Arizona's defense on Iowa State leading scorer lost amidst Caleb Love's heroics

Arizona's defense on Iowa State leading scorer lost amidst Caleb Love's heroics

Arizona held Iowa State leading scorer Curtis Jones to 1-11 from the field, 0-8 on three-point attempts and eight points in 41 minutes during an 86-75 overtime win on Monday night. The defense Arizona played on Jones was lost amidst the miracle three-point shot by Caleb Love that forced the overtime for Arizona.

The only points Jones scored from the field came with 9:52 remaining in the second half to tie the score at 55. Jones was 0-6 from the floor and 0-4 on three-point attempts in the first half while scoring two points on 2-4 from the free throw line with four rebounds and two assists.

In the second half, Jones was 1-3 from the floor, 0-2 on free throws, 2-2 from the free throw line, scoring four points, while adding one rebound and was called for three personal fouls while committing one turnover. Jones was 0-2 from the floor, 2-2 from the free throw line for two points with two turnovers in overtime.

Including the Arizona game, Jones is averaging 18.1 points per game, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 45.2 percent from the field, 38.0 percent on three-point shots and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. Jones finished with five rebounds, two assists, four fouls and three turnovers versus Arizona.

""I knew coming into the game that they...gave me the task of guarding him and I already knew was I was going to be defensive minded and you know that was..my goal to...take him out the game...KJ (Lewis) helped me as well my other teammates. (We) made it tough on him...he's a good player but..we definitely shut him out for sure.""

Caleb Love on Iowa State G Curtis Jones

In the game before Arizona, Jones scored "33 points, 5 threes (including some deep ones!), 7 rebounds, & 3 steals for Curtis Jones yesterday in Iowa State’s win over Arizona State" as stated by 247Sports' Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein. The elite defense Arizona played on Jones cannot be overstated.

While the exhilarating win over Iowa State will be remembered in Arizona history for the miracle shot by Love to force overtime, the defense Love and his teammates played on Jones had as much if not more to do with the win. While Love made clutch shots, Jones went cold and Iowa State faltered in the overtime.