What slow start? That's the question Arizona fans should be asking now as the Wildcats continued its winning streak Saturday night making it 6-straight wins with an impressive 88-80 victory over UCF.
After jumping up by 14 points, Arizona (10-5, 4-0 Big 12) saw its lead shrink to 55-52 with the Knights battling on the glass and getting second-chance points. But, from that point on, the Wildcats outscored UCF 33-30 down the final 13 minutes of the second half with an 8-0 run that gave UA breathing room.
Leading the offensive charge for Arizona was guard Caleb Love, who had a team-high 16 points while going 5 of 12 from the field. Love managed not only to have an impact in points, he also gathered eight rebounds and six assists in 35 minutes of action.
As a team, Arizona was able to be highly efficient shooting 47% from the field and 39% from the 3-point line. However, some turnovers down the final eight minutes of the game helped keep the score close.
Arizona finished the night with 14 turnovers that led to 18 points on the other end for UCF.
One reason why Arizona was able to hold on in this game was the play of guard Anthony Dell'Orso, who scored 15 points on 2 of 5 shooting. Dell'Orso was able to get to the line and go a perfect 9 of 9 from the charity stripe.
Not only did Arizona get points out of key starters, the Wildcats' bench stepped up yet again scoring 28 points with KJ Lewis, Henri Veesaar and Carter Bryant being the main contributors for the team.
The trio combined for all 28 points off the bench and shot 70% from the field.
Still, every time the Wildcats got out to a big double-digit lead, UCF was able to battle back and create chaos, which led to the 8-point margin.
The Knights where able to score 23 second-chance points off of 20 offensive rebounds. Those points led to UCF (11-4, 2-2) outscoring the Wildcats 36-32 in the paint.
Arizona has won 6-straight games and started 4-0 in the Big 12 but the Wildcats have room to grow and will need to improve when leading by double digits. UA has blow multiple large leads over the last several games but has managed to hold team off at the end.
Up next will be a test Tuesday night as Baylor (11-4, 3-1) comes to town with a tip off time set for 9 p.m. (MST) and will be televised on ESPN.
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