MORGANTOWN — Maybe it was the numerous lay-ups, the back cuts or the dagger 3-pointers.
In any case, Arizona made a 2,000-mile trip to snowy and cold West Virginia and looked rather comfortable Wednesday, in taking down the 21st-ranked Mountaineers 75-56.
“We really want to get home,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said. “You guys got a beautiful part of the country, but we love Tucson, and we love warm weather. We’re ready to get back to shorts and T-shirts.”
WVU’s first game as a nationally ranked team since 2022 ended up being a power shortage.
From a literal standpoint, the Coliseum court briefly lost its overhead lighting five minutes into the second half.
The Mountaineers (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) — playing without star guard Tucker DeVries for a sixth consecutive game and also without backup point guard K.J. Tenner — ran out of steam, too.
“I didn’t think we were as physical and aggressive as we had been,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “Our formula is the same. We have to play a certain way to be successful. We understand our margin of error is not very big, and if we deviate from that at all, these are the results we get.”
And, boy, did the Wildcats (9-5, 3-0) ever take advantage.
They did it with 34 points coming on either lay-ups or dunks, the biggest reason why Arizona became the first team this season to shoot better than 50% from the field against the Mountaineers.
“I just think we weren’t as locked in as we usually are,” WVU forward Toby Okani said. “It’s completely on the players, because (DeVries) had us ready.”
Coming off an 83-76 overtime loss against WVU in The Bahamas in November, Arizona threw the first punch in the rematch, using its size and athleticism to gain control of the paint.
The Wildcats outscored WVU 18-8 in the paint and held a 20-13 rebounding advantage over the first 20 minutes.
“They are long and have great size,” DeVries said. “What we’ve talked about is for us to be more successful, we have to be more physical. We’re not bigger and taller, so we have to do certain things to offset that.”
On this night, it didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean the Mountaineers didn’t have their moments.
After falling behind by 15 in the second half, WVU cut that to 48-43 after Sencire Harris drained back-to-back 3-pointers, forcing Arizona to call timeout.
“Breathe, relax, we’re up six (points),” Lloyd said when asked about what he said during the timeout. “You know, if you told me with however much time left in the game, we’re up six and the ball and the timeout, I would probably feel pretty good.
“Let’s not get emotional, let’s get tactical and figure out what we have got to do.”
Arizona countered with a 3-pointer from Anthony Dell’Orso and then K.J. Lewis — he had a game-high 21 points off the Wildcats’ bench — scored on a lay-up and teammate Carter Bryant scored on a backdoor cut.
The clincher came from 7-footer Henri Veesaar, who threw down a thunderous dunk for a 59-47 lead that served as the final uppercut.
“We weren’t being tough and we weren’t fighting through screens enough,” Harris said. “That’s on me, because I’m that guy who is supposed to be more energetic and be more physical. That’s my role, and I’m supposed to feed that to the rest of my team.”
WVU’s only offense came from Javon Small, who finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, but the Mountaineers couldn’t put enough around him to make one final push.
It led to WVU’s seven-game winning streak coming to an end, five of those came without Tucker DeVries, who had 26 points and eight 3-pointers in the first meeting against Arizona.
“The best thing we did in scouting was the guy who made eight threes didn’t play, to be honest,” Lloyd said. “He’s a heck of a player. You make a 30-footer, that’s a hell of a play, and he did. That’s a tough loss for them. I don’t know his injury status, but they are a more dangerous team with him in the lineup.”
