Arizona defenseless in Palo Alto

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The 4th-ranked Wildcats were defenseless in Palo Alto today.

Stanford canned 16 3-pointers and hit the century mark with a 100-82 Pac-12 win over Arizona. The Wildcats looked tired and sluggish as they fell to 1-1 in the conference and 10-3 overall.

It all started two days earlier when Arizona allowed 55 second-half points despite a 100-81 win over California in the Pac-12 opener for both teams at Berkeley.

The carryover was painful to watch for Wildcat fans.

Stanford scored 44 points in the first half today, but the best was yet to come for the Cardinal as they continued to sizzle beyond the arc in the second half en route to a stunning victory over the Wildcats.

Caleb Love, who scored 22 points against the Golden Bears, led the Wildcats at Palo Alto today with 23 points, while Oumar Ballo ended up in double figures with 12. Arizona went to the bench and found some scoring -- 28 points in all -- with nine points from KJ Lewis, seven from Jaden Bradley, and eight from Paulius Murauskas.

Arizona now needs some love from its fans at McKale as the Wildcats return home for a battle with Colorado Thursday (Jan. 4) and Saturday (Jan. 6) against Utah.   

Beady, Livingston, Tolson, Daliege tie for most TOTS' hits in December

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Jon Beady, Randy Livingston, Tim Tolson, and Bob Daliege tied for the most hits in December with 12 as the members of the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) banged out 170 hits in 552 official at-bats at Udall Park for a club batting average for the month of .308.

Beady held the best batting average, going 12 for 20 in nine of the 10 games for a .600 batting average. Livingston went 12 for 21 (.571) in seven games, Tolson an even .500 (12 for 24) in eight games, and Daliege played in all ten games and went 12 for 29 and a .414 average.

Only one hit back at 11 were Reed Palmer (11 for 24, a .458 clip) and Dave Byars (11 for 30, a .367 average), while John Mathews went 10 for 18 in six games for a .556 average and tied for the most RBI with Beady at seven. Livingston led the club in runs scored with nine.

Palmer was the top performer on the mound with a 3-1 record, while Beady finished the month with a 2-2 record. Both pitchers tied for the most innings pitched with 27 apiece. Beady led the club in strikeouts with 23, and Palmer was next in line at 17.

The TOTS 56th season is now in the books. The TOTS year-end batting and pitching stats will follow in a later post.

Way to go, TOTS!

A defensive juggernaut: Arizona beats Oklahoma 38-24 at the Alamo Bowl

 Alamo Bowl

#14 Arizona 38  #12 Oklahoma 24

The Wildcats' defense gets it done, forces six turnovers...

Arizona came from behind to beat Oklahoma 38-24 at the Valero Alamo Bowl tonight in San Antonio to finish the 2023 season with seven straight wins and a 10-3 record.

Noah Fifita connected on 24 of 38 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns, with 10 of his passes falling in the hands of Tetairoa McMillan, who finished the night with 160 receiving yards.

But it was the swarming Arizona defense that turned the tide. With the Wildcats trailing 24-13 in the final minute of the third quarter, Gunner Maldonado picked up an Oklahoma fumble and rambled 87 yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats went for two, and Fifita shuffled free in the backfield and hit Montana Lemonious-Craig for a 2-point conversion to bring Arizona within three at 24-21.

Arizona would tie the game with a 37-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter, Jacob Cowing hauled in a 57-yard TD pass from Fifita with 5:28 left, and DJ Williams put the finishing touches on a wild come-from-behind win with a 19-yard run at the 2:56 mark.

All of the above were set up by defensive gems by the Wildcats as they ended the night with six takeaways -- three interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Arizona scored 28 points off the six Oklahoma turnovers.

Cowling, who caught a 35-TD pass from Fifita in the first quarter, finished with two touchdowns and 152 receiving yards.

Arizona scored the final 25 points of the game to secure its 10th win and the fourth 10-win season in the school's history.

Way to go, Wildcats! Great season!

The hardware heading home...

#14 FAU edges #4 Arizona in double-overtime, 96-95

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

...in Las Vegas

FIU  96  Arizona  95

The #4 Arizona Wildcats missed 52 shots from the field today at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

That'll help explain why Arizona lost to #14 Florida Atlantic, 96-95, in double overtime and fell to 9-2 on the season. Undoubtedly, Arizona will drop a few more spots in the rankings as the Wildcats' long and somewhat grueling non-conference schedule finally comes to a close.

And now it's on to Pac-12 Conference play.

In Las Vegas today, despite shooting 38.5 percent from the field (33 of 85)  -- including seven of 25 from long-range, Arizona managed a 37-31 lead over Florida Atlantic at the end of the first half and then found themselves deadlocked with the Owls at 73-all at the end of regulation.

The two teams played on. The Owls still had their sharpshooter, Johnell Davis, tossing in buckets, and the Wildcats had their main man, Caleb Love, on the court doing the same. With 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Davis banked in a layup to put the Owls up 84-82, but Love was fouled five seconds later and sank two free throws to send the game into a second overtime.

The Owls and the Wildcats traded baskets to begin the second OT, but with 2:47 remaining, Jalen Gaffney put Florida Atlantic up 93-88 with a 3-pointer, and it took a layin by Pelle Larsson to close the gap to 93-90 at the 2:20 mark. Tre Carroll made two free throws for the Owls at 2:05, Arizona's Kylan Boswell hit a long-range three-pointer as the clock ticked down to 1:53, and Love ended up back at the foul line, canning two more free throws to tie the game at 95-all.

With 57 seconds remaining, Larsson fouled Giancarlo Rosado, who made one of two free throws in what proved to be the game's final points. Love missed a layup with 45 seconds left and then a 3-pointer just off the mark at the buzzer.

Love finished the game with 26 points but was 8 for 25 from the field. Oumar Ballo had a career night in rebounds with 21 and scored 13 points. Larsson finished with 15 points, Boswell 12, and KJ Lewis scored 10.

Davis led everyone with 35 points. The Owls shot 50 percent from the field, canning 36 of 72 and 8 of 24 3-pointers.

   

Without a lot of Love: Arizona 87 Alabama 74

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona 87 Alabama 74

With Caleb Love sitting on the bench in foul trouble for most of the game, the 4th-ranked Arizona Wildcats (9-1) withstood a barrage of three-point attempts (8 of 40) from Alabama and came away with an 87-74 win over the Crimson Tide on Wednesday night in Phoenix at the Footprint Center.

Love scored most of his 13 points in the waning minutes of the game as Arizona turned to Pelle Larsson, who finished the night with 16 points, six rebounds, and two assists, while Oumar Ballo picked up a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. All five starters ended up in double figures, with Kylan Boswell netting 15 points and Keshad Johnson chipped in 11.

KJ Lewis came off the bench adding nine points, four rebounds, and two assists, while Jaden Bradley, the former Alabama guard, also got some productive minutes with four points, two rebounds, and two assists. Montiejus Krivas completed the Arizona scoring with three points and three rebounds.

#3 Boilermakers edge top-ranked Wildcats, 92-84, in Indy

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Purdue 92  Arizona  84 

From the desk of Wildcat fan Dan Price

It was as if the Purdue guards knew the results of their three-point attempts before they even shot them.

Nothing but net on 10 made 3s! Yes, the Boilermakers did miss 14 of 24 from long-range...and I mean long-range.

Still, the top-ranked Arizona Wildcats weathered the storm but, in the end, came up short today, 92-84 in Indianapolis.

Despite a 29-point effort from Caleb Love and another gritty performance from Keshad Johnson, who scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and came up with three steals, Purdue managed to hold off Arizona in the second half and went on to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season. 

Purdue managed six 3-pointers in the first half and held a 49-38 lead at intermission. Arizona clamped down on the Boilermakers in the second half, allowing just four long-range bombs, and closed the deficit to four points at 75-71 with 5:08 left.

The Wildcats could get no closer and fall to 8-1.

Will Arizona drop in the polls?

Probably, but not by much.

Next: Alabama on Wednesday in Phoenix and Florida Atlantic on Saturday (Dec. 23) in Las Vegas.

                                                                       

#23 Badgers no match for top-ranked Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona 98 Wisconsin 73

The Arizona Wildcats showed why they are ranked No. 1 in the country today at McKale Center as they badgered and mauled #23 Wisconsin en route to an easy 98-73 win behind a career-high 21 points from Pelle Larsson and a 20-point effort from Caleb Love.

Once again, all five Wildcat starters scored in double figures, with Oumar Ballo adding 15 points, three blocks, and eight rebounds, while  Keshad Johnson chipped in 11 points. Kylan Boswell finished with 10 points and nine assists as Arizona (8-0) was impressive from the get-go, connecting on 35 of 60 field goals (58.3 percent), including 12 for 26 from beyond the three-point line.

But it wasn't just offensively but defensively as well, as Arizona took it to the Badgers (7-3) early and went on a 25-8 run to end the first half, owing a commanding 48-31 lead, as the two teams headed for the locker rooms. The rout was on in the second half as the Wildcats built leads up to 30 points, and the starters quickly found a spot on the bench as the final minutes ticked away.

Arizona dished out 26 assists in the game, blocked six shots, had four steals, and turned the ball over just seven times. They ruled the boards 48-31 as Johnson led the way with nine rebounds.

With their No. 1 ranking safely tucked away for another week, they now prepare for a trip to Indianapolis next Saturday and a showdown with 4th-ranked Purdue (9-1), who knocked off Alabama today, 92-86. 

Way to go, Wildcats!

Arizona rolls over Colgate, 82-55

 Arizona Basketball

2nd ranked Arizona rolls over Colgate at McKale today

Wildcats expected to be No. 1 in the AP College Basketball Poll on Monday

The second-ranked Arizona Wildcats are expected to be number one in the AP College Basketball Poll on Monday morning after another easy 82-55 win over Colgate today at the McKale Center.

With Purdue (7-1) falling from the top spot Wednesday night with a loss to Northwestern (92-88), it was just a matter of forty minutes of ho-hum action today to bolt Arizona to the top spot as the Wildcats cleared the bench, so to speak, and waltzed to another lopsided victory to improve to 7-0.

Caleb Love led the Wildcats with 14 points, while Oumar Ballo contributed a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson added 10 points apiece as Arizona shook off a cold-shooting first half to put Colgate away in the second half.

Opocensky, Cuttler, Daliege shine for the TOTS in November

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Joe Opocensky, Gary Cuttler, and Bobby Daliege were the big stars for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers during the month of November.

Opocensky, 73, led the amateur baseball club in hits with 18 and a batting average of .500. He batted 36 times in 11 of the 13 games and was the top man in the RBI department with 10.

Daliege, 75, gave Opocensky a run for his money (of course, there is no money with the TOTS) and finished second in hits, going 16 for 33 and a .485 average.

Cuttler, the young man of the trio at 68, decided to toe the rubber in November. He logged 22 innings and posted a 2-2 record with the most strikeouts on the club at 16.

There was only one home run hit out of the ballpark at Udall Park, and that came off the bat of Jon Beady, 62. Beady, who played in just five games, made the most of his at-bats with eight hits in 13 official trips to the plate for a healthy .615 batting average. He finished second in RBI with nine. 

Also finishing with 10 hits or more for the month were Tim Tolson (12), while David Byars, John Mathews, Ken Nebesny, Mike Dawson, Pete Maldonado, and Sam Dean tied with 10 hits apiece.

As a club, the TOTS scattered 240 hits around the confines of Udall Park (including, of course, Beady's shot over the left field fence) and maintained a .322 team batting average.

Forty-five players saw action during the month, while 10 members took their shot on the mound and logged a total of 173 innings. There were two kiss-your-sister games with no winner or loser.

The TOTS are off and running in December, the club's final month of the 2023 season -- their 56th season as the organization continues to play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Udall, all 12 months of the year. Game time in the winter is 10 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. in the summer.

Today, December 1, the TOTS were rained out, but they hope to return to action on Monday.

Photos: (top to bottom) Opocensky, Cuttler, and Daliege.