The sixth-ranked Arizona Wildcats trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half against No. 19 Tennessee and couldn’t quite do enough to dig out of the hole, eventually losing 77-73.
These numbers explain how the Wildcats suffered their first loss of the 2021-22 basketball season:
0
The Vols were the more aggressive team early on, jumping out to a 16-2 lead and overwhelming Arizona in all phases of the game. While the Cats were able to climb back into the game, perhaps the most surprising stat of the uncharacteristic half was that four of UA’s five starters did not score a point.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 14 of Arizona’s 21 first-half points, with the rest of the support coming off the bench.
28
Arizona was whistled for 28 fouls compared to 18 by Tennessee. Mathurin, Kerr Kriisa and Christian Koloko all fouled out late in the second half.
With the game tied 62-62 and under five minutes to play, Kriisa was assessed a crucial technical foul prior to a Tennessee free throw. The tech gave Tennessee two additional shots, and the Vols went up 66-62 at 4:08 remaining.
21
Arizona scored just 21 points in the first half, its lowest output in any half this season.
28
One of the bright spots in the loss was the continued dominance of Mathurin, who scored a team-high 28 points on 8 of 16 shooting while going 9 of 11 from the foul line. The sophomore carried Arizona’s struggling offense with his scoring while also leading the team in rebounds (eight), assists (five) and steals (two).
In his last three road games, Mathurin has scored 87 total points.
6
UA forward Azuolas Tubelis scored a season-low six points and didn’t record his first basket until 2:01 remaining in the game. The Lithuanian big man picked up two early fouls and had four for the game; as a result, he was limited to just six minutes in the first half and seven minutes in the second half.
It marks the first time this year the sophomore has scored less than 10 points.
57%
Arizona was the better-shooting team in the second half, though its comeback attempt fell short. The Cats shot 19 of 33 (57%) and 7 of 15 (47%) from 3-point range. Tennessee was limited to 12 of 32 (37%) and 4 of 12 (33%) from 3-point range.
24
The Wildcats had no answer for 24-year-old senior John Fulkerson of Tennessee. The 6-foot-9-inch forward scored 24 points (three points shy of his career-high) on 8 of 12 shooting. He carried the Vols late, scoring 15 second-half points.
Prior to playing Arizona, the most Fulkerson had scored in a game this season was 14 points.
40, 16
Tennessee had the edge in both total rebounds (40) and offensive rebounds (16). Arizona had 38 and 10, respectively, but the Vols dominated the glass in the first half as it built its big lead.
UT outrebounded the Cats 24-15 during the first 20 minutes, 10 of which were offensive rebounds resulting in 9 second-chance points.
