Gabe York scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, Allonzo Trier added 14 points and No. 19 Arizona rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to knock off No. 13 Gonzaga 68-63 on Saturday.
After playing an overtime thriller in Tucson a year ago, the Bulldogs and Wildcats got together for another non-conference classic as the Wildcats rallied to hand Gonzaga (5-2) its first non-conference home loss since falling to Illinois in 2012.
VIDEO: Gabe York post-game interview w/ @JayBilas and @DShulman_ESPN ? --> https://t.co/tSnVrYJyx2 pic.twitter.com/4FjVyKImkY
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) December 5, 2015
Arizona (7-1) trailed 50-42 after Josh Perkins' three-point play with 14:42 to play but the Wildcats outscored Gonzaga 26-13 the rest of the way. Ryan Anderson, held to two points in the first half, scored in the lane with 20 seconds left to clinch the victory for the Wildcats. Anderson finished with 13 points.
Kyle Wiltjer scored 33 points for the Bulldogs, who lost for the second time in the last eight days.
It was Arizona's first game since learning that center Kaleb Tarczewski would miss four to six weeks with a stress reaction and strained muscle in his left foot. Tarczewski was in a walking boot watching his teammates, but also a spectator was Gonzaga big man Przemek Karnowski sitting out his second straight game with back spasms.
The absence of Karnowski proved to be a bigger loss as Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis got little help from others. Sabonis had 18 points and 16 rebounds but no other Gonzaga player scored more than six points.
York was the catalyst for Arizona's rally and it started quickly. York scored eight points to start the second half and Anderson's first basket with 15:52 left pulled Arizona within 45-42. York added two more 3s and Wiltjer had a 3 waved off due to an offensive foul on Sabonis and the Wildcats pulled even at 50 with 12:55 left.
The teams scored on six straight possessions to stay tied at 56 and Trier finally gave Arizona its first lead since the opening minutes at 59-58 on a driving layup with 8:18 left.
Arizona extended the lead to 66-61 with 3 minutes left before Wiltjer followed his own miss and scored. York missed the front end of a 1-and-1 but Perkins couldn't hit an open 3 that would have brought the Bulldogs even. Wiltjer and Sabonis both missed on the inside with less than a minute left and Anderson's basket in the lane provided the final margin.
Gonzaga missed 12 of its final 13 shots.
Wiltjer and Sabonis couldn't be stopped early, combining to score Gonzaga's first 26 points.
While Gonzaga's stars carried the Bulldogs in the first half, Arizona's scoring leaders were non-existent. Anderson was held scoreless for more than 13 minutes before hitting two free throws that snapped a 10-0 Gonzaga run, his only points of the half.
And York's most memorable moment was getting his driving dunk attempt rebuffed at the rim by Sabonis, leading to an easy basket for Wiltjer in transition.
