Arizona holds off rally by No. 16 Cincinnati

Field Level Media|published: Sat 4th January, 17:48 2025

Jan 4, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) shoots against Cincinnati Bearcats forward Aziz Bandaogo (55) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 15 points as the visiting Wildcats withstood a furious second-half rally in a 72-67 upset of No. 16 Cincinnati on Saturday.

Bradley's layup with 43 seconds left gave Arizona a 66-64 lead. After Dan Skillings Jr. missed a corner 3-pointer for the Bearcats, Bradley was fouled and drilled two free throws that extended the Arizona lead to 68-64 with 24 seconds remaining.

Skillings had an offensive rebound and put back that tied the game at 64-64 with 58 ticks left.

Freshman Carter Bryant scored a career-high 14 points and senior Caleb Love tallied 12 points and six rebounds for Arizona (8-5, 2-0 Big 12), which has won four straight games.

Skillings scored a game-high 18 points and Dillon Mitchell had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Bearcats (10-3, 0-2).

Cincinnati came back from a 19-point second-half deficit with its defense. On consecutive Arizona possessions, the Bearcats forced steals and tallied fast-break jams from Arrinten Page and Mitchell as the Arizona lead was cut to 52-39.

Another Mitchell steal and fast break led to a lefty windmill dunk, and the Arizona lead was 58-47 with 8:38 left in the game.

It was more Bearcats defense one possession later as Aziz Bandaogo's emphatic rejection led to Mitchell's corner 3-pointer in transition. It was the first time Cincinnati had the Arizona advantage under double digits since it was 35-26 in the first half.

The visitors withstood the Bearcats' second-half run, and Bryant cut behind his defender for a thundering two-handed dunk and a 64-57 Arizona lead. But Jizzle James' jumper pulled Cincinnati back to 64-61 with just over three minutes left to play.

Bearcats coach Wes Miller called a timeout at the midway point of the first half to stem a 6-0 Arizona run that led to a 15-10 lead after an uncontested Bradley transition layup.

The home team answered with a 7-1 rally that was punctuated by Skillings' corner 3-pointer as the Bearcats took a 17-16 lead.

Love's corner 3-pointer put Arizona up 34-24 late in the first half. Arizona was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc in the first half as it held a 39-26 halftime lead.

The Wildcats lead grew to 52-33 when Love was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play with 13:39 left in the game.

--Field Level Media