r/CollegeBasketball • u/cbbBot /r/CollegeBasketball • NCAA • 1d ago
[Post Game Thread] Arizona defeats #21 West Virginia, 75-56 Post Game Thread
| Team | 1H | 2H | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 39 | 36 | 75 |
| West Virginia | 28 | 28 | 56 |
110
u/ThatguyJimmy117 West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
Classic curse of the little number next to your name
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u/Fastbird33 FAU Owls • UCF Knights 1d ago
Unless you’re playing at UCF. We got bent over a barrell and shown the 50 states by KU.
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u/TimTom8921 Cincinnati Bearcats 1d ago
You lost by 45. We're gonna lose by 60. We can't score and can't defend
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u/CRoseCrizzle Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
Is Devries coming back for you guys anytime soon? I think that was the biggest difference between the conference game and the non conference game.
5
u/ThatguyJimmy117 West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
It was but also this team just won @ Kansas without Tucker. I hope he comes back soon
2
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u/montani West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
Gg wildcats. Fans are up there with ISU for being self deprecating and reasonable. Ill look forward to playing you guys
42
u/TheHandsomestMouse Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
WVU fans seemed pretty chill in the thread, ggs and I hope you get healthy soon
19
u/speedy_delivery West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
We know we were overachieving. Bound to come back to Earth at some point. We need to get healthy.
29
u/rsjur Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
That's the nicest thing anyone has said about us in a few weeks.
The nice thing about being Arizona, is we generally hate ourselves more than the opponent except for a handful of teams.
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u/wildcat_abe Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I was thinking that - both on this game thread and the TCU thread - how both fan bases were just like "oh yeah this looks okay but don't worry, we're gonna fuck it up soon, just wait." (Didn't watch/ follow the Cincinnati game.) Kinda refreshing! Lol
9
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
It was definitely the same in the Cincinnati game, and in that one everyone was right.
19
u/ishboo3002 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
It's weird there's not a few decades of animosity between us and the B12 so for the most part it's just chill.
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u/ralthea Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
So... are we good?
31
u/TonksTheTerror Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
1
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u/Imaravencawcaw Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Arizona is definitely one of the teams in all of college basketball right now.
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u/jbvann05 Arizona Wildcats • Indiana Hoosiers 1d ago
We could win the natty and I still wouldn't be sure if we are good or bad
9
36
u/Jakflac Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I fear that I have hope
21
u/WhatsNextForMe Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
I mean the last time Arizona had a losing record in November was the ‘97 season. I wonder what became of that team…
9
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u/e4mica523 West Virginia Mountaineers • Sou… 1d ago
RIP ranked WVU
1/6/2025 - 1/7/2025
Gone too soon :(
10
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
You still got time yet, at least until 1/13. I don't think Arizona is so bad yet that losing to us deserves an emergency ap poll vote.
24
u/Gamecat235 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Good game WVU. holy crap that score does not paint the picture of the game.
I hope y’all get healthier soon, you guys ball out, we just saw a lot of shots go in tonight.
6
u/304rising West Virginia Mountaineers 21h ago
Man you guys made a ton of tough mid range shots and out rebounded us. Definitely deserved the win but when we cut it to 5 I thought it was going to be a great 2nd half. We were down 15 like 2 minutes later lol. Gg
20
u/devo--lution Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Is Henri Veesarr good? He’s better than ‘not bad’. His activity on defense makes us better.
24
u/rkz99 Arizona Wildcats • Xavier Musketeers 1d ago
He is very good and our best big by huge margin. His length bothers guys and he can actually score. Townsend and Awaka are too often bothered by length and don't finish as the roll man in P&R. Veesaar also can catch lobs and play above the rim. He looked so soft his freshmen year last we saw him he looks like a totally different guy now. He is an awesome development story.
5
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
He's definitely good. He doesn't always take over the game, but he does change how Arizona operates. His ability to handle the ball (and kinda to shoot but not really) changes how defenses have to guard us, and he's quick enough to find gaps.
1
u/infinite0ne Arizona Wildcats 16h ago
He's looking better with every game these days, which is awesome. We really really need at least one big that can deliver.
15
u/BurberryToothbrush West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago edited 1d ago
GG. Not surprised. We were punching way above our weight, and therefore due for one of these
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u/ZonaPunk Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Team played its best with love on the bench. Interesting…
20
u/246lehat135 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I’ve been beating this drum since last year.
5
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u/CrypticDemon Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I kept waiting for him to play hero and “put the game away” thus allowing WV to gain momentum.
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u/neverquestion West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
WVU needs to get some bodies healthy quick. This team looked decent at points, but there is no way they will make it through the Big 12 gauntlet without a bench.
10
u/CrypticDemon Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
How many players down are you? Regardless you had me worried til about 8 mins left in the game.
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u/neverquestion West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
Currently two projected starters at the beginning of the year, and Hansberry hasn't been right. We also have a super short bench too.
8
u/Kleinmann4President Kansas Jayhawks 1d ago
So many teams are dominating us in transitive property ….
16
u/Sandwiichh Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Chat are we back?
19
u/Gamecat235 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I mean, we won two t25 conference road games in a row. That’s not nothing.
3
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Yeah but Cincinnati is looking pretty ass right now and we barely escaped that one. And even though WVU beat Kansas depleted they are still pretty thin and without their best player (plus their arena looked empty with the storm). I'm not saying the wins don't count, they're huge for us, but there is some context there that will keep me from beating my chest too much.
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u/Gamecat235 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
My statement was “that’s not nothing”. I’ll hang my hat on “yep, three wins, two of them road wins over ranked team is a good way to start conference play”. But I’m not getting my hopes up very high.
I’ve been a fan since the early 80’s. I know pain.
16
u/Elephantparrot Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
There are a lot of things I don’t understand and right at the top of the list is this team.
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u/WhatsNextForMe Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
Rank Arizona!
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u/goopdoop Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
NO! Under the radar is where it’s at
4
u/FriendlyPoke Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Except we need to be at least a 4 seed or higher when it comes to March
2
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u/Audeclis Iowa State Cyclones 1d ago
Man, tough to drop this one. Still a great start - looking forward to our riot bros being a strong contest
5
u/neverquestion West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
If they can get some guys healthy it should be a good game. If not it's gonna be really bad.
2
u/Docholphal1 Houston Cougars 13h ago
Arizona still #13 in KenPom. Underestimate them at your peril.
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u/CornFedIABoy Iowa State Cyclones 1d ago
For my Riot Bowl brothers, to quote Hayes Carl, “this is why, this why, this is why why why, this is why you can’t have nice things.”
1
u/MrMelkor Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
I'm sure a lot of Cats fans will just think I'm a doomer, but I honestly think we're not that good... we've just hit two decent teams at exactly the right time.
Look at the roster. We start an undersized 4 (Townsend) who doesn't defend or rebound, and offensively is limited to scoring against other undersized 4s, an undersized 5 (Awaka) who is a very good rebounder, but not a great defender and a pretty bad offensive player, a 3 (Dell'orso) who is a solid scorer but would have a hard time defending almost anyone, and Mr Bipolar (Love).
Jaden Bradley is a damn good player. Probably the best PG we have had since McConnell. And Veesar and KJ Lewis have been solid off the bench. And Carter Bryant has a mountain of potential, and seems to be getting better and better.
Anyway, great win Cats! I look forward to being proved utterly wrong about this team.
9
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Eh we're not world beaters and we can't shoot. But the chemistry is getting there and the offense is ticking up despite the shooting woes (and we're taking better shots now). I do think our best players (outside bradley) are on the bench right now, and I do think this team is limited. But rather than dooming why not just have fun? This team had high expectations, then almost immediately lost them. So now what do we do? I say just enjoy the ride, because they're actually turning into a really fun team to watch regardless of how "good" they are. Don't keep comparing them to that preseason measuring stick, you're just making yourself unhappy.
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u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
Arizona still can’t shoot but they will pound the shit out of you
13
u/neverquestion West Virginia Mountaineers 1d ago
They shot the hell out of the ball tonight.
-6
u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
In the last couple of games they’ve averaged like 15 3 attempts. They’re all about ground and pound.
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u/numbah84 Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Take away Caleb Love and we barely miss from 3
4
u/FriendlyPoke Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Why did it take Tommy Lloyd 2 years to realize he can put Love on the bench if he's cold?
3
u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 17h ago
I think I'm starting to understand Lloyd's rotations a little bit at this point, what he said today after "benching" Love really started to clarify it for me. I think Lloyd trusts his guys (even love, still) to turn things around when they aren't doing well. And he would have done that again today, except that the lineup he had in was playing really well. Lloyd looks for positive changes and impacts, not negative ones, so if Love is having a bad game and is on the bench, but the reserves in the game aren't wowing him, love will go back in. Because Lloyd trusts love to get going and thinks that's the mostly likely positive change to come. As fans we want to react to negative change (and we might often be right in that) where players are taken out when they play poorly because "anyone is better than this", but to Lloyd that means someone has to go in to replace them, probably someone he trusts less, so why do it?
4
u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
They’re still good with him being ass…but imagine if he regains his form from last season?? Would be huge.
2
u/WhatsNextForMe Illinois Fighting Illini 1d ago
I mean he’s playing similarly to last season shooting percentage wise. He’s like a career 39% shooter. To “regain last seasons” form, he needs to average more shots per game. And Arizona is always worse off when he takes the number of shots to get back to “last year.” Same reason it limited how good they could be last year. He’s not a good enough shooter to be a volume scorer which is his problem. It’s almost the same effect as a turnover when he launches a 3.
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u/filthysven Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
He's a good enough finisher to take the shots, the problem is those shots shouldn't be threes. If he had KJ Lewis shot selection he would be a monster, he just needs to take 80%+ of his shots at the rim.
2
u/AccomplishedRainbow1 Arizona State Sun Devils 1d ago
He rallied more than I thought in December. In their toughest stretch of the season he was just so bad.
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u/whisper_jones Arizona Wildcats 1d ago
Quality wins AND quality losses. We’re playing both sides so we always come out on top.