No. 24 Arizona men’s basketball can’t capitalize on comeback vs. West Virginia, falls below .500

No. 24 Arizona men’s basketball fought its way back but fell short in overtime, losing 83-76 to West Virginia in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game on Friday.

It was the Wildcats’ second loss in a row, making them 1-2 in the tournament and 3-4 overall as they head back to Tucson. It’s the first time the Wildcats are below .500 since Feb. 25, 2010.

But they didn’t go down without a fight.

The Mountaineers had a 10-point lead midway through the second half, but the Wildcats were slowly clawing their way back before West Virginia’s Toby Okani sunk a three-pointer with around two minutes left in the game, and that seemed like the dagger. It was not.

Arizona’s Trey Townsend converted a layup with 47 seconds left, and a crucial block by KJ Lewis led to a fast-break three-pointer by Caleb Love with 14 seconds left in the half.

TIE GAME! pic.twitter.com/ZpmjsruNja

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 29, 2024

The game ultimately went to overtime, but the Mountaineers—who were playing in their third consecutive overtime game—came out strong, taking a five-point lead thanks to a Tucker DeVries 3-pointer, his eighth of the game. And that was the deficit Arizona couldn’t come back from.

DeVries, the son of Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries, stole the spotlight, scoring 26 points amid his eight 3s. Okani scored 20 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and 3-for-5 from deep.

Love had 24 points and was 4-for-12 from beyond the arc. Townsend had 19 points alongside four rebounds and two assists.

Overall, Arizona shot 45.3% and 33.3% from deep. The Wildcats also committed 14 turnovers.

Arizona next hosts Southern Utah on Dec. 7 before taking on UCLA at Footprint Center on Dec. 14.