UConn came out playing with the fire and passion that has often been missing this season.
And the Huskies showed, when doing so, they can compete with just about any team out there.
But if the huge crowd — 14,392 at the McKale Center — brought out the best in the Huskies, it wasn’t quite enough to knock off Arizona. In the game until the final minutes, UConn’s penchant for offensive mistakes was costly in a 73-58 loss to the No. 18 Wildcats Thursday night.
“I was proud of our fight and the way we competed,” coach Kevin Ollie said, “but it’s not a 35-minute game. It’s a 40-minute game. Those last five minutes, we stopped playing the way were playing, with poise and playing defense. That score is not indicative of the way we played.”
UConn (7-4) never led, but fought back from eight points back to tie the score in both the first and second half. Shooting over 50 percent for most of the second half, and outrebounding their much larger opponent, they were within two points with 6:01 to go.
But Arizona came up with an offensive rebound, and kicked it out to Parker Jackson-Cartwright, who hit a 3-pointer, and the Wildcats never looked back, outscoring UConn 16-3 the rest of the way.
“I just hope guys keep their heads up,” said Terry Larrier, who led the Huskies with 18 points. “We can compete with anybody. We showed that out in Portland against Michigan State and we showed it here tonight. We just have to continue to build.”
A series of turnovers — the Huskies had 18 — and Arizona’s hot perimeter shooting down the stretch made the difference. Jalen Adams scored 13 and Christian Vital 11 for the Huskies.
“I thought we were in great shape,” Vital said. “Give them credit, they defended their home court, but I thought we were in great shape. … We had a little bit of a team meeting, let ourselves know who we are and what we can do. We didn’t show that to the fullest extent because we lost, but I think people are going to see after this game that we’re back to ourselves and we’re going to play hard and for each other.”
UConn flew to Alabama following the game, to play at Auburn on Saturday.
Rawle Alkins scored 20; Dusan Ristic 18, with 10 rebounds; and Allonzo Trier 15 for Arizona (10-3), which has won seven in a row and 47 in a row against nonconference opponents at home. The Wildcats made 7 of 10 on 3-point shots in the second half.
It was an ugly first half, the kind UConn has produced many times this season. But the Huskies were tenacious on defense and on the boards, and helped make it an ugly half for Arizona, too.
UConn got an edge when Deandre Ayton picked up two fouls and was limited to seven minutes, and was able to stay in the game.
Ayton (nine points, seven rebounds) banked a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats build a 10-2 lead in the early going, but the Huskies began prompting turnovers and worked their way back in. Antwoine Anderson hit a 3-pointer to make it close, and Adams hit two from the line to tie the game, 11-11, with 11:22 left in the half.
Ristic, Arizona’s other 7-footer, began to assert himself inside with a couple of jump-hooks, as Arizona regained the lead and eventually restored it to eight points.
The Huskies finished the half with 11 turnovers, and Ristic’s jumper gave the Wildcats a 30-23 lead at the break.
Larrier started the second half with a fallaway, and, following a turnover, Vital hit a 3-pointer to pull the Huskies within a basket again, 30-28. After a stop, and some pretty ball movement, Larrier scored to tie it with 17:20 left.
Then, at last, the game began to open up. Jackson-Cartwright and Allonzo Trier hit 3-pointers in transition on back-to-back possessions, the Huskies responding with layups.
UConn missed a chance to take the lead when Vital missed a layup with 7:11 left, and Alkins hit a 3-pointer at the other end. The Huskies just couldn’t get over the hump.
Then, finally, it began to break down for the Huskies. Alkins hit another 3, and after a traveling call on Eric Cobb, Trier hit a deep 3 and Alkins scored next time down the floor to give Arizona a 10-point lead with less than 3 minutes left.
UConn had a 33-to-29 edge in rebounds, but were called for 19 fouls to Arizona’s 13. And the turnovers.
“We've got to take care of the ball,” Ollie said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board on that. We can’t let down our guard. We’ve got to capitalize when we’ve got them where we want them.”
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