Arizona men’s basketball was bound to take a loss in November under coach Tommy Lloyd eventually.
The way it happened Friday night in Madison, Wisc. won’t be repeated again anytime soon.
Wisconsin took down No. 9 Arizona 103-88 in a foul-ridden game that included 87 free throw attempts. Wisconsin scored the most points against Arizona in regulation by any opponent under Lloyd.
In a contest determined at the charity stripe, Wisconsin 41 of 47 free throws while Arizona made just 28 of its 40 foul shoots.
Eight Wildcats had three or more fouls, and two players, Caleb Love and Tobe Awaka, fouled out.
Point guard Jaden Bradley led Arizona with a team-high 22 points, while Trey Townsend added 17 and K.J. Lewis had 15.
Wisconsin guard John Tonje scored 41 points on four 3-pointers and 21 of 22 free throw makes.
The Badgers, playing in front of a sold-out home, crowd raced out to a 24-17 lead. The Badgers benefited from a seven-point swing when Love committed a personal foul, then was quickly called for a technical for trash talking. Wisconsin made four free throws and a 3-pointer the next possession to take momentum.
Arizona had committed 10 team fouls by the midway mark of the first half, sending Wisconsin into the double bonus. At one point the Badgers had a 19-1 advantage at the free throw line.
Wisconsin’s lead grew to 49-31 before Arizona went on a 13-2 run to put itself back in the game. Wisconsin led at half 55-44.
Arizona got off to a quick start in the second half and went on an 8-0 run to eventually even the score at 65-65.
With a chance to go ahead, the Wildcats committed back-to-back turnovers and the Badgers made them pay with a 10-3 run highlighted by a Tonje 3-pointer.
Wisconsin expanded the margin to double digits and held onto the lead for the rest of the night.
Arizona spent much of the second half in deep foul trouble, particularly from guards Love and Lewis.
Arizona’s offense relied heavily on Bradley’s assertiveness. Bradley got to the line time and again but only connected on 7 of 13 free throw attempts while making 7 of 14 shots from the field.
Awaka, starting over Motiejus Krivas, proved to be a force inside, collecting 13 rebounds to go with nine points. Krivas added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Arizona out-rebounded Wisconsin 52-28 including 24-2 on the offensive glass.
The Wildcats were let down by their 3-point shooting, however, making just 4 of 23 (17.4 percent) attempts from the perimeter compared to Wisconsin’s 12 of 27 3-point attempts.
Love contributed to Arizona’s shooting woes by going 2-13 and 0-6 from 3-point range. Love committed a fifth foul late in the second half, the first time he’s fouled out in a game since the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a North Carolina Tarheel.
Arizona shot 37.8 percent from the field for the game.
Arizona returns to action next Friday when it hosts Duke at McKale Center. The game tips off at 8:30 p.m. MST on ESPN.
