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Arizona falls to UNLV in double-overtime thriller

In the first McKale Center barn burner of the Sean Miller era, Derrick Jasper put visiting UNLV ahead to stay with a three-pointer late in double overtime as the undefeated Runnin’ Rebels edged the Arizona Wildcats 74-72.

“That was a great college basketball game,” said Miller, whose Arizona team fell to 3-3 in his first season as the head coach in Tucson. “It’s never easy to say when you’re on the losing end of it. But I think both teams had five, seven, eight chances to win the game at different times, and finally they took advantage of their chance.”

Jasper’s triple from the left wing gave 24 th-ranked UNLV a 70-68 lead with 1:39 left in the second overtime of Wednesday night’s non-conference matchup. After the two teams traded free throws over the ensuing 1:33, the Wildcats set up for a last shot with 5.8 seconds remaining.

On the final play, Arizona senior point guard Nic Wise received the inbounds pass and had to dribble the length of the court. He advanced toward the right wing and then cut over to the top of the key, where he attempted a jumper at the buzzer that was blocked by UNLV freshman guard Justin Hawkins.

“I thought we played hard,” said Arizona freshman power forward Derrick Williams, who led all scorers with 28 points. “Tough loss. Somebody has to lose, so wrong side of the coin, I guess. Tough loss.”

The Runnin’ Rebels outscored the Wildcats 11-9 in double overtime. After UNLV junior guard Tre’Von Willis opened the scoring in the second extra period with a fast-break layup, Arizona’s Williams answered with a three-point play on a basket in the lane and subsequent free throw to give the Wildcats a 66-65 advantage with 3:32 remaining.

With the UA leading 68-67 with 2:28 left, junior forward Jamelle Horne blocked a shot and the Wildcats regained possession. Arizona could not score on its ensuing trip down the court, however. UNLV controlled the rebound and cashed in on the opportunity when Jasper swished his go-ahead three-pointer with 1:39 left.

“I saw a little bit of miscommunication among the Arizona players at the end and they just left me wide open,” said Jasper, a 6-foot-6 junior guard who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Willis, who scored 23 of his team-high 25 points after halftime, swished two free throws to extend the UNLV lead to 72-68 with 26.4 seconds remaining. After two foul shots by Wise pulled the UA to within 72-70, UNLV junior forward Matt Shaw made the first of two free-throw attempts to put the Rebels ahead by three. Shaw missed his second foul shot, and Williams grabbed the rebound for Arizona.

Rather than allow the Wildcats a chance to launch a potential game-tying three-pointer, the Rebels chose to foul Wise on the dribble. Wise made both of his free throws, but UNLV maintained a 73-72 advantage with 6.1 seconds left.

The Wildcats immediately fouled UNLV junior guard Kendall Wallace when he received the inbounds pass. Wallace missed his first free throw and made the second, setting the stage for Arizona’s final possession that ended with Wise’s blocked jump shot at the buzzer.

“We made some plays down the stretch, and in the end they still had a chance to get a three and win it,” said UNLV head coach Lon Kruger, whose team improved to 6-0. “That’s what these kind of games come down to, one basket here or another there.”

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Arizona held a 52-47 lead with 3:20 left in regulation following a 6-0 run that was highlighted by an alley-oop slam dunk by Williams. After the Rebels answered with a 7-0 run of their own to pull ahead 54-52, the Wildcats scored the final points of regulation on two free throws by Wise with 54 seconds remaining.

Each team scored nine points in the first overtime, resulting in a 63-63 deadlock heading into the second extra period.

“Tonight is now our fourth game in a row that’s like this, and it’s going to keep being like this in terms of single possessions,” said Miller, whose team played three close games in Hawaii last week at the Maui Invitational, defeating Colorado in between losses to Wisconsin and Vanderbilt. “We don’t have a lot of room for error, for a lot of different reasons. We have to keep fighting, getting better.”

Wise finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Arizona, while freshman guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones added nine points and five rebounds.

“We showed a lot of people that we can play with the best of them,” Jones said.

By Tom Kessler
DFN Sports Staff Writer