Inside The Wildcats

Arizona stuns Cincinnati in Big 12 men's basketball showdown: Recap, analysis, highlights

The Wildcats pass their first Big 12 road test on Saturday

Ben Sherman

Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd looks on in the first half of the NCAA basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Arizona Wildcats at the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Saturday, January 4, 2025.
Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd looks on in the first half of the NCAA basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Arizona Wildcats at the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Saturday, January 4, 2025. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Welcome to the Big 12, Arizona.

The Wildcats (8-5, 2-0) stunned No. 16 Cincinnati 72-67 on the road Saturday to stay unbeaten in their new conference.

Cincinnati was favored by 2.5 points, in part because Fifth Third Arena is one of the best homecourt advantages in college basketball. The Bearcats were unbeaten at home this season, but they had not played a team the caliber of Arizona.

The Wildcats entered the matchup No. 21 in the NCAA NET Rankings, five spots ahead of No. 26 Cincinnati.

Final Stats: Arizona 72, Cincinnati 67

Freshman Carter Bryant had the best game of his young career, scoring a career-high 14 points and grabbing 4 rebounds off the bench. Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 15 points and Caleb Love added 12. 7-foot sophomore Henri Veesaar had a huge game off the bench, tallying 8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Second Half Live Updates

Arizona 72, Cincinnati 67, Final: Don't look now, but the Wildcats have won four in a row.

Arizona 68, Cincinnati 64, 24.7 seconds left: After a stop, Jaden Bradley nails two free throws. The Wildcats are going to survive.

Arizona 66, Cincinnati 64, 39 seconds left: Jaden Bradley gets all the way to the rim on a high pick-and-roll to give the Wildcats a two-point lead. Cincinnati calls its final timeout. Bradley has 13 points.

Arizona 64, Cincinnati 61, 2:48 to play: The Bearcats are finally making shots and we have a one-possession game.

Carter Bryant dunk! The freshman throws down a huge dunk on a backdoor cut and now has a career-high 14 points.

Arizona 62, Cincinnati 55, 4:41 to play: KJ Lewis scores back-to-back buckets in the paint to stop the bleeding for Arizona. Both teams are dragging. This has been a heavyweight bought with tons of energy expended on the defensive end.

Arizona 58, Cincinnati 52: With Carter Bryant on the bench, Cincinnati goes on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to six with 7:19 to play. Tommy Lloyd went small and it did not work.

Bryant 4th foul: Carter Bryant picks up his fourth foul and goes to the bench with just over 9 minutes to play.

Carter Bryant three! Bryant hits his third 3-pointer of the game with the shot clock winding down. Arizona leads 58-43 with less than 10 minutes to play. Bryant has 12 points and 4 rebounds.

Arizona 55, Cincinnati 41, 11:01 left: The Bearcats are 2-of-20 from the 3-point line. The Wildcats are 4-of-10 and pounding the ball down low.

Arizona 52, Cincinnati 39, 12:29 left: Arizona turns it over on back-to-back possessions, leading to breakaway dunks by the Bearcats. Timeout Tommy Lloyd.

Another Veesaar dunk! 7-foot sophomore Henri Veesaar tips an offensive rebound to himself, then powers up for another monster dunk to give Arizona a 49-31 lead. Veesaar now has 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Arizona 47, Cincinnati 31, 15:29 left: The Wildcats have taken the home crowd completely out of this game. Cincinnati continues to shoot threes, and they're 2-of-16 from downtown. Arizona continues to attack the basket, and they're getting easy buckets. Trey Townsend has 6 points in the first two minutes of the second half.

Arizona 47, Cincinnati 28, 17 minutes left: The Wildcats start the second half on an 8-2 run.

Arizona called for flagrant foul: On a very questionable call, Arizona's Tobe Awaka is called for a flagrant foul on Cincinnati's Aziz Bandaogo as they were battling for post position. Bandaogo misses both free throws. Ball don't lie.

Halftime Stats: Arizona 39, Cincinnati 26

Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley lead Arizona with 9 points apiece and Carter Bryant has 8 points. The Wildcats are 4-of-7 from downtown and are relentlessly attacking the rim.

First Half Live Updates

Arizona 39, Cincinnati 26, halftime: Arizona gets a stop at the end of the half and Caleb Love gets fouled on a breakaway dunk with 0.6 seconds left. "I think it's the best half of basketball they've played all season," said Fran Fraschilla on the ESPN2 broadcast. Cincinnati leaves the court to boos from its home crowd.

Another Caleb Love three! Henri Veesaar drives and dishes to Love for another 3-pointer to extend Arizona's lead to 34-24 with 2 minutes to play. Love has 8 points and 2 steals.

Carter Bryant for three! Arizona's 6-foot-8 freshman drills another 3-pointer to extend Arizona's lead 29-21 with 3:30 to play. Bryant has 8 points and 3 rebounds.

Huge dunk by Henri Veesaar! The 7-footer drives down the middle and throws down a two-hand hammer dunk on Cincinnati to give Arizona a 26-19 lead with 3:52 left. The Wildcats have hit another gear since the under-8 timeout.

Jaden Bradley and-one! Bradley blows by his defender and converts the and-one to give Arizona a 24-19 lead with 5 minutes to play. Bradley leads all scorers with 7 points.

Caleb Love big three! Love drills a tough three from the left corner to give Arizona a 21-19 lead with 6 minutes to play.

Arizona 18, Cincinnati 17, 6:43 left: The Wildcats went up by six, but the Bearcats came roaring back. High-level defense on both ends. Carter Bryant leads Arizona with 5 points and Jaden Bradley and Anthony Dell'Orso have 4 points apiece.

Arizona 9, Cincinnati 8, 11:54 left: Very physical ballgame so far. Both teams are shooting poorly, but Arizona freshman Carter Bryant has been the difference with 5 points on 2-of-2 shooting. He drilled a deep 3-pointer and also has 3 rebounds.

Cincinnati 6, Arizona 4, 15:34 left: Anthony Dell'Orso has all four points for Arizona in the early going. The Wildcats are 1-of-5 from the field and struggling to find a rhythm against Cincinnati's pressure and length.

Arizona 4, Cincinnati 4, 16:24 left: It's clear this is going to be a defensive scrum. Both teams are battling down low and Arizona has already showed multiple defensive looks, including a 1-2-2 full court press.

Cincinnati's arena seats a little over 12,000 and it is rocking today.

Pregame Arizona-Cincinnati Updates

Tip off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. MST on ESPN2.

More Arizona & Big 12 Analysis

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Ben Sherman
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