Arizona rallies from huge deficit but loses at Wisconsin

Arizona fell behind 49-31 in the first half, rallied to tie the game at 65 after halftime and lost 103-88 to Wisconsin on Friday night. John Tonje led Wisconsin with 41 points which is the second most in program history. The game was called extremely close with 87 free throws shot and 63 fouls called.

Wisconsin scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed. The Badgers shot 48.1 percent from the floor made 12-27 three-point attempts and 41-47 from the free throw line. Arizona took 74 shots to 52 for Wisconsin and had a 52-28 rebounding advantage.

Arizona shot 37.8 percent from the floor, made 4-23 field goals and 28-40 from the free throw line. Wisconsin won the game with free throws and three-point shooting efficiency. Jaden Bradley finished with 22 points to lead Arizona. Trey Townsend had 17 points and K.J. Lewis had 15 as the three Wildcats in double-figures.

Caleb Love was called for an early technical foul and finished with six points on 2-13 from the floor, 0-6 three-point attempts and fouled out. Tobe Awaka finished with nine points and led everyone with 13 rebounds before he fouled out. Nine Wildcats played double-figure minutes.

Other than the last five minutes of the first half and first six of the second half Wisconsin controlled the game. Arizona had a 34-16 run in those 11 minutes. Wisconsin outscored Arizona 87-54 in the other 29 minutes. The Wildcats seemed to be fighting uphill all night.

Arizona has a week to prepare for hosting Duke next Friday. The defense has to tighten up. While the free attempts were exhortation, Wisconsin's numbers from the floor were completely unacceptable. Duke will challenge Arizona with a far more talented roster than Wisconsin has. Battle 4 Atlantis followed the Duke game in two weeks.