Arizona basketball grabs a crucial 96-64 victory as they get closer to Big 12 conference play.
Arizona gets back into the victory column and back to .500, hopefully ending their rough patch to open the season. The victory didn’t come easy as Arizona and Samford were close in the first as well as costly mistakes throughout, however, this proved to not be enough as Arizona would rout the Bulldogs.
The game opened as Arizona honored Pacers player and former University of Arizona player, TJ McConnell, into the Arizona Ring of Honor. McConnell’s short Arizona career from 2013-15 saw the Wildcats grab two Pac-12 regular season titles, one Pac-12 tournament title, and two NCAA Tournament Elite Eight runs. During his time, McConnell played with the likes of Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
“I need a little more TJ McConnell in my life,” said coach Tommy Lloyd about McConnell’s skill and impact while at Arizona. “We need a little more TJ McConnell on our team.”
What started as a nail-biting back and forth between both teams, including Samford pulling out the full-court press just minutes into the game, proved to come out in Arizona’s favor as their offensive push was too much for the Bulldogs. Can Arizona maintain this momentum into both their matchup against Central Michigan and future Big 12 play?
“We just got to take it game by game,” said Caleb Love. “I think it’s just an opportunity for us to make this a great story.”
Takeaway #1: Arizona’s offense remains great in its highs and inconsistent in its lows
The Arizona offense worked like a well-oiled machine for most of this matchup, having several times where they would go on massive 7-point runs over the Bulldogs. Caleb Love highlighted the excelling offense as he would have one of his most efficient nights on the year with 23 points off of 7-14 shooting and 3-7 three-point shooting.
“Just seeing the ball go into the hoop was a great feeling,” said Love on his efficient night. “I give all my credit to my teammates because they put me in position.”
Love wasn’t also the only one who was able to capture double-digits, having four others in total grabbing over 10 points. Trey Townsend was as efficient as you could ask for shooting 6-8 with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jaden Bradley was another player to score double digits with 11 points off 4-8 shooting and a team-high 6 assists.
Despite this, Arizona still had points in which they suffered turnovers off of some poorly timed and costly passes that resulted in points for the Bulldogs. There were also points in which they were the ones suffering under opposing scoring runs, highest was 7-points in a row by the Bulldogs.
Takeaway #2: A tale of two halves for Arizona’s defense
Arizona and Samford opened in a gritty start sharing big threes and defensive battles back and forth. As the quarter pushed on Arizona proved their control over the ball dominating all facets of the court. However, Arizona basketball proved to be extremely inconsistent in guarding the Samford three as they shot 8-16 in the first.
The second half proved to flip this as Arizona controlled the Bulldogs’ three-point shooting, diminishing their shot to a 4-19 outing in the second. However, Arizona become more susceptible to turnovers both occurring on the defensive and offensive side of the ball. Arizona fell to Samford’s effective turnover offense, the Bulldogs would have several occurrences where they would force a turnover and then score a three-pointer back on offense.
Takeaway #3: Arizona underestimated Samford’s early push
Samford didn’t enter the game with the idea of losing, the came out in full force both offensively and defensively. Samford kept it tense employing the full-court press early on showing they were going to fight every second in this matchup. Early on this certainly proved effective as at roughly 13 minutes in the first half left, Arizona basketball had just a one-point lead over Samford at 16-15.
However, after this hot start, Arizona would go back and go on an eight-point run to ensure their position over the Bulldogs. Despite Arizona maintaining a comfortable lead for the remainder of the game, Samford didn’t see themselves as out of it still pushing the full-court press and stellar three-point shooting at first. Samford’s consistent push to try and stress the Arizona offense would in turn hurt their game as the matchup proceeded, as seen in their massive reduction in three-point efficiency from 8-18 in the first to 4-19 in the second half.
Next up for Arizona (5-5): vs. Central Michigan (5-5) – Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. MST
Next up for Samford (9-3): at Alabama A&M (4-7) – Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. EST