MENS BASKETBALL
Arizona 98, Wisconsin 73
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
By DAVID BRANDT
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. - Pelle Larsson scored a career-high 21 points, Caleb Love added 20, and No. 1 Arizona rolled to a 98-73 win over No. 23 Wisconsin.
The Wildcats - playing as the top team in the country for the first time in nine years - looked comfortable in their new role, using a 25-8 run to end the first half and take a 17-point halftime lead.
Larsson finished 6 of 6 shooting from the field, including 4 of 4 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats shot 58% from the field.
It was tight game for the first 10 minutes, and the score was tied at 23-all with 8:50 left in the first half before a stretch of overwhelming offense from the Wildcats gave them a 48-31 advantage at the break. Kylan Boswell hit a long 3-pointer just before the buzzer to extend the advantage to 17.
A 55-second, eight-point stretch encapsulated the run: Larsson splashed home his third 3-pointer of the first half, Love followed with a steal and a soaring dunk and then Oumar Ballo capped the fireworks with an alley-oop slam.
Wisconsin was shook and wouldn't recover. The Badgers came into the game on a six-game winning streak, including a win over then-No. 3 Marquette.
John Blackwell led Wisconsin with 17 points.
Arizona hasn’t been No. 1 in the AP Top 25 since an eight-week stint that ended in January 2014 under former coach Sean Miller. Coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season after a long run as an assistant at Gonzaga, and his first two teams each spent multiple weeks inside the top five.
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers hung with the Wildcats for a little while, but simply ran into a buzzsaw. Wisconsin should learn from the hostile road environment and there's no reason it can't be a significant factor in the Big Ten race.
Arizona: Lloyd said last week that his team needed to embrace the high expectations of being a No. 1 team. Mission accomplished. The Badgers gave the Wildcats some fight early, but Arizona's late first-half run is a sign that this could be a team that stays in the top spot for a while. A big game awaits against Purdue next weekend.
December 9, 2023
| Wisconsin | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| S. Crowl | F | 26 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| T. Wahl | F | 25 | 3-10 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 1-5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| C. Hepburn | G | 30 | 3-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| M. Klesmit | G | 27 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| A. Storr | G | 25 | 4-12 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| J. Blackwell | 26 | 6-12 | 1-2 | 4-5 | 1-7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | |
| N. Winter | 14 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| C. Gilmore | 10 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| C. Essegian | 8 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| M. Ilver | 4 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| K. McGee | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| I. Lindsey | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 29-70 (.414) |
5-8 (.625) |
10-21 (.476) |
6-30 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 73 | |
| Arizona | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| K. Johnson | F | 23 | 5-10 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 2-9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| O. Ballo | C | 28 | 7-8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| K. Boswell | G | 33 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| P. Larsson | G | 30 | 6-6 | 5-9 | 4-4 | 0-4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 |
| C. Love | G | 28 | 7-13 | 3-4 | 3-8 | 0-7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| K. Lewis | 17 | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| J. Bradley | 14 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| M. Krivas | 12 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| P. Murauskas | 7 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| F. Borovicanin | 3 | 0-1 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| C. Martinez | 3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| L. Champion | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| W. Menaugh | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G. Weitman | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 198 | 35-60 (.583) |
16-26 (.615) |
12-26 (.462) |
4-39 | 26 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 98 | |
