UA’s late, furious rally falls short
Over the first 11 games of Arizona’s season, it was still hard to tell exactly how good the Wildcats really were.
Before losing 84-80 to Gonzaga on Saturday at McKale Center, Arizona won six games at home against midlevel teams or worse. Then three more in the mediocre Wooden Legacy. Over the previous week, they lost a “true” road game at Baylor, in which Arizona fans dominated the crowd, then stomped on low-major Omaha.
But on Saturday, there was this: Sixth-ranked Gonzaga, in front of a capacity crowd at McKale Center… and the Wildcats were right there, but still have a little work to do.
Arizona made just five of their first 25 3-point shots and wound up shooting just 37.7% from the field. Gonzaga shot 47.5% from the field on the other end and outrebounded UA 43-42 while holding off a last-minute rally from the Wildcats.
The loss dropped Arizona to 10-2 with only one more nonconference game remaining: Dec. 21 against St. John’s in San Francisco. Sixth-ranked Gonzaga improved to 11-1, and will return home to face North Carolina on Wednesday.
Zeke Nnaji led UA with 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Josh Green had 17 points but was 1 for 4 from 3point range, while point guard Nico Mannion was just 2 for 16 while missing all seven 3s he took.
Leading 45-42 when Nnaji hit a pair of free throws with 16:25 left, Gonzaga went on a 12-0 run that changed the course of the game.
The Wildcats missed all six shots they took during the run and committed three turnovers that led to five Gonzaga points. After Admon Gilder hit a 3-pointer to start Gonzaga’s run, a Mannion turnover led to a fast-break layup from Joel Ayayi that gave Gonzaga a 47-45 lead.
Then Dylan Smith threw an errant pass in the heart of UA’s offense that led to a free throw from Petrusev and another turnover from Mannion led to a layup by Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert that made it 54-45.
After Arizona coach Sean Miller then called a timeout with 12:24 left the Wildcats closed within five points, getting a driving layup from Jemarl Baker and a dunk from Nnaji off Josh Green’s miss, but then the Zags quieted down the McKale crowd considerably when they surged again to a double-digit lead.
At one key moment, instead of taking advantage of two missed free throws by Petrusev, the Wildcats watched as Gonzaga’s Killian Tillie flew behind the layup line to collect the rebound on his second miss. Tillie then passed to Ryan Woolridge, who made a layup.
Tillie and Woolridge later hit 3s and the Zags went up 69-55 with 7:29 left and the Wildcats didn’t make a serious run until the final minutes, when a 3pointer and a layup from Jemarl Baker cut it to 82-80 with 1.4 seconds left.
Before the game, UA coach Sean Miller suggested it wouldn’t be easy to catch the Zags, even at home and even after they lost four starters from an Elite Eight team last season.
After all, Gonzaga had already beaten two of the Pac-12’s other top expected contenders, edging Oregon at the Battle 4 Atlantis and defeating Washington at Seattle on Dec. 8 before a rowdy crowd at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
“For them it’s never one player, it’s always a team, and the best team is gonna win,” Miller said. “What I mean by that is it’s not superlatives of who played well individually. Gonzaga does not beat themselves, and we’ve played them six times since I’ve been here. Every game, their style is virtually the same. The faces change, but they have a way of playing that they believe in. They have great coach.
“And the other thing about them is they’re battle tested, the guys on their team. They’ve played against the best, they’ve played on away courts. You’re not going to spook them. They’re going to do what they do.”
In the first half, Arizona was just 1 for 15 from 3-point range and shot 30% overall, though Nnaji partially offset the shooting by leading Arizona with 10 points and nine rebounds. Green had 11 points but missed both 3-pointers he tried while Mannion was 2 for 11 from the field and 0 for 6 from 3. Dylan Smith was also 0 for 3 from 3-point range.
The Wildcats also helped stay in the game in the first half despite their shooting by outrebounding Gonzaga 2622, while scoring seven points on five Gonzaga turnovers and 13 secondchance points on 12 offensive rebounds.
Gonzaga shot 45.2% from the field, including 4 of 10 3s, before halftime.