After coming off of a 50-point win Wednesday night against Nebraska Omaha, Arizona’s confidence was back and focused on their game against No. 6 Gonzaga.
Despite an electric atmosphere at McKale Center and Arizona leading for a majority of the first half, the Wildcats (10-2) could not pull out a win eventually falling 84-80 to the Bulldogs in front of a sold out crowd.
Arizona came out strong and led by as many as nine points during the first half of the game until there was just over one minute remaining and Gonzaga took a one-point lead.
In the second half Gonzaga would lose the lead just one more time. The Bulldogs (11-1) went on a hot streak that ended with a 12-0 run over a four-minute stretch. Gonzaga extended its lead to as many as 16 points with 2:12 left in the second half.
Like it did in the loss to Baylor a couple weeks ago, Arizona came back in the last minutes of the game closing the gap to two just points with seconds left to play.
With just under two seconds left Gonzaga's Ryan Woolridge was put on the line for a pair of free throws that he made before Max Hazzard's heave from half court was missed sealing the Bulldogs' win.
"They don't beat themselves, and to beat them you have to be equal in not beating yourself," UA head coach Sean Miller said about Gonzaga. "Tonight we just didn't have enough shots go in to have a chance to beat them. We didn't.
"Again, I want to credit our guys. I thought we fought till the very, very end and that's easier to talk about than to do especially in a game like that."
Josh Green, who finished with a team-high 17 points, was happy with how much effort his team played with down the stretch in Saturday's loss.
“If we take anything out of the game, at the end of the game we didn't give up at all," the freshman guard said. "... It showed how hungry our team is. Obviously we didn't come out on top, but at least we came out fighting."
Arizona shot just 38% from the field (30-78) as a team and 27% (8-30) from 3-point range in the loss. Green was one of four UA players to finish in double figures. Zeke Nnaji had 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, while Dylan Smith and Chase Jeter both had 10 points.
Point guard Nico Mannion led with ten assists, but he struggled from the floor finishing his night by making just three of his 20 shot attempts in the game.
At the press conference after the game Wednesday, Miller stressed that in order for the 'Cats to compete Saturday the team needed to focus on rebounds. Arizona was able to win the rebounding battle 44-43, and it had just six turnovers in the game. Most days that will lead to a victory for Miller's team.
"You look at the box score and it looks like an even game, but they were a 10 to 15-point better team than us tonight for sure," he said.
Sean Miller said Arizona's goal is to finish 11-2 before going home for Christmas. The Wildcats' attention is now turning to their next game next Saturday (Dec. 21) when they face St. John's in San Francisco on a neutral court.
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