Arizona Men’s Basketball downs No. 3 UConn Huskies 71-67 on road to start 5-0

A little over two week into the season, the Arizona Wildcats officially have the best resume in college basketball. After wins over No. 3 Florida in Las Vegas and No. 15 UCLA in Los Angeles, Arizona defeated No. 3 Uconn 71-67 in Storrs, Connecticut on Wednesday in the first game of a home-and-home series with the Huskies. Veterans Jaden Bradley and Tobe Awaka were the difference for the Wildcats down the stretch, showing their poise and maturity in a hostile road environment.

Jaden Bradley further cemented himself as one of the best point guards in the sport, scoring 21 points while connecting on 6-of-13 field goals. Bradley also hit 8-of-9 free throw attempts, while contributing three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 35 minutes. With his 21-point performance, Jaden Bradley has now scored over 1,000 career points, including 781 during his time in Tucson. He is the first Arizona player with 1,000 career points since Caleb Love.

Tobe Awaka didn’t have eye-popping numbers, finishing with seven points and seven rebounds, but went 5-of-6 from the free throw line, hitting four clutch free throws in the final six seconds of the game to hold off a Huskies’ rally.

Freshman Koa Peat finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double in a team-high 37 minutes, while Motiejus Krivas nearly had a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Both teams end the game with similar shooting numbers. Arizona shot 25-of-54 (46.3%) from the floor, while UConn connected on 25-of-56 (44.6%) of its field goals. The difference in the game was rebounding; the Wildcats out-rebounded the Huskies 43-23, including a plus-seven offensive rebounding margin.

The game went back and forth in the first half, with Arizona taking a 35-33 lead into the locker room at halftime. Arizona led by as many as six at the 13:33 mark of the first half, but neither team was able to break away. Jaden Bradley scored 12 of his 21 in the first half, while Krivas pulled down 10 of his 14 rebounds.

The second half saw more runs and ebbs and flows of offense and defense from both sides. The Wildcats led by as many as 13, using a 18-7 run to take a 53-40 lead at the 13:34 mark of the second half. But the Huskies responded, out-scoring Tommy Lloyd and Co. 24-9 to take a two-point lead with 2:16 remaining.

That’s when the veterans Bradley and Awaka took over. Bradley needed all of the shot clock to hit a tough, spinning and cutting layup with 16.3 seconds remainig to give Arizona a 67-64 lead, before Tobe Awaka hit two pairs of free throws at the 6.0 second and 0.8 second mark to ice the game.

Up next, the Wildcats return home for the first time in nearly two weeks for a tilt against Denver on Monday, November 24. The game tips off on 8:30 PM MST on CBSSN.