Wildcats stunned by Xavier’s rally
hit 6 of 8 shots immediately after halftime, prompting Miller to call a timeout with 15:22 left.
UA went on a 7-0 run to take a 52-48 lead, but with 13 minutes to go, Allen and Bluiett were called for offsetting technical fouls after they had an animated conversation.
After the technicals, Bernard hit a 3pointer and Quentin Goodin dunked to put Xavier back ahead 53-52 entering the final 11 minutes.
At the end of the first half, Rawle Alkins hit a 12-foot jumper just before the halftime buzzer to give Arizona a 37-35 halftime lead.
Alkins, who was playing with a broken index finger, missed his first four shots of the half.
He said the finger didn’t bother him throughout the half, and tried to be upbeat afterward.
“We had a great year, and it just takes one loss for everyone to forget what we did all year,” Alkins said. “We won the Pac-12 championship, the Pac-12 Tournament, and 32-5. We had a historic year for the team.
“Of course we wanted more. But overall, it was a good season.” Thursday: Xavier 73, Arizona 71 FG FT Reb M-A M-A O-T 2-5 0-0 0-0 5-6 2-3 3-6 9-17 4-4 0-2 1-5 0-0 0-2 5-11 4-5 3-7 4-5 0-3 0-4 1-3 1-1 0-3 1-1 0-0 0-0 28-53 11-16 6-24 3-Point Goals: Min 14 29 36 39 38 21 19 4 200 A PF PTS 0 0 4 0 2 15 2 3 25 6 3 2 5 3 14 0 1 8 1 0 3 0 2 2 14 14 73