No. 3 Arizona men’s basketball pulled out a thrilling 66-63 overtime victory over No. 9 Gonzaga at McKale Center on Saturday afternoon. In a game that the Wildcats were trailing for the majority of, big plays late from point guard T.J. McConnell made the difference in the second half and overtime.
Gonzaga forward Byron Wesley missed three free throws late in OT that would have won the game.
After a series of questionable calls from the officials that seemed to favor the Bulldogs, a chorus of boos rained down from the McKale Center faithful at the start of the second half as Gonzaga took a 37-31 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Arizona cut the Gonzaga lead down to one at 43-42 with 10:38 left in the game after hitting four consecutive field goals, but the Bulldogs continued to hit clutch shots and remained in the lead for the majority of the half. With just under four minutes remaining, Gonzaga reclaimed their six point lead at 58-52.
However, a late run from Arizona in the last few minutes saw the game tied at 60-60 with 1:20 remaining after a jumper from Brandon Ashley.
On the Bulldogs next possession star point guard Kevin Pangos was stripped by his counterpart T.J. McConnell and the Wildcat had a chance at the lead with 40 seconds remaining but freshman forward Stanley Johnson was called for traveling when he drove inside the paint. With the game clock turned off, Gonzaga had the game’s last shot but Kyle Wiltjer’s corner attempt clanged off the iron and the game went into overtime.
A back and forth overtime came down to free throws as after McConnell missed a pair, Gonzaga’s Byron Wesley was fouled by Pitts from three point range and had a chance to tie it at 66 but missed all three.
Game nuggets:
- Brandon Ashley led the Wildcats with 14 points
- Gonzaga star point guard Kevin Pangos was held to just eight points
- The Wildcats shot 44 percent from the field, while the Bulldogs were held to 40 percent
- Arizona hit six 3-pointers and Gonzaga hit four shots from deep
