Eddy Meola
Arizona finally closed out a tight game, and the Wildcats grabbed an upset victory on the road by beating California 78-74. Kyle Fogg led Arizona with 23 points and also dished out four assists. Jesse Perry scored 18 points and Nick Johnson added 11 points, five assists, and one very important block.
The Wildcats overcame a lot of adversity to get the win. First, they came back from an early 13-point deficit. Second, they responded when losing the momentum after blowing a 14-point second half lead. Third, they closed out the final minute strong, despite losing Solomon Hill to fouls.
Right down to the final minute, however, the feel-good victory came perilously close to slipping away. Arizona had an 11-point lead with nine minutes left, but then proceeded to self-destruct down the stretch. It was a familiar script, one of which was a microcosm of the entire season. Turnovers, poor free throw shooting, and a stagnant offense plagued the Wildcats in the final minutes—yet again.
But then, something new and welcome happened: the Wildcats rose up and closed out the game. Fogg hit a clutch three from the corner, Perry made a contested jumper in the lane, and Johnson made a key block to prevent a Golden Bear lay-up. After that series of events, the Wildcats clung to a three-point lead—and the ball—with 10 seconds left. An inevitable California foul followed. As the Wildcat nation held its collective breath, Perry—who was 3/7 from the “charity” stripe—stepped to the line and knocked a clutch free throw.
Perry missed the second free throw attempt, but the Golden Bears were done. The Wildcats did not commit any careless fouls, so California could not muster any kind of miraculous four-point play. The buzzer sounded, the Arizona bench rejoiced, and the Wildcats had a close, hard-fought victory. It was the first win in five tries for Arizona in games decided by five points or less.
Earlier in the half, after Arizona took a 54-40 lead, California staged an impressive comeback. Josiah Turner left the game after picking up his third and fourth fouls, and the Wildcats completely fell apart. The Golden Bears converted a trio of three-point-plays—the last of which gave Hill his fourth personal foul—on consecutive possessions. Meanwhile Arizona turned the ball over repeatedly.
Sean Miller responded by sending Turner back into the game with 14 minutes left in the game. Turner brought stability for the next eight minutes, but California ultimately staged another comeback to tie the game late, setting up the dramatic finish.
In the first half, Arizona kept pace with California for about three minutes. After Perry made a lay-up to tie the game at six with 16:45 left, Arizona’s offense disappeared for a seven-minute stretch. The Wildcats made just one of their first eight free throws as the Golden Bears went on a 16-3 run to take a 22-9 lead. The only basket Arizona made during the stretch—a three-pointer by Fogg—was a horribly over-shot attempt that took a fortuitous bounce off the backboard and dropped through the hoop.
Arizona finally sprung to life and went on a 13-2 run to pull within 24-22. Fogg made a three-pointer and a long jumper during the scoring binge, and Hill punctuated the spurt with a steal and a dunk the other way. The Wildcats were able to keep the momentum going, and ultimately took a 33-28 lead. Fogg spurred the comeback with big play after big play. First, he came off a screen to hit a long catch-and-shoot jumper. Next, on subsequent plays, Fogg hit a three-pointer and then stole the ball and fed Mayes for a lay-up. A chant of “U of A! U of A!” was clearly audible from the visiting Wildcat fans.
Fogg’s teammates eventually got involved. After baskets by Turner and Mayes, Johnson hit a three-pointer with two minutes left to push Arizona’s lead to double-digits at 42-32. Later, with just three tenths of a second left on the clock, California was whistled for a blocking foul. Mayes swished two free throws to give the Wildcats a 45-34 halftime lead. Both teams left the floor to a chorus of boos from the Berkley crowd.
Fogg led Arizona at the half with 13 points. Johnson scored nine, while Perry and Mayes added six apiece. If not for their slow start and terrible free throw shooting, the Wildcats would have enjoyed a thoroughly dominant first half.
At halftime, Sean Miller said, “I don’t know what the crowd is booing about… if the referees call the game the same way, which is very good, (in the second half) then we will win the game.”
After the game, Miller commented on how the pressure was lower in a contest where Arizona was the clear underdog. He said, “I think there is a difference in playing in a game where you are the favorite…versus playing a game you’re not supposed to win, on the road, in a hostile environment.”
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