Florida big man Patric Young was a force against Arizona, even when triple-teamed. Young had 25 points.Photo by Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
Coach Sean Miller on the loss:
“I’m proud of our team. We gave great effort in a very difficult place to play. When you have a chance to win and you don’t, it always hurts. But we did some really good things.”
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Senior forward Jesse Perry had a career-high 23 points, beating his previous best (at New Mexico State on Nov. 29) by eight points. As usual, he worked hard near the basket. What was unusual was that he also hit three 3-point shots, in five attempts.
The problem was that he battled cramps in the last several minutes of the game, which “really hurt us,” coach Sean Miller said. Miller conceded on his postgame radio show that Florida’s size and quickness wore down the Cats.
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A good effort from Arizona, playing the 12th-ranked team on the road, but the Cats can’t muster enough offense in overtime, losing 78-72 to Florida.
In a critical stretch, after UA cut the lead to 71-69, the Cats committed a turnover and missed shots on their next three possessions as the Gators extended the lead to 77-69.
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Not looking good, as Kevin Parrom can’t finish on a drive to the basket, and the Cats have to foul. Florida goes up 76-69 with 46.5 seconds left.
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Now, Nick Johnson fouls out with 1:23 to go in overtime.
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Solomon Hill fouls out with 2:02 to go as he reaches in after Florida steals a pass. Gators lead 71-69. Hill, the team’s leading scoring with 12.4 points per game, finishes with just five, although he did have those three free throws near the end of regulation.
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Why didn’t Jesse Perry shoot that jumper? Instead, he makes a last-minute decision to pass, which is stolen, resulting in two points for Florida.
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Florida misses a 3-point heave at the buzzer … and we have overtime, tied at 66.
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Cats catch a break when officials rule Solomon Hill was fouled in act of shooting with 3.9 seconds left. He makes the first … and second … and the third!
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Erving Walker’s two free throws make it 66-63 with 8.2 seconds left.
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Nick Johnson turns the ball over with 8.6 seconds left when he dribbles the ball off his right leg as he tried to drive along the right sideline.
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Florida keeps cleaning up the offensive glass and Patric Young grabs a 3-point miss and puts in a basket for a 64-63 lead with 14.2 seconds to go. Last chance for the Cats.
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Arizona takes a 63-62 lead with 36.2 seconds to go when Kevin Parrom converts a layup after an Arizona steal.
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Patric Young gives Florida a 62-61 lead with 2:06 left by hitting the front end of a one-and-one. He misses the second shot, but the Gators corral the rebound.
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Nick Johnson, who has had to play the point tonight, hasn’t done much scoring but contributed a key 18-footer to give Arizona a 61-59 lead with 3:18 left. That gave him only four points, but he has played with poise — especially for a freshman making his first start at point guard in a big-time game on the road.
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Looks like this one is going down to the wire. Arizona leads 59-57 with 4:53 to go. Can the Cats’ offense continue to function in the final five minutes? Florida is sure to turn up the defensive heat.
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Sean Miller has shortened the rotation to eight players tonight, with Josiah Turner suspended and Kyryl Natyazhko not being a factor. The increased minutes are going to lead to bigger stats — such as Jesse Perry’s 21 points. Not a harder work on the Wildcats team.
Arizona leads 57-50 with 7:31 to go.
Florida is 2 of 13 from the foul line.
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Arizona is on a 14-6 run since Solomon Hill left the game with four fouls.
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Kyle Fogg is on fire with 19 points, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. The balance on offense tonight has been impressive.
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No matter how much ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes critiques Jesse Perry’s jump shot (which is awkward-looking, at best), Perry has been accurate tonight, and his 3-pointer gives Arizona a 49-44 lead with about 12 minutes to go.
Florida comes back to make it 49-46 at the second media timeout of the half.
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Arizona small? That was Brendon Lavender trying to guard 6-10 Erik Murphy.
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Solomon Hill has to come out of the game with 14:27 left after he picks up his fourth foul. Florida is up 42-41.
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Kyle Fogg’s 3-point shot with 15:04 left ties the game at 41 and prompts Florida coach Billy Donovan to call timeout.
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The pace has picked up early in the second half, and Arizona hasn’t been able to convert on a couple of offensive rebounds, as Kevin Parrom and then Jesse Perry were stymied close to the basket.
Florida goes up 39-36 with 16:49 to go, but falls to 1 of 9 from the line.
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Coach Sean Miller was most concerned about Florida’s offensive rebounding — and with good reason, apparently. The Gators had 10 offensive boards in the first half.
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How about that? Arizona takes a 33-32 lead at halftime over 12th-ranked Florida as Kevin Parrom hits a running 8-footer at the buzzer. Parrom has 11 points, hitting 5 of 5 shots from the field.
Parrom’s previous season high was six points, set twice.
It has helped that Florida is 1 of 8 from the field, but it was an impressive half for Arizona, which looked more in sync offensively than it has all year. The Cats have been patient, mixing 3-pointers with nice cuts to the basket and a couple of clever drives.
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Seems like Florida has been in control, but Arizona is hanging around, down only 28-24 with 3:52 left and Kyle Fogg going to the line to try to complete a 3-point play after a nice spin move to the hoop.
The Cats had a chance to take a lead but Jesse Perry missed a jumper when UA was down 23-22. Arizona hasn’t let the pace of the game get wild, and Florida has taken some bad shots on offense.
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Kevin Parrom has looked good in an expanded role tonight that includes his first start of the season. He has seven points as UA trails 23-17 with 7:12 to play in the half.
Parrom scored on a strong post-up close to the hoop, a 3-pointer from straight-away and a a layup on a quick cut to the basket.
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Arizona is having trouble containing Florida big man Patric Young (6-9, 247), who has made 5 of 6 shots for 10 points halfway through the half. UA has only one guy with the bulk to battle Young — and that’s Kyryl Natyazhko, who checks into the game with 9:21 left.
Of course, Natyazhko doesn’t have the athleticism to hang in that matchup. So, UA has no good answers.
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Well, it had been a decent start for Arizona — especially by its standards of the past four games — but Florida buries two 3-pointers, including one from 6-10 center Erik Murphy, to take a 14-7 lead with 11:50 to go in the half.
It’s really hard to see Arizona having the firepower to compete in a game like this on the road.
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Jordin Mayes picks up his second foul with 13:28 to play in the first half. That’s the last thing Arizona needs with Josiah Turner sitting at home.
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Just jump-stop in the lane by Kyle Fogg to cut the deficit to 8-7. Florida didn’t make any 3-point shots in the first six minutes, but the Gators were busy making shots right around the basket.
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Florida is averaging 87.6 points per game behind a barrage of 3-point shooting. Coach Sean Miller’s defense is built to be tough against the 3-point shot because of on-ball pressure. Arizona is allowing opponents to hit only 29.6 percent from behind the arc, and that’s going to be a key battle tonight.
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Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne is with the Wildcats in Gainesville tonight, arriving from New York City, where he attended the College Football Hall of Fame inductions Tuesday night. Defensive lineman Rob Waldrop became the third former UA player to join the college Hall.
Byrne tweets that ex-UA golfer Jim Furyk is in the building to cheer on the Cats tonight.
PREGAME
I’m still working on some football stuff for the site, but let’s throw this open for Arizona’s game tonight against 12th-ranked Florida.
The Cats will be working without suspended point guard Josiah Turner … and coach Sean Miller hasn’t been thrilled with the work of sophomore Jordin Mayes at the point, so freshman combo guard Nick Johnson will get the start.
With Johnson moving to the starting point, that opens up a spot in the three-guard lineup, which will be filled by junior Kevin Parrom, making his first start of the season as he makes his way back from a Sept. 24 shooting.
As always in the game blog, we’ll keep updating this posts during the night, and you can have your say in the comments section.