4 Takeaways From Arizona's Win Over UConn

Storrs, Conn. — Shortly after the final buzzer sounded, the entire Arizona roster huddled around FOX Sports analyst Bill Raftery for a postgame interview that reflected what had truly been a team victory. 

The fourth-ranked Wildcats, underdogs by a handful of points at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night, rallied in the final moments after surrendering a double-digit second-half lead. A flurry of seven straight points in the final two minutes fueled a 71-67 victory over No. 3 UConn.

Point guard Jaden Bradley (21 points) and freshman sensation Koa Peat (16 points, 12 rebounds) were arguably the two best players on the court in what will be remembered as a signature win for the Wildcats come Selection Sunday.

Here are my takeaways:

1. Absence of UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. changed the game

Roughly 90 minutes before tipoff, a UConn spokesman distributed an email with two injury updates for Wednesday’s contest: Shooting guard Braylon Mullins, who has yet to play this season while recovering from an ankle injury suffered during the preseason, would miss his fifth consecutive game. And while Mullins did move around gingerly in warmups, that was far from surprising given the original four- to six-week timeline laid out by the school.

But then came the stunner: Senior center Tarris Reed Jr., who leads the Huskies in both scoring (20 points per game) and rebounding (9.3 per game), would be sidelined with an ankle injury that was previously undisclosed. Head coach Dan Hurley hadn’t mentioned Reed as a potential candidate to miss the game during his media session on Tuesday afternoon. The betting line shifted by a point and a half almost immediately, trimming UConn’s projected advantage down to 4.5 points.

Reed’s absence thrust