It’s only November, but certainly not one to remember for Arizona.
Arizona’s 83-76 overtime loss to West Virginia on Friday afternoon in the #Battle4Atlantis third-place game means it will take a losing record into December. At 3-4, the Wildcats are below .500 for the first time since Feb. 2010 during Sean Miller’s first season.
The UA forced OT by rallying from down 10 midway through the second half but couldn’t get any stops in the extra session. West Virginia (5-2) made all four shots and was 7 of 8 from the foul line in OT, leading for all but the first 23 seconds.
Caleb Love had a season-high 24 points, 18 after halftime including the game-tying 3 with 14.1 seconds,while Trey Townsend had 19. The Wildcats shot 45.3 percent and held West Virginia to 39.7 percent but they again fell victim to an opposing player having a huge game.
That would be senior Tucker DeVries, son of head coach Darren DeVries, who had 26 points and was 8 of 12 from 3-point range. Toby Okani had 20, including a 3 midway through OT to put West Virginia up six, and Amani Hansberry had 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Mountaineers outrebounded Arizona 40-39 with 15 offensive boards.
Arizona’s turnovers weren’t many (14) but they were costly, as West Virginia scored 24 points off those miscues. The Wildcats only got six points off 10 Mountaineers giveaways.
Carter Bryant started over KJ Lewis, becoming the first freshman to start under Tommy Lloyd. The move was likely disciplinary after Lewis picked up another taunting technical in the loss to Oklahoma.
Bryant was scoreless in 11 minutes, missing all three shots but collecting six rebounds, while Lewis had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists but fouled out for the second straight game.
Arizona trailed 39-37 at halftime, the big culprit the 15 points West Virginia scored off UA turnovers. The Wildcats caught a break when DeVries had to sit with three fouls at the 17:05 mark, yet they only scored once during his three-plus minutes on the bench.
The UA tied it at 46 on a Lewis basket but then went more than three minutes without scoring as the Mountaineers ran off eight in a row to lead 54-46 with 11:43 left. The run included Arizona appearing to force a shot clock violation but a foul was called under the basket after the shot went off, and West Virginia capitalized by hitting a 3.
DeVries’ seventh trey made it 57-47, and West Virginia’s lead was still at 10 with 9:47 remaining when Arizona made its push to force extra time. A Love 3 got the UA within 61-56, and Lewis’ 3-point play cut it to 63-59 with 4:11 to go.
West Virginia led 66-61 with 2:06 remaining on an Okani 3, after which the Mountaineers missed its final four shots of regulation while Townsend scored on a drive and Love hit a transition 3 to tie it with 14.1 seconds to go after Lewis’ block started the runout.
The OT saw Arizona play from behind from the outset, with its final turnover leading to DeVries’ eighth 3 and a 71-66 lead. The closest the Wildcats would get is 73-70 on a Love drive with 2:49 left, after which West Virginia’s Javon Small would make seven of eight free throws to ice it.
Arizona had its best start to a game in the Bahamas, leading 8-3 at the under-16 timeout after scoring only eight total points in the first two Battle4Atlantis contests. The Wildcats led 18-10 with 12:39 left in the first half on a Love 3, but some lazy passing let West Virginia go on an 11-2 run to take a 1-point lead.
A 3 by Anthony Dell’Orso made it 32-26 with 4:37 left in the half, but more turnovers fueled a 9-0 Mountaineers run all off threes by DeVries for a 37-34 lead. DeVries was 5 of 7 from outside in the first half.
The UA returns to action Dec. 7 at home against Southern Utah.
