It was an ugly start to the game for No. 24 Arizona (20-11, 14-6 Big 12) as it fell behind by 14 points against Kansas on the road in one of the toughest home-court advantages in all of college hoops. Although the Wildcats battled back and led with five minutes to go in the second half, KU was too much for UA as it fell 83-76 to end the regular season.
Part of the offensive issues in the first half was that the Wildcats managed to only get one assists to its sixth turnovers. That number evened out as UA finished with 10 assists and just eight turnovers.
However, Kansas was dishing out pass all-game-long and finished with 22 assists on its 33 made shots.
Kansas bigman Hunter Dickerson had his way with the Wildcats' defense scoring a game-high 33 points on 15 of 23 shooting from the field. Not only was Dickerson a forces in the paint with his scoring, he managed to record a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Its one of the rare cases this season where the Wildcats lost in the paint 40 to 34 and 36-30 on the boards. Arizona has been one of the better low-post teams in the country but against the size of KU, UA struggled throughout periods of the game.
On the offensive side of the court for Arizona, point guard Jaden Bradley finished with a team-high 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the field and collected three rebounds and two assists.
Although Arizona's starting frontcourt struggled to find its footing, backup forward Trey Townsend was a spark off the bench, scoring 13 points and collecting seven rebounds. Townsend was a threat from the 3-point line going 3 of 4 against the Jayhawks.
In all, a slow start and poor ball movement was the key to the Wildcats' demise and put them in a 14-point hole to dig themselves out of. Plus, the size and skill of Dickerson overwhelmed the frontcourt of UA leading to quick points when Kansas needed them most.
Now, Arizona is locked into the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Big 12 Tournament. This means the Wildcats will have an extra two days off and will await to see who they play come Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. (MST) game against the winner of the eighth game of the tournament.
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