Pushed around in Pullman, No. 8 Arizona Basketball falls to Wazzu

PULLMAN, WA - Despite having a week off to prepare, No. 8 Arizona Basketball (12-4, 3-2) was pushed around in Pullman, falling to Washington State (12-5, 3-3), 73-70.

Looking to continue its winning ways after throttling Colorado and Utah, No. 8 Arizona Basketball would have a bit of a tough test against a competitive Washington State team.

Unfortunately, despite having a week to prepare, the Wildcats once again looked apathetic and indifferent on the road, falling to the host Cougars by a 73-70 final.

Shooting an abysmal 25-72 (34.7 percent) from the field, including 7-24 (29.2 percent) from three, the Wildcats couldn't get anything going yesterday.

Caleb Love would score a game-high 28 points on 10-25 shooting but unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough in this one as Arizona fell in heartbreaking fashion.

Trailing by four at the half, the second half didn't look much better for No. 8 Arizona Basketball in the Wildcats' loss.

Taking its show on the road, where Arizona has not been great this season, posting just a 2-2 record, the Wildcats would travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on a competitive and upset-minded Washington State team.

And from the start, the Wildcats came out flat! Despite leading 3-0 early, Washington State would pull ahead 8-7 and never seemingly look back in the first half.

Arizona would tie the game a few times in the first half, but it was the Cougars who would ultimately be able to assert itself, taking control of the first half.

To make matters worse, the Wildcats were unable to find any offense rhythm, struggling to make buckets and find any consistency.

The offensive woes would regrettably continue, especially as Wazzu pushed its lead to as many as eight after a made layup by Isaac Jones made it 31-23 with 4:17 left to play. Jones would finish his day with 24 points.

Luckily, Arizona would start to show some life, finishing the half on a 7-3 run as they trailed 34-30 at the break.

Unfortunately, that momentum would ultimately be for naught, as Washington State opened the second half by outscoring Arizona 10-4 to push its lead to 10 with 16:41 to play.

Moments later, the Cougars would extend its lead to 11 after Jones made an uncontested dunk to make it 46-35, Wazzu.

Finally, the defense and offense would respond for Arizona, answering with a 22-9 run to regain the lead at 57-55 after a made three-pointer from Love.

But right on cue, the defensive lapses returned, allowing Washington State to regain the lead at 62-59, never looking back as they closed the game by outscoring Arizona 18-13 to win by a 73-70 final.

With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 12-4 (3-2) on the year and will resume conference basketball action on Wednesday when they welcome USC to town, followed by UCLA on Saturday.

Tip-off on Wednesday against the Trojans is set for 8:00 PM MST and will be broadcast on ESPN. Hopefully, the Wildcats show a better effort this week!

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