Henri Veesaar’s career-high 19 points led a balanced scoring effort to lead Arizona to its seventh straight win, an 81-70 victory Tuesday night over No. 25 Baylor at McKale Center.
Arizona (11-5, 5-0 Big 12) took advantage of short-handed Baylor (11-5, 3-2) for most of the game, building a 27-point lead in the second half.
The Bears battled back making eight consecutive made field goals to cut the lead to 71-62 with 2:52 left, but they did not get closer.
Tommy Lloyd in the postgame presser: "It's a mile (the Big 12 race). We just finished a lap, so we've got three more hard laps to go. Let's not act like we've arrived or all is well. We've got to keep fighting for it." https://t.co/MQ8wkoCw2F
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) January 15, 2025
Baylor, which cracked the AP Top 25 Monday after winning six of its previous seven games, played mostly with a seven-player rotation because ankle injuries prevented Jalen Celestine and Langston Love from playing in their fourth straight game.
Duke transfer Jeremy Roach, who finished with 13 points, picked up his fourth foul with 16:59 left and Arizona ahead 46-25.
Norchad Ormier also played in foul trouble throughout and committed four fouls. He finished with nine points.
Five of the Bears finished with four fouls.
Jaden Bradley had 13 points, five rebounds and six assists for Arizona.
KJ Lewis finished with 11 points and seven assists.
All top eight players in Arizona’s rotation scored, including Anthony Dell’Orso, who produced all nine of his points in the first half when Arizona built a 42-19 lead.
Robert Wright led Baylor with 16 points and VJ Edgecombe had 14.
Arizona fell behind when Omier made a layup 14 seconds into the game but the Wildcats did not trail thereafter.
Omier exited briefly after he was called for his second foul with 18:54 remaining in the first half.
Arizona built a 11-4 lead before Omier made the Bears’ second field goal of the game, a 3-pointer with 13:36 left in the half.
The Wildcats took control of the half following a 12-0 run that put them ahead 37-15 with 2:25 remaining until halftime.
Caleb Love, who finished with eight points (3-of-10 shooting, 1 of 7 from 3-point range), made his first shot with 3:32 left and banked in a 3-pointer to culminate the 12-0 run.
Baylor coach Scott Drew on Arizona center Henri Veesaar: "He's a pro."
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) January 15, 2025
Baylor shot 69 percent from the field in the second half, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range after starting 1 of 9 from beyond the arc.
Arizona shot 53.7 percent from the field in the game, tallying 21 assists on its 29 made field goals.
Veesaar led the hot-shooting performance, going 9 of 11 from the field. He also had seven rebounds.
The Wildcats outrebounded Baylor 31-29 and limited the Bears to only five second-chance points. UCF had 23 second-chance points in Saturday’s victory for Arizona.
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