No. 4 Arizona Basketball starts hot, hangs on to beat Washington

TUCSON, AZ - Following its tough loss to No. 21 Washington State, No. 4 Arizona Basketball (21-6, 12-4) hung tough to beat Washington (15-13, 7-10) by 91-75 final.

Returning to action following its loss to No. 21 Washington State on Thursday evening, No. 4 Arizona Basketball welcomed Washington to town as the Wildcats looked to get back on track.

And despite a bit of a rough second half, Arizona used a monstrous first half that helped pace the Wildcats to the comfortable, 91-75 win over the Huskies.

Largely fueled by Caleb Loves' 28 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, it was a big day for the senior grad transfer, as Love scored his 2,000th career point.

However, it was truly a complete team effort in this one as the Wildcats saw four of five starters finish in double-figures.

Pelle Larsson, Keshad Johnson, and Oumar Ballo all had big days, scoring 17, 16, and 14 points respectively, meanwhile, Ballo logged his seventh straight double-double.

Arizona's bench was a bit quieter in this one, scoring just a paltry, seven points against the Huskies.

Despite leading 52-35 at halftime, No. 4 Arizona Basketball was a bit sluggish in the second half, hanging on to win by 16 points.

Looking hot to start this one, Arizona jumped out to a commanding, 27-11 lead after the first seven-plus minutes of game action.

Weathering Washington's short spurts of offensive output, Arizona was able to continue to assert its dominance in the first half, eventually pushing its lead to 21 after a second-chance layup from Love made it 42-21 with 6:23 to play.

Unfortunately, after a few defensive lapses by the Wildcats, Washington responded with a 10-0 run to make it 42-31 with 4:10 to play.

Luckily, Arizona closed out the half on a 10-4 run as Larsson connected on a three to make it 52-35 at the break.

Looking to maintain its momentum, Arizona would open the second half on a 9-3 run when another second-chance layup from Love made it 61-38 with 16:55 to go.

But unfortunately, the defensive lapses would come back to haunt the Cats once again as Washington answered with a 22-8 run to pull within nine with 9:21 remaining.

Locking back in, Arizona would regain control of this one, eventually closing out the game by outscoring Washington 22-15 to come away with the 91-75 win!

With the win, the Wildcats now improve to 21-6 (12-4) on the season and will have a big week coming up as they travel to Tempe to face ASU on Wednesday, followed by a showdown with Oregon at home next weekend. Tip-off against the Sun Devils on Wednesday is set for 8:00 PM MST with the game being broadcast on Pac-12 Network. 

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