Arizona held BYU without a field goal for seven minutes in the second half on Tuesday night, Arizona State did not score in the final 2:17 of the game and Iowa State missed its last four shots and did not score in the final 2:36. Defense has been the reason Arizona is closing out games with wins in 12 of their last 13 games.
During their seven-minute drought without a field goal, BYU missed nine straight shots. Arizona State missed its last three shots versus Arizona. The defense in the final two minutes versus Arizona State was critical after the Sun Devils made eight of their first 16 three-point attempts in the second half.
B.J. Freeman missed a three-point attempt with 46 seconds remaining in the game that could have cut the Arizona deficit to 79-75. Caleb Love and K.J. Lewis also had critical blocks down the stretch to secure the Arizona win. Arizona finished with nine blocks and eight steals compared to six combined for Arizona State.
Iowa State won the tip in overtime, Curtis Jones missed a three-point shot, Dishon Jackson got the offensive Rebound and Keshon Gilbert made a layup to give the Cyclones the lead. Arizona held Iowa State without a field goal in the remaining 4:28 of overtime after Gilbert gave the Cyclones the lead.
Lots of +’s @ArizonaMBB in their W at BYU. Cougars shoot 3-16 3’s in 2nd half and go 2-12 in the last 7 mins of the game (2-3 FT’s). AZ closes out the game 4-8 FG’s & 9-10 FT’s in that same 7 mins. Side note - AZ shoots 36-39 at the FT line in their 2 W’s on the road in Big12.
— Ryan Hansen 🦏 (@uaryno) February 5, 2025
During their 4-5 start this season Arizona struggled to close out games. Already trailing 99-87, Arizona missed its last eight shots, made one of their final 15 from the field and did not score in the last 2:56 in a 103-88 loss at Wisconsin in November. Wisconsin both of its free throws and was 1-2 from the floor in the final 2:56.
In the loss to Oklahoma at the Battle 4 Atlantis, Arizona held Oklahoma without a field goal in the last 2:55, but missed its last five shots in a 82-77 loss. West Virginia made all four of its shots from the field, both three-point attempts and seven of eight free throws in an 83-76 overtime win over Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game.
Arizona has thrived since inserting Anthony Dell'Orso into the starting lineup. K.J. Lewis now comes off the bench for Arizona despite being third on the Wildcats averaging 26.4 minutes per game. Lewis is Arizona's best perimeter defender. Henri Veesaar was exceptional in the second half versus Arizona State and BYU.
If Arizona continues to thrive down the stretch of games, they are going to be very difficult to beat the rest of the season. That begins defensively. Lewis and Veesaar have been a huge part of the rotation and providing Tommy Lloyd with defensive versatility off the bench. Expect that to continue for the remainder of the season.