Arizona goes back to work tonight with the final game of the day in Maui. The Wildcats will face their toughest test of the season (again) with No. 3 Gonzaga on the other side of the floor after the Bulldogs beat Illinois last night.
There are certainly a lot of mismatches on the floor for Arizona, but the Bulldogs didn't look unbeatable in the win over Illinois. We'll see if the Wildcats can channel some of the energy from last night's win over Iowa State in this one and pull off the upset.
Follow along as I provide updates and join the conversation throughout tonight's game in Maui.
UA starters: Justin Coleman, Brandon Williams, Brandon Randolph, Ryan Luther, Chase Jeter
Gonzaga starters: Josh Perkins, Brandon Clarke, Rui Hachimura, Zach Norvell Jr., Corey Kispert
1st half
- Clarke gets a bucket at the rim and he's fouled by Jeter but misses the free throw; Williams gets Arizona on the board with a nice layup high off the backboard; Randolph with a steal and easy layup to give the Wildcats an early lead; Hachimura with a nice little floater in the lane; Hachimura gets the steal and another bucket for the Bulldogs to give Gonzaga the lead back; Justin Coleman with a 3-pointer to give UA the lead back as his hot streak continues to the first half tonight; Clarke gets his second bucket to give Gonzaga back the lead; Coleman with another 3-pointer; Filip Petrusev gets a shot to fall; Randolph with another steal and layup (pinned and called a goal tend) to give the Wildcats back the lead [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 12 Gonzaga 10 - 15:08]
- Perkins hits a layup out of the timeout; Coleman now with 8 points as he makes a jumper for the Wildcats; Perkins hits a 3-pointer to give Gonzaga back the lead as he has come out of the timeout playing well; Brandon Williams with a big 3-pointer to put Arizona back in front; Clarke now with 6 points as he gets another bucket for the Bulldogs; Norvell fouled and he hits one of two from the line; Williams hits a couple free throws to give Arizona back the lead; Hachimura with a baseline jumper to put Gonzaga back on top [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 20 Arizona 19 - 10:32]
- Williams makes a couple free throws out of the timeout; Perkins with a 3-pointer for Gonzaga; Coleman with a 3-pointer as Gonzaga remains in a zone defense daring the Wildcats to shoot; Jeremy Jones with a bucket to give the Bulldogs the lead back; Randolph with a big floater to tie it up [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 26 Gonzaga 26 - 8:00]
- Ira Lee with a couple free throws as the bench now has its first two points of the game out of the timeout; Lee fouled again and he hits one of two from the line; Clarke with a big dunk for the Bulldogs and he now leads the team with 9 points; Coleman fouled and he hits both free throws and he now has 13 points to lead the Wildcats. Randolph with a nice euro step layup to extend the lead to 5 points for the Wildcats who have all the momentum right now; Jeter gets an up-and-under bucket as Arizona extends its lead to 7 points forcing a Gonzaga timeout with UA on a 6-0 run over the last minute [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 35 Gonzaga 28 - 3:51]
- Hachimura makes one of two from the line for Gonzaga; Williams extends the lead back out for Arizona with a couple free throws and he now has 11 points; Coleman hits a couple free throws and Arizona has the lead up to double digits with under 3 minutes to go in the opening half; Norvell hits a couple free throws for Gonzaga to cut into the lead a bit; Jones hits a couple free throws for the Bulldogs; Akot fouled and he hits both free throws; More work from the free throw line as there are have been 25 fouls called in this game ... Petrusev makes both free throws for Gonzaga; Coleman now with 17 points after making both free throws after being fouled; Hachimura with 15-foot jumper from the elbow to cut the lead down to 6 points; Lee with a couple free throws to make it an 8-point lead for the Wildcats once again
Halftime: Arizona 45 Gonzaga 37
2nd half
- Coleman makes a couple free throws for the first points of the second half for UA; Coleman with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats as he now has 22 points to lead all scorers; Gonzaga with a nice run here to get back into it with a jumper from Hachimura and a steal and dunk from Norvell; Jeter gets fouled and makes one of two from the line; Kispert with a 3-pointer as Gonzaga has it down to a 7-point lead; Williams with a nice layup to push the lead back up; Clarke with a 3-pointer at the top of the key and the lead is back down to 6 points for Arizona [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 53 Gonzaga 47 - 15:08]
- Perkins with a pull-up jumper for Gonzaga to trim the lead down to 4 points now as Arizona remains in a scoring drought; Norvell hits a deep 3-pointer as the Bulldogs are on a 15-3 run forcing an Arizona timeout [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 53 Gonzaga 52 - 12:51]
- Jeter gets called for a personal foul and then a technical foul and he fouls out since he had three fouls; Norvell hits the two free throws on the technical; Norvell with a bucket and Gonzaga's lead is now up to 3 points after the terrible stretch for Arizona; Coleman with his fifth 3-pointer of the game and it's all tied up at 56; Hachimura gives Gonzaga the lead back with a couple free throws; Hachimura again with another jumper as he has 15 points and Gonzaga has a 4-point lead; Randolph with a tough layup off the glass to cut the lead down to 2 points as UA is closing in again; Coleman with another big 3-pointer for the Wildcats to give UA the lead back; Clarke gets a layup to give the lead back to Gonzaga; Norvell hits his second 3-pointer and the Gonzaga lead is back up to 4 points [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 65 Arizona 61 - 8:26]
- Williams hits two free throws after being fouled by Clarke to cut the Gonzaga lead down to 2 points; a dunk by Hachimura as he gets behind the UA defense; Randolph with a tough bucket and he gets it to roll in as Hachimura fouled him and he misses the and-one try; Hachimura again behind the defense and he gets another layup to extend the lead back to 4 points; Norvell with a follow after Coleman turns it over forcing Miller to take a timeout; Hachimura with a mid-range jumper for Gonzaga; Randolph gets into the lane and gets a bucket for the Wildcats; Perkins with a corner 3-pointer an the lead is up to 9 points for Gonzaga; Norvell with a 3-pointer as momentum completely gone in Gonzaga's direction now and a 25-point swing in the second half; Randolph with another bucket to make it a 10-point game [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 79 Arizona 69 - 3:30]
- Randolph hits the free throw from his and-one play before the timeout so it's back to single digits; Clarke with a jumper to push it back up to an 11-point lead for the Bulldogs; Lee with a bucket for the Wildcats; Perkins with his fourth 3-pointer of the game; Hachimura gets a goal-tending call to go his way plus the foul and free throw makes it a 13-point lead; Hachimura with a big dunk as this one is gettin further out of reach for UA; Perkins gets a leak out layup for the Bulldogs
Final: No. 3 Gonzaga 91 Arizona 74
There are certainly a lot of mismatches on the floor for Arizona, but the Bulldogs didn't look unbeatable in the win over Illinois. We'll see if the Wildcats can channel some of the energy from last night's win over Iowa State in this one and pull off the upset.
Follow along as I provide updates and join the conversation throughout tonight's game in Maui.
UA starters: Justin Coleman, Brandon Williams, Brandon Randolph, Ryan Luther, Chase Jeter
Gonzaga starters: Josh Perkins, Brandon Clarke, Rui Hachimura, Zach Norvell Jr., Corey Kispert
1st half
- Clarke gets a bucket at the rim and he's fouled by Jeter but misses the free throw; Williams gets Arizona on the board with a nice layup high off the backboard; Randolph with a steal and easy layup to give the Wildcats an early lead; Hachimura with a nice little floater in the lane; Hachimura gets the steal and another bucket for the Bulldogs to give Gonzaga the lead back; Justin Coleman with a 3-pointer to give UA the lead back as his hot streak continues to the first half tonight; Clarke gets his second bucket to give Gonzaga back the lead; Coleman with another 3-pointer; Filip Petrusev gets a shot to fall; Randolph with another steal and layup (pinned and called a goal tend) to give the Wildcats back the lead [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 12 Gonzaga 10 - 15:08]
- Perkins hits a layup out of the timeout; Coleman now with 8 points as he makes a jumper for the Wildcats; Perkins hits a 3-pointer to give Gonzaga back the lead as he has come out of the timeout playing well; Brandon Williams with a big 3-pointer to put Arizona back in front; Clarke now with 6 points as he gets another bucket for the Bulldogs; Norvell fouled and he hits one of two from the line; Williams hits a couple free throws to give Arizona back the lead; Hachimura with a baseline jumper to put Gonzaga back on top [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 20 Arizona 19 - 10:32]
- Williams makes a couple free throws out of the timeout; Perkins with a 3-pointer for Gonzaga; Coleman with a 3-pointer as Gonzaga remains in a zone defense daring the Wildcats to shoot; Jeremy Jones with a bucket to give the Bulldogs the lead back; Randolph with a big floater to tie it up [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 26 Gonzaga 26 - 8:00]
- Ira Lee with a couple free throws as the bench now has its first two points of the game out of the timeout; Lee fouled again and he hits one of two from the line; Clarke with a big dunk for the Bulldogs and he now leads the team with 9 points; Coleman fouled and he hits both free throws and he now has 13 points to lead the Wildcats. Randolph with a nice euro step layup to extend the lead to 5 points for the Wildcats who have all the momentum right now; Jeter gets an up-and-under bucket as Arizona extends its lead to 7 points forcing a Gonzaga timeout with UA on a 6-0 run over the last minute [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 35 Gonzaga 28 - 3:51]
- Hachimura makes one of two from the line for Gonzaga; Williams extends the lead back out for Arizona with a couple free throws and he now has 11 points; Coleman hits a couple free throws and Arizona has the lead up to double digits with under 3 minutes to go in the opening half; Norvell hits a couple free throws for Gonzaga to cut into the lead a bit; Jones hits a couple free throws for the Bulldogs; Akot fouled and he hits both free throws; More work from the free throw line as there are have been 25 fouls called in this game ... Petrusev makes both free throws for Gonzaga; Coleman now with 17 points after making both free throws after being fouled; Hachimura with 15-foot jumper from the elbow to cut the lead down to 6 points; Lee with a couple free throws to make it an 8-point lead for the Wildcats once again
Halftime: Arizona 45 Gonzaga 37
2nd half
- Coleman makes a couple free throws for the first points of the second half for UA; Coleman with a 3-pointer for the Wildcats as he now has 22 points to lead all scorers; Gonzaga with a nice run here to get back into it with a jumper from Hachimura and a steal and dunk from Norvell; Jeter gets fouled and makes one of two from the line; Kispert with a 3-pointer as Gonzaga has it down to a 7-point lead; Williams with a nice layup to push the lead back up; Clarke with a 3-pointer at the top of the key and the lead is back down to 6 points for Arizona [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 53 Gonzaga 47 - 15:08]
- Perkins with a pull-up jumper for Gonzaga to trim the lead down to 4 points now as Arizona remains in a scoring drought; Norvell hits a deep 3-pointer as the Bulldogs are on a 15-3 run forcing an Arizona timeout [SCORE UPDATE: Arizona 53 Gonzaga 52 - 12:51]
- Jeter gets called for a personal foul and then a technical foul and he fouls out since he had three fouls; Norvell hits the two free throws on the technical; Norvell with a bucket and Gonzaga's lead is now up to 3 points after the terrible stretch for Arizona; Coleman with his fifth 3-pointer of the game and it's all tied up at 56; Hachimura gives Gonzaga the lead back with a couple free throws; Hachimura again with another jumper as he has 15 points and Gonzaga has a 4-point lead; Randolph with a tough layup off the glass to cut the lead down to 2 points as UA is closing in again; Coleman with another big 3-pointer for the Wildcats to give UA the lead back; Clarke gets a layup to give the lead back to Gonzaga; Norvell hits his second 3-pointer and the Gonzaga lead is back up to 4 points [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 65 Arizona 61 - 8:26]
- Williams hits two free throws after being fouled by Clarke to cut the Gonzaga lead down to 2 points; a dunk by Hachimura as he gets behind the UA defense; Randolph with a tough bucket and he gets it to roll in as Hachimura fouled him and he misses the and-one try; Hachimura again behind the defense and he gets another layup to extend the lead back to 4 points; Norvell with a follow after Coleman turns it over forcing Miller to take a timeout; Hachimura with a mid-range jumper for Gonzaga; Randolph gets into the lane and gets a bucket for the Wildcats; Perkins with a corner 3-pointer an the lead is up to 9 points for Gonzaga; Norvell with a 3-pointer as momentum completely gone in Gonzaga's direction now and a 25-point swing in the second half; Randolph with another bucket to make it a 10-point game [SCORE UPDATE: Gonzaga 79 Arizona 69 - 3:30]
- Randolph hits the free throw from his and-one play before the timeout so it's back to single digits; Clarke with a jumper to push it back up to an 11-point lead for the Bulldogs; Lee with a bucket for the Wildcats; Perkins with his fourth 3-pointer of the game; Hachimura gets a goal-tending call to go his way plus the foul and free throw makes it a 13-point lead; Hachimura with a big dunk as this one is gettin further out of reach for UA; Perkins gets a leak out layup for the Bulldogs
Final: No. 3 Gonzaga 91 Arizona 74
