No. 24 Arizona fails to capitalize on comeback against West Virginia

No. 24 Arizona men’s basketball fought back but fell in overtime and lost to West Virginia in Friday’s Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game.

It was the Wildcats’ second straight loss, sending them back to Tucson 1-2 in the tournament and 3-4 overall. It’s the first time Wildcats have been under .500 since February 25, 2010.

But they didn’t go down without a fight.

The Mountaineers had a 10-point lead midway through the second half, but the Wildcats slowly fought their way back before West Virginia’s Toby Okani sank a three-pointer with about two minutes left in the game, and that seemed to be the dagger. That wasn’t it.

Arizona’s Trey Townsend converted a layup with 47 seconds left, and a key block from KJ Lewis led to a quick three-pointer from Caleb Love with 14 seconds left in the half.

Draw game! pic.twitter.com/ZpmjsruNja

– Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 29, 2024

The game eventually went into overtime, but the Mountaineers – playing their third straight game in overtime – came out strong, taking a five-point lead thanks to a 3-pointer from Tucker DeVries, his eighth of the game Guide. And that was the deficit Arizona couldn’t overcome.

DeVries, the son of Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries, stole the spotlight, scoring 26 points on eight 3s. Okani scored 20 points by shooting 7 of 11 from the field and 3 of 5 from deep.

Love had 24 points and was 4 of 12 from distance. Townsend had 19 points as well as four rebounds and two assists.

Overall, Arizona shot 45.3% and 33.3% from deep. The Wildcats also had 14 turnovers.

Arizona next hosts Southern Utah on December 7th before facing UCLA on December 14th at the Footprint Center.