Arizona Basketball uses late, second half surge in victory

TUCSON, AZ – Fresh off a big win over Illinois, No. 8 Arizona Basketball (10-0, 1-0), returned to action on Wednesday, coming away with the 101-76 victory. 

No. 8 Arizona Basketball has been playing well to start the year as they have seldom been tested in a few of their big victories. However, on Wednesday the Cats needed a late second-half surge to come away with the 101-76 victory.

From the start, things were a bit back and forth for the Cats. Despite jumping out to a 10-5 lead early on, Northern Colorado would keep things close for much of the first half, pulling ahead 20-17 and again 23-22 before the Cats’ high-potent offense came to life.

Responding with a 10-0 run, Arizona would jump out in front 32-23 with 7:24 to play, but unfortunately with every Arizona run, Northern Colorado had an answer, staying with the Wildcats throughout the first half.

Ending the half by outscoring the Bears 30-29, Arizona Basketball went into halftime with just a 52-42 advantage.

Needing a big second half, Arizona would find themselves in a battle for much of the second half, especially as Northern Colorado pulled within four at 71-67 with 11:10 to play after Matt Johnson’s made three-pointer.

Luckily, the Wildcats would finally catch fire late in the second half as they would use a 24-7 run over the next eight minutes of play to pull ahead 95-74.

Arizona would then go on another mini-run, outscoring the Bears 6-2 to close things out, giving the Wildcats the 101-76 victory to keep them perfect.

So where does Arizona Basketball go from here?

Following their win, the Wildcats will now have a short break before they return to action on Saturday to take on Cap Baptist at home.

That game should be one final tune-up before the Cats then have to travel to Knoxville to take on No. 18 Tennessee next week.

Listen to head coach Tommy Lloyd following the teams’ victory over Northern Colorado!