Tuesday night in Waco had all the makings of a trap game. Five days on the road, injuries and illness aplenty, and Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats coming off one of the biggest wins in recent program history with a 73-66 win at No. 2 Houston. And while Arizona men’s basketball (26-2, 13-2) got off to a slow start, it rallied in the second half to bear down on the Baylor Bears (14-14, 4-11) 87-80.
“People probably thought we were overlooking and there’s no way we were overlooking this game,” said head coach Tommy Lloyd following the win. “I have way too much respect for Scott (Drew) and for Baylor. We knew it was going to be tough and I know how much talent they have. They just have had a tough year, but you could see when they put it together how good they really are. And man, they seem like they had an answer for everything today.”
The Wildcats needed every bit of help they could get, with four players scoring in double figures, including a team-high from Jaden Bradley, who had 25 points. He shot 8-17 from the field, making a career-high five 3-pointers, to go along with six rebounds and assists each. Alongside Bradley in the backcourt, Brayden Burries contributed 24 points, shooting 8-13 from the field, as well as 7-11 from the free throw line. In the frontcourt, Mo Krivas has 12 points, while Tobe Awaka had a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double, his fifth of the season. The two bigs were a combined 8-14 from the field and 6-6 from the charity stripe.
Following the game, Lloyd was particularly impressed with the play of his tandem in the backcourt.
“These seasons are long and these games are tough and they can be emotional and so sometimes when you get punched like that and you’re on the road, it’s easy to say, ‘hey, today’s not our day.’ And, our guys just don’t have that kind of character. The toughness you get from a senior leader like Bradley. The toughness you get from a freshman guard like Burries was incredibly special. I thought those two guys were awesome today.”
Bradley’s career night from distance helped the Wildcats shoot 9-21 (42.9%) from beyond the arc, as Tommy Lloyd’s group continues to show that it is capable to taking, and making, threes when it wants to, despite the low volume of shots from 3-point range this season. It’s also the second time in the last three games the Wildcats have been outscored in the paint by its opponent, with the Bears taking a slim 40-36 edge inside.
Arizona had no answers for Baylor’s Cameron Carr, who scored a game-high 26 points, connecting on 11-19 field goal attempts. Guard Isaac Williams tacked on 16 more points, shooting an efficient 5-6 from the field and 5-7 from the stripe. And freshman Tounde Yessoufou contributed 12 points.
Arizona jumped out to an early lead courtesy of back-to-back triples from Jaden Bradley to start the game. But Baylor responded, using a 3-pointer from Isaac Williams to tie the game 8-8 with 16:34 to play in the first half. A three from Cameron Carr less than a minute later gave Baylor an 11-10 lead, forcing the Wildcats to play from behind for the final 14:55 of the first half.
Trailing 41-34 at the half, Baylor opened play in the second with a 3-pointer from Yessoufou, giving the Bears a 10-point lead, the largest deficit Arizona has faced in conference play this season.
The Wildcats came out with visibly better energy and effort in the second half though, using a 14-2 run over 4:14 to retake a 48-46 lead with a pair of Motiejus Krivas free throws at the 15:09 mark. The game turned into a track meet from that point on, with eight ties and 11 lead changes over the next 11 minutes of game play, with neither team building more than a two-point lead, except for a shortly lived four-point advantage for the UA that last all but 19 seconds. Burries did throw down a highlight reel one-handed dunk with 8:17 to play that gave Arizona a 64-63 lead.
But as rim rocking as the dunk was, Brayden Burries’ biggest moment was a clutch bucket inside the final minute. The freshman connected on a deep pull-up jumper with 27 seconds left to give the Wildcats an 82-78 lead, forcing Baylor to foul the rest of the way to preserve the clock. In the final 18 seconds, Burries and Bradley combined on 5-6 from the free throw line, as Arizona escaped with the 7-point advantage, after trailing by 10 in the opening moments of the second half.
The Wildcats return to Tucson and can rest and recover for the next few days. Arizona returns to the hardwood on Saturday, February 28, when it hosts No. 14 Kansas for the first time since joining the Big 12.