Caleb Love fouls out, No. 9 Arizona men’s basketball snuffed out by Wisconsin
Nov 15, 2024, 9:43 PM
Caleb Love #1 of the Arizona Wildcats goes up for a shot on Steven Crowl #22 of the Wisconsin Badgers in the first half of the game at Kohl Center on Nov. 15, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Arizona men’s basketball fell at Wisconsin on Friday, 103-88, as the Badgers completely outplayed the Wildcats under a heavy smattering of whistles.
A total of 63 fouls were called, and the teams shot a combined 87 free throws. Both were in the bonus with more than 13 minutes remaining in the first half, and they were both in the double-bonus with about seven minutes left in the game as well.
Caleb Love may have invited the tight whistle with a needless technical foul less than five minutes in, shoving a Wisconsin player after overswinging on a block attempt which drew a foul.
It led to seven Wisconsin points before Arizona could even get the possession back. He would stay anchored to the bench for about seven first-half minutes with foul trouble.
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He would foul out of the game on a charging call with about five minutes left, putting an end to his 2 of 13 shooting night, the fourth-worst shooting night of his career. Big man Tobe Awaka also fouled out.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin guard John Tonje took advantage of the officiating by posting a career-high 41 points while hitting 21 of his 22 free throws. His previous career high was 31.
Wisconsin also outshot Arizona from deep with three times as many makes on only four more attempts (12 of 27 for the Badgers, 4 of 23 for the Wildcats).
With just over 14 minutes remaining, KJ Lewis had a layup to tie the game at 65. From there, though, the Badgers stayed hot to win 38-23 the rest of the way.
Jaden Bradley led the Wildcats with 22 points, however he missed 6 of 13 free throws and had four turnovers without an assist.
Early in the second half, Arizona forward Trey Townsend went down with an apparent leg injury and left for the locker room after he had scored five points in four minutes. He returned to the game shortly after, adding five more points to his second-half total.
The Wisconsin students stormed the court when the final buzzer sounded.
The Wildcats (2-1) have seven days before a home matchup against No. 6 Duke (2-1) on Nov. 22 at 8:30 p.m. MST. The Wildcats got the better of the Blue Devils in the Durham matchup of the home-and-home series last year.
