No. 3 Arizona Wildcats survive No. 9 Gonzaga in overtime: By the Numbers
Dec 7, 2014, 1:13 AM | Updated: 1:13 am
Less than 24 hours after the Arizona Wildcats’ football team suffered an embarrassing blowout loss in the Pac-12 Championship game, UA’s men’s basketball team gave fans something to cheer about — nevermind that they had to hold their collective breath for two and a half hours.
Senior point guard T.J. McConnell scored all six of Arizona’s points in overtime as the No. 3 Wildcats improved to 8-0 on the season with a 66-63 overtime win against No. 9 Gonzaga (7-1) in Tucson.
The Wildcats trailed most of the game but forced OT thanks to a pair of late jumpers by junior forward Brandon Ashley. McConnell scored back-to-back field goals early in the extra period to give UA the lead for good.
Gonzaga had a chance to tie after guard Byron Wesley was fouled on a 3-point attempt with three seconds to play in overtime, but Wesley missed all three attempts and freshman forward Stanley Johnson grabbed the rebound to keep the Wildcats’ unblemished record intact in front of a sold-out McKale Center crowd.
Here’s how UA basketball took fans’ minds off an awful football performance with a thrilling win, by the numbers:
1
Arizona became known for its suffocating defense last season, and the ‘Cats are picking up where they left off this year. UA limited Gonzaga to just one field goal in the final 9:05 of the game, including overtime.
2
Ashley hit his first two 3-pointers of the season Saturday after missing his first five attempts of the year. Ashley was 11-of-29 from 3-point range in 2013-14 before missing the final two months of the season with a foot injury. He had a team-high 14 points to go with five rebounds.
26
The Wildcats narrowly extended their home winning streak to 26 games Saturday. It’s the fifth-longest such streak in school history.
35
Arizona also kept its regular-season non-conference winning streak alive Saturday, pushing it to 35 games. Its last non-conference loss was a 71-60 defeat to Gonzaga in Seattle on Dec. 17, 2011.
38
The Wildcats pride themselves on rebounding, but Gonzaga was the more physical team for most of Saturday. The Bulldogs out-rebounded UA 38-31 for the game, including 13-7 on the offensive glass.
63.6
Free-throw shooting continues to be a concern for the Wildcats, who connected on just 14-of-22 attempts Saturday (63.6 percent). McConnell was just 2-for-4 from the line in the final 20 seconds of overtime to leave the door open for the Bulldogs.
