teammates around him.

Does Arizona have a "one-man wrecking crew" problem? ASU's Diop in the 1st half of the ASU game. Odom in the 2nd half of the ASU game. Now Fulks is going off in this game. (-)

Part of the reasons Awaka misses his FTs is because he does not use his legs when he shoots. He bends his knees during the shooting motion. The problem is he does not start his shooting motion until AFTER he locks his legs. It is all arms/shoulders in his shot. I noticed it against ASU, but he was making his FTs during that game. (-)

Comments
Peat back on the bench with foul trouble? I thought we were past this?

Krivas would avg 6-8 more pts/gm if he would dunk the ball every time in the paint. He is 7'1. There should be no reason to lay the ball in within 5ft from the basket. Turn around and punch that **** in!

Am I the only one that believes Krivas should have more of a consistent featured role in this offense? Lloyd likes to pick when he is featured, but he seems to contribute on a higher clip than most do.


At one point, I did think UCF could have won the game.
It was not as bad as the feeling was against ASU.
Arizona won this game without an entire half from Peat.
Next up: Cincinnati
BearDown

[arxpert]

Fulks is killing Arizona! Since that run to end the 1st half going into the start of the 2nd half? Arizona has not been able to slow him down, and he is raising the level of play of his teammates around him.

Does Arizona have a "one-man wrecking crew" problem? ASU's Diop in the 1st half of the ASU game. Odom in the 2nd half of the ASU game. Now Fulks is going off in this game. (-)

Yes Tommy is the guy who doesn't stop the bleeding quickly enough. Doesn't adjust til halftime. Lets teams "believe" for way too long.

1 Man is all it takes to lose a game.

1 Kid who chooses to not lose on that day.

Whether it was "Pope" from 2 years ago 37pts for Oregon State or whatever. Or in the olden days guys like Kaminsky, Dekker, Craft, Deron Williams under other coaches.

Arizona has a rich tradition of allowing that 1 Guy ruin everything

Tommy has to evolve and stop this.

---->

On the other end of this, Koa got into foul trouble. It will happen. Bradley got into a bit. Krivas really showed up thankfully. One game there will be Koa, Bradley, and Krivas all in foul trouble.

Tommy isn't ready for that, but he has been good at working refs and getting fouls put back on opponents, building to the Bonus in the 2nd. I just wish he didn't need to give "belief" to opponents in the process.

Burries is Tyrese Maxey and he may be able to carry us.

Our next 2 games will be the toughest IMHO. 2 Hungry teams looking for Resume Builders in Road Games. Cincy and WVU are no pushovers.

Let's see what happens in these next 2 games before thinking any further head.

[mvpreed2]

Fulks is killing Arizona! Since that run to end the 1st half going into the start of the 2nd half? Arizona has not been able to slow him down, and he is raising the level of play of his teammates around him.

Does Arizona have a "one-man wrecking crew" problem? ASU's Diop in the 1st half of the ASU game. Odom in the 2nd half of the ASU game. Now Fulks is going off in this game. (-)

Yes Tommy is the guy who doesn't stop the bleeding quickly enough. Doesn't adjust til halftime. Lets teams "believe" for way too long.

1 Man is all it takes to lose a game.

1 Kid who chooses to not lose on that day.

Whether it was "Pope" from 2 years ago 37pts for Oregon State or whatever. Or in the olden days guys like Kaminsky, Dekker, Craft, Deron Williams under other coaches.

Arizona has a rich tradition of allowing that 1 Guy ruin everything

Tommy has to evolve and stop this.

---->

On the other end of this, Koa got into foul trouble. It will happen. Bradley got into a bit. Krivas really showed up thankfully. One game there will be Koa, Bradley, and Krivas all in foul trouble.

Tommy isn't ready for that, but he has been good at working refs and getting fouls put back on opponents, building to the Bonus in the 2nd. I just wish he didn't need to give "belief" to opponents in the process.

Burries is Tyrese Maxey and he may be able to carry us.

Our next 2 games will be the toughest IMHO. 2 Hungry teams looking for Resume Builders in Road Games. Cincy and WVU are no pushovers.

I get the feeling that Lloyd is banking on his team to produce enough to fight through the storm.
It would be easier to win the game if you would simply draw up something to get the ball out of their hands.
Blitz off the PNR, force him to pass, and be willing to live with whatever happens with the 4v3 off the pass.


If Bradley/Peat/Krivas all get in foul trouble, Lloyd is going to turn that smaller lineup with BB/ADO/DA/IK/TA.
That situation is the main reason why I say you need to have four bigs on the roster that are game-ready.
Lloyd going with those African bigs as projects is not going to help him this season, and probably not next season either.
He is going to have to figure out a way to make his team go 9-deep with an extra big, or he will be in trouble.

I see where you are going with the Burries-Maxey comparison.
I do not believe Burries is as much of a spark as Maxey is.
Maxey can get super hot very quickly.
Burries can run off 7-8pts, and then go cold for a long stretch of the game when Arizona could use a bucket from him.
#BearDown

[KansasCityCats]

Lloyd does like to roll the dice and wait to stop the opponents' momentum we Arizona absolutely has the talent and maturity to handle runs. 

Allowing one player to score in volume is a solid game plan because it's rare that a solo player can win a game single-handedly, especially if they're a guard that strictly relies on the outside shot.

Our staff has continually made halftime adjustments this season. We rarely have the same production in the final 20 minutes of each game. Points come from different players, ball movement changes, defensive schemes and matchups fluctuate, etc.

This team will lose some games but we're the unanimous #1 and undefeated at the moment...

[mvpreed2]

Lloyd does like to roll the dice and wait to stop the opponents' momentum we Arizona absolutely has the talent and maturity to handle runs. 

Allowing one player to score in volume is a solid game plan because it's rare that a solo player can win a game single-handedly, especially if they're a guard that strictly relies on the outside shot.

My only rebuttal to this would be that having one player carry the load could ignite the rest of his teammates and raise their level of play.
I have watched basketball on many levels for almost 30 years.
I have seen one player carry a team and then it woke the rest of them up and started a barrage of points that the opposition could not stop.

I am not so sure that method would work with a team like Iowa State or Kansas.
Peterson is a dog, and White is a gunner, and if those two are able to get hot?
The biggest problem with Kansas is that they are a bunch of talented dudes on a team.
They do not operate as a unit, and that is where Arizona would be able to get the best of them.
#BearDown

[KansasCityCats]

It could ignite the rest of the team but it hasn't happened in any of the 18 games this season.

Fulks scored plenty of points yet only two other UCF players scored double digits.

The staff could care less if volume shooters throw up low percentage shots. The plan is to avoid big men from scoring easy buckets and getting our frontcourt into foul trouble. Except Bilodeau and Haugh (both in November), no Forward or Center scored more than 16 points against the Cats.

We almost always have 5+ scorers in double digits. No opponent had five players in double figures against Arizona...

The Cats are more efficient on the floor, in addition to preventing opponents from scoring their averages. Win in the frontcourt...win the game. Yes, somebody will get hot from three and beat Arizona but it hasn't happened yet.