Baylor broke the Associated Press rankings at No. 25 this week after winning six of its last seven games before Tuesday’s game against Arizona in Tucson, Ariz.
The Bears (11-4, 3-1 Big 12) are coming off a 72-66 overtime victory at Arizona State on Saturday.
Arizona (10-5, 4-0) extended its winning streak to six games with an 88-80 victory over visiting UCF on Saturday.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd was critical of his team, himself and the coaching staff in the postgame press conference after Arizona made just one field goal in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the first half and went without a field goal in the final 5 . 1/2 minutes of the game.
The Wildcats were 0-for-6 from the field with five turnovers at the end of the contest.
“It upsets me the way we played. We were dumb,” said Lloyd. “Our fundamentals were not good. Our execution late was not good, and it was unacceptable.
“I like where we are, but I’m also going to fight for where we’re going, and Arizona basketball doesn’t play dumb at the end of the game. We weren’t good enough at the end of the game.”
Arizona’s leading scorer, Caleb Love (15.8 points per game), finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Love, a preseason All-American, was 0-for-3 from the field in the game’s final five minutes.
“Caleb was good when he started. He just wasn’t good enough at the end, whether it was the shot selection or the layup that got the traps,” Lloyd said. “Caleb played college basketball for five years. He knows better than that. Falling, OK, these things shouldn’t happen.
“I trust this guy to be an All-American-level player. I love Caleb, and I’ve given him a lot. He’s got to get better. Most importantly, he’s got to get better.”
Baylor won its overtime game against the Sun Devils with a seven-man turnover because ankle injuries sidelined guards Jalen Celestine and Langston Love.
Neither has played since the game on Dec. 31 against Utah and their status for Tuesday night’s game was in doubt.
Baylor held off Arizona State, which trailed by 15 points in the second half, behind 19 points from Miami transfer Norchad Omier.
“With a new team, you have a lot of guys who are going through things together for the first time,” said Bears coach Scott Drew, whose team improved to 1-3 in actual road games. “When we got to overtime, it was about re-calibrating, re-focusing, getting back to playing Baylor basketball. And I think we did that.”
Baylor has won the last two meetings against Arizona, tying the all-time series at 5-5.
The Bears last visited Tucson in 2018, when they ended Arizona’s 52-game home winning streak with a 58-49 victory. Baylor beat the Wildcats in Waco, Texas, the following year, winning 63-58.
Baylor led the Big 12 and ranked 17th nationally on the weekend with an average of 14.1 offensive rebounds per game.
Arizona struggled against UCF in that stretch, allowing the Knights to grab 20 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second-chance points.
–Field Level Media