Revived Arizona Wildcats bounce West Virginia 75-56 to pull off two-game Big 12 road sweep

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Caleb Love’s shot came and went and, for a change, it really didn’t matter much for the Arizona Wildcats.

Not for a more balanced team that received a career-high 21 points from KJ Lewis, more plate-setting heroics from point guard Jaden Bradley and a monster dunk from Henri Veesaar, among other things, in a 75-56 win over West Virginia.

The win was Arizona’s fifth straight, moving the Wildcats to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 heading into a Saturday night game with UCF at McKale Center, and avenged their 83-76 overtime loss to the Mountaineers on Nov. 29 in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

“We needed that,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Our guys have been getting better ever since the Bahamas, just kind of figuring it out and, for me as a coach, it's been helping them figure it out.”

Sitting with Bradley and Lewis on West Virginia’s postgame interview podium, Lloyd said both “played amazing” while saying the Wildcats all did a good job of holding themselves accountable.

Together they bonded over a snowbound weekend in the Appalachians during endless games of UNO, aching to avenge their Nov. 29 loss, a game that exemplified the Wildcats’ early season struggles.

In that first matchup, West Virginia outrebounded UA 40-39 and hit 12 of 34 3-pointers. On Tuesday, the Wildcats outrebounded the Mountaineers 40-31, and held WVU to just 36.2% shooting.

“We definitely had that chip on our shoulder,” Lewis said. “We knew coming in from that game how gritty they were but we knew we were a different team. Credit the coaching staff… We understand a little bit more about spacing and we’re connecting a little bit more. This is a stepping stone into our full potential.”

Also, while West Virginia hit 12 of 34 3-pointers in the Bahamas, the Mountaineers made only 8 of 29 on Tuesday, though Lloyd jokingly warned media not to give the Wildcats too much credit there.

After all, West Virginia forward Tucker DeVries, who torched the Wildcats on Paradise Island with 8-for-12 3-point shooting, wasn’t playing Tuesday because of an unspecified injury. 

“The best thing we did in scouting was that the guy who hit eight 3s and got fouled on another didn’t play,” Lloyd said, smiling. “He’s a great player. … Obviously, they’re a more dangerous team with him in the lineup.”

Lewis said it also hurt the Wildcats the first time around that the Mountaineers, despite playing what was their third overtime game in as many days, also pulled down some key rebounds in the first matchup.

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“That was the emphasis going into this game, making sure we boxed out and got big-time rebounds when it mattered,” Lewis said. “We controlled the pace and controlled the paint ultimately.”

Arizona wound up scoring nine second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds and turning multiple defensive rebounds into buckets. One of those rebounds, by Bradley midway through the second half, turned into a 3-pointer from Lewis and gave UA a 62-47 lead.

Then Lewis stole the ball from West Virginia guard Javon Small on the Mountaineers’ next possession, and took it right into the basket for a layup. That completed an 11-0 run that all but buried the Mountaineers after they twice cut UA’s lead to just five points earlier in the second half.

Arizona also managed to keep things moving quickly even when they were scored on.

“We wanted to run tonight and we felt like that was something that was good for us in the Bahamas,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. “The part we didn’t want was them running. I think twice in the second half we scored a basket and they got a layup at the other end. That just can’t happen.”

But it did. The Wildcats used movement and balance to take a 39-28 halftime lead, with six Arizona players scoring five or more points before halftime. That allowed the Wildcats to thrive despite Love struggling offensively for the first 17 minutes of the game.

Love missed his first three shots and turned the ball over three times in the first 11 minutes before hitting a groove in the final three minutes of the first half. Love hit two free throws and made a breakaway layup that gave UA a 35-22 lead with 2:30 left before later hitting a 15-foot jumper from the left wing.

Love then shot just 1 of 4 from the field in the second half, but that's when Lewis and Bradley took off. Lewis scored 13 points after halftime on 5-for-8 shooting while also dishing three assists, while Bradley had nine second-half points plus three assists.

Love wound up playing 27 minutes while Veesaar and Lewis both played 26 off the bench. Bradley logged over 37 for the third straight game.

"Caleb obviously didn't have his best day and we felt like other guys were playing well," Lloyd said. "You put a lineup out there and if that lineup starts playing really well, you play that lineup a little longer."

After Arizona’s 11-0 run midway through the second half, the Mountaineers never threatened again, meaning the final minutes passed quickly on a night when the Wildcats were aching to get out of town.

Not only has UA been on the road since Jan. 2, but its charter flight home Tuesday night was moved from a nearby airport to Pittsburgh, meaning they faced a 90-minute bus ride and a four-hour flight, with an arrival expected at about 3 a.m. even after the two-hour time change.

“We really want to get home," Lloyd told the local media afterward. "You guys got a beautiful part of the country but we love Tucson, we love warm weather. We’re ready to get back to T-shirts and shorts.”