BERKELEY, Calif. — The No. 1-ranked Arizona men’s basketball suffered its first loss of the season, 60-58, on a last-second shot by California.
Cal senior guard Justin Cobbs sunk a fadeaway shot to send the sold-out crowd at Haas Pavilion home happy and hand the Wildcats their first loss.
While Arizona (21-1, 8-1 Pac-12 Conference) finished the night shooting a season-low 32 percent from the field, the Wildcats battled competitively throughout the contest largely due to their offensive rebounding: Arizona had 14 compared to Cal’s five. The score was tied seven times, and the lead changed on six different occasions before the Golden Bears ended Arizona’s 21-game win streak.
Freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — who stood in for the Wildcats following Brandon Ashley’s foot injury — contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal on the night.
Sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski ended with a team-leading 18 points to accompany six rebounds, an assist and a block.
Freshman forward Aaron Gordon finished with eight points to go with 13 rebounds and six assists.
Junior T.J. McConnell finished with 13 points, a rebound and two steals overall but failed to record an assist for the first time this year. Before tonight, McConnell had amassed no less than three assists and entered the night with an average 5.9 assists per game.
Junior shooting guard Nick Johnson had an uncharacteristic game and finished with a season-low four points off 1-for-14 shooting from the floor.
—Follow Evan Rosenfeld @EvanRosenfeld17
