Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Arizona 96, Samford 64
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Where: McKale Memorial Center, Tucson, Arizona
Officials: # Bret Smith, # Jeffrey Anderson, # Chance Moore
Attendance: 12847

Caleb Love scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and contributed five rebounds and four assists to lead Arizona to a 96-64 victory over Samford on Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz.

The Wildcats (5-5) bounced back after a Saturday loss against UCLA, their third defeat in four games.

Samford (9-3) had its five-game winning streak snapped.

The night included former Arizona guard T.J. McConnell, of the Indiana Pacers who is a 10-year NBA veteran, joining the Wildcats' Ring of Honor at McKale Center.

Trey Townsend finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists against Samford. Anthony Dell'Orso, making his first start of the season, had 14 points.

Arizona's Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six assists. KJ Lewis, who also had 11 points, made all seven of his free-throw attempts.

Jaden Brownell led Samford with 13 points while Trey Fort and Julian Brown each had 11.

The Wildcats built a 56-33 lead at halftime after committing only four turnovers against Samford's constant full-court pressure defense.

Arizona had runs of 10-3 and 13-2 in the first half.

Love had 18 points before halftime on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.

Arizona made 61.3 percent of its shots from the field in the first half and 58.2 percent for the game.

The overall shooting made up for the Wildcats' 7-of-22 performance from 3-point range.

Arizona's 25-of-33 shooting within the arc contributed to a 48-20 scoring edge in the paint.

Samford outscored Arizona 13-4 behind seven points from Brownell to open the second half, narrowing the deficit to 60-46 with 16:21 left.

Arizona pulled away behind an 11-3 run that built the lead to 73-51 with 10:10 left.

The closest Samford got down the stretch was 80-61 with 4:44 remaining.

Arizona then scored 10 unanswered points, capped by a basket by reserve center Emmanuel Stephen.

Stephen played in his first game of the season after Arizona initially planned to redshirt the Nigerian.

The move to play Stephen came after Motiejus Krivas, Arizona's starting center, suffered a foot injury in a win over Southern Utah on Dec. 7. He is out indefinitely.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Samford   Arizona
Jaden Brownell 13 Scoring Caleb Love 23
Rylan Jones 5 Assists Jaden Bradley 6
Rylan Jones 5 Rebounds Trey Townsend 8
Julian Brown 2 Free Throws Made KJ Lewis 7
Josh Holloway 3 Steals Anthony Dell'Orso 2
N/A Blocks Carter Bryant 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Samford 64 36.7 12-35 8-15 15 19 0 9 12
Arizona 96 58.2 7-22 25-31 23 39 2 10 14