The Arizona Wildcats overcame their first halftime deficit of the season to continue their undefeated season with a 96-75 win over Alabama in Birmingham.
After their dismantling of No. 12 Alabama, the No. 1 Wildcats (9-0) now have five wins over top-20 teams and are the only team in AP Poll history to notch five wins over ranked teams in their first nine games to begin a season.
Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona improved to 26-13 (.667) against Top 25 opponents, equaling UConn for the best winning percentage in the country.
How did Arizona make its comeback against Alabama?
Trailing 41-39 at the half, Arizona outscored Alabama 57-34 in the second half as the Wildcats dominated the offensive glass and held the Crimson Tide in check from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats went on a key 14-2 run early in the second half to take a then-18 point lead.
The run saw Arizona turn defense into offense as Lloyd’s team took advantage of scoring 18 points off nine Alabama turnovers in the second half.
Arizona went on its second-half run without Jaden Bradley and Koa Peat as both battled foul trouble. Peat picked up his third foul with 17:12 left and took a seat, and Bradley was charged with his third fewer than 20 seconds later.
Peat finished with a season-low five points in a season-low 20 minutes, and Bradley had 14 points in his homecoming game.
Stepping up in place of Peat and Bradley was Brayden Burries and Motiejus Krivas. Burries, another five-star freshman, scored a career-high 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting.
Burries struggled to begin the season, scoring just 39 points over the first five games, but he’s since scored 79 over his past four games.
Krivas notched his first career double-double in his 53rd game in a Wildcats uniform. The junior from Lithuania finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Nine of Krivas’ rebounds were offensive as Arizona tallied 22 offensive boards for 15 second-chance points. Alabama had just three offensive rebounds and two second-chance points.
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After Alabama shot 7 of 17 from 3 and 15 of 30 from the field in the first half, Arizona’s defense limited Alabama to 5 of 15 from 3 and 10 of 26 from the field in the second half.
In a matchup of polar opposites, Alabama entered averaging 36.1 3-point field goals attempted per game, the third-most in the country, while Arizona entered averaging 16 attempts from deep per game this season, which ranked 358th out of 361 Division I teams.
The Wildcats’ 3-point shooting helped keep them in the game in the first half, as the Crimson Tide shut off the paint. Alabama held Arizona to 12 points in the paint in the first half after the Wildcats had 60 points in the paint in last Saturday’s win over Auburn. Arizona finished with 44 points in the paint.
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