Arizona Basketball: Wildcats win at the buzzer on the road against the Beavers

Arizona Wildcats basketball won their third straight game with a 74-72 win on the road over the Oregon State Beavers.

Buzzer beater! It has been a while since the Arizona Wildcats won a game in the fashion they did against the Oregon State Beavers. Devonaire Doutrive grabbed the rebound off a miss fadeaway by Justin Coleman and put it back in with no time on the clock. Players went crazy, Wildcat fans went crazy and I went crazy! With everything this team has been through, great to see them fight as hard as they did to come out on top.

Heading into this matchup, the Wildcats were looking to continue their winning ways and win their third straight. Having Brandon Williams back in the lineup helped tremendously and was one of the main reasons they won. Williams didn’t start, but he did end up finishing with 10 points and knocked down a couple crucial three pointers that kept the Wildcats in this game.

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Wouldn’t be a Wildcat game without the referees doing what they do best, call foul after foul on this team. At one point late in the game, Ryan Luther, Ira Lee and Williams all ended up with four fouls. Luther would end up fouling out and so did Williams. Pac-12 refs simply don’t allow for any sort of contact. How in the world is this conference supposed to get any tougher or matchup against other conferences who allow physical contact? Makes absolutely no sense.

Besides foul trouble, Chase Jeter would get injured again, by the same player in the last matchup in McKale Center who injured him, Tres Tinkle. This time it was Jeter’s knee, but did attempt to come back out on the floor after putting a knee brace on but couldn’t any real pressure on it and had to come out. Also, Brandon Randolph got knocked in the mouth real hard and had a bruised lip. Williams as well got banged up a little bit and wasn’t a 100% in the 2nd half.

All that being said, this team dug deep and found a way. The Beavers were in control of the game for the most part and at one point had a 7 point lead early in the second half. The Wildcats though didn’t panic, played smart basketball, made some crucial shots, made their free throws, limited their turnovers and gave themselves a chance – a chance they took full advantage of!

The Wildcats dominated on the glass, with a 35-19 advantage. Doesn’t matter who you play, that type of assertiveness on the boards will win you games. The other category they dominated in was bench points, 29-9 – wow! Their field goal and three point shooting was efficient. Have to make shots to win games, that they did.  They shot 50% from the field, 47.1% from three and 80% from the free throw line.

Randolph, Coleman both had 10 points and each grabbed three rebounds. Randolph in the second half had some clutch mid-range jump shots that were nothing but net! Lee aka Lee Time, had another impressive performance. It seem as if he is really finding his stride right now. He finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds and some manly slam dunks. He also stepped up in a big way, late in the game, in the absence of Jeter (because of his injury) and Luther because he fouled out.

https://twitter.com/sciguyrosen/status/1101322243554963457

The player of the game though was of course Doutrive. Many believe he should being playing more minutes, myself included, but that being said he had one the best plays all season long for the Wildcats. He finished the game with 9 points and 5 rebounds and a buzzer beater winning rebound put back! Relive this exciting moment called by the voice of the Wildcats, Brian Jeffries:

https://twitter.com/AZATHLETICS/status/1101518562512912384

The Wildcats now improve to an overall record of 17-12, 8-8 in the Pac-12. They look to make it four in a row as they face the Oregon Ducks on the road Saturday night, at 8pm MST on ESPN2.

At Zona Zealots, we are extremely proud of this team and what they have been able to do in the face of adversity. No one believes this team is any good, no one believes this team has any chance in making March Madness – we do! Bear Down, Arizona!