ARIZONA WILDCATS BASKETBALL

Arizona basketball beats Baylor to continue winning streak, undefeated conference record

Jan 14, 2025, 11:36 PM | Updated: Jan 15, 2025, 9:32 am

Head coach Tommy Lloyd of the Arizona Wildcats watches the action during the second half against th...

Head coach Tommy Lloyd of the Arizona Wildcats watches the action during the second half against the Baylor Bears at McKale Center on January 14, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Arizona men’s basketball continued its winning streak and undefeated Big 12 record by beating No. 25 Baylor 81-70 on Tuesday for the program’s seventh-straight win.

Henri Veesaar led the way with a career-high 19 points off the bench for Arizona and after a 3-4 start in nonconference play to begin the season, the Wildcats improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12.

Entering Tuesday, Baylor was already a shorthanded team missing Langston Love (recurring ankle soreness) and Jalen Celestine (ankle) to injuries, but after Baylor big Norchad Omier picked up two early fouls just 1:06 into the game, the Bears did not have much of a shot with their best player in foul trouble for much of the evening.

Omier averages 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game but was held to nine points and four rebounds in 26 minutes.

After Omier checked out for the first time, Arizona went on a 7-0 run and never looked back.

Somewhat of a bold move, Baylor put Omier back in the game with two fouls at the 15:42 mark, but that was mainly because there was no other choice. Baylor played just six players more than six minutes.

Arizona is now 7-0 since Anthony Dell’Orso joined the team’s starting lineup versus Samford, and the Australian made his first three 3-point attempts on Tuesday, which helped set the tone for Arizona.

Baylor entered allowing opponents to shoot 36.3% from three, so this game was not necessarily the best assessment for a Wildcats team we have seen struggle to knock down 3-pointers at times this season (Arizona averaged just 6.8 3-pointers per game entering Tuesday), but Arizona made seven alone in the first half.

Tommy Lloyd’s group played like the more physical team as well and looked much better defensively, holding Baylor to a 7 of 27 (25.9%) mark in the first half and just 1 of 11 (9.09%) from three.

A 17-4 run from Arizona saw the Wildcats take a 42-19 lead into the break, its largest halftime lead all season, while 19 points at the half was a season-low for Baylor. Arizona made six of its final seven shots to end the first half while Baylor made just one of its final nine.

Baylor guard Jeremy Roach picked up his third personal foul with 46 seconds left in the first half, which quite literally added insult to injury for the Bears. Coming out of the half, Roach later picked up his fourth foul with 16:59 left leaving Baylor even more depleted.

But the second half was a much different story for the depleted Bears. The Wildcats went cold and were held without a 3-pointer in the second half as the Bears clawed their way back into the game.

The Bears made four straight and 5 of 6 field goals to start the second half to keep it competitive. Baylor looked the much more aggressive team in the second half and Arizona was sloppy as the Bears turned to a 1-3-1 zone defense that caused the Wildcats to look sluggish.

Once trailing by 27, Baylor hit seven shots in a row to go on a 17-4 run to pull to within 10 with three minutes remaining.

Arizona managed to make most of its free throws down the stretch and key blocks from Carter Bryant and Caleb Love in the final two minutes helped Arizona hang on for the win but once again the Wildcats were unable to put together a complete performance.

And Love continued to struggle offensively as well. The 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year finished with eight points on 3 of 10 shooting.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday at noon MST at Texas Tech (12-4, 3-2).

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