TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Justin Coleman sank the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:03 to play and the Arizona Wildcats escaped with a 70-68 victory over UC Davis Saturday night in their final nonconference game before Pac-12 play begins.
Coleman's only 3 of the night put Arizona ahead 70-68 and the Aggies failed twice to tie or take the lead after that. T.J. Shorts' layup attempt was off the mark over the outstretched arms of Chase Jeter with 53 seconds left and Rogers Pritup threw up an airball at the buzzer.
Jeter led Arizona (9-4) with 16 and Brandon Randolph added 15.
Shorts, the reigning Big West player of the year, scored a season-high 25 for the Aggies (3-8). Siler Schneider and Goode added 13 apiece.
The close call came a week after Arizona's 52-game home nonconference winning streak ended with a loss to Baylor. The Wildcats don't play again until Jan. 3, when they are home against Colorado in their Pac-12 opener.
Down by as many as 15 in the first half, the Aggies used an 11-2 run early in the second half to tie it. Goode drove the lane and was fouled by Ira Lee and the subsequent free throw that made it a three-point play that made it 48-48 with 14:55 remaining. Squire sank a pair of 3s in the outburst.
Nobody led by more than three points after that in the exceedingly tight contest.
There were eight ties and UC Davis finally got the lead 64-62 on Shorts' driving layup with 5:14 left. Randolph tied it with two free throws before Shorts scored again on a drive and the Aggies led 66-64 with 3:35 remaining. Coleman made one of two free throws before Jeter made two from the line to put Arizona back on top 67-66 1:54 from the finish.
Shorts followed with a layup to put Cal Davis back on top 68-67 with 1:37 left and set up Coleman's big shot.
Arizona shot 57.7 percent in the first half to open up a 41-30 lead at the break.
UC-Davis outscored the Wildcats 18-7 to start the second half to forge the tie.
Notes:
- Sophomore guard Brandon Randolph scored 15 points in Saturday's win. It marked the 13th straight game this season Randolph has scored in double figures. He's one of four players in the Pac-12 to have scored in double figures in each of his team's games this season.
- Randolph grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in the win. His previous best was five, set earlier this year versus Auburn in the Maui Invitational.
- Arizona improved to 89-4 at McKale Center since the start of the 2013-14 season, which is the best home mark in the country.
- Arizona outrebounded UC Davis 35-27 and improved to 7-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent. Arizona is 202-38 under Coach Sean Miller when winning the rebounding battle.
- Arizona scored 21 bench points in the win, marking the sixth time this season the Wildcats scored 20 or more bench points.
- Sophomore forward Ira Lee finished with a season-high eight points. He had previously scored seven points on three separate occasions this season. His career high is 11, set last year as a freshman.
Quotes:
"The bigger the moment, he seems to rise to the challenge. He has had a very important role in our non-conference season. We want him to be aggressive and shoot when he has the opportunity. He does a great job of getting in the lane and getting people better. He is one of our team's best shooters." – Sean Miller on Justin Coleman.
"We didn't play well, but they played a great game in the second half. We never looked at them as being a mediocre team because my brother told me. When they played Indiana, that game could have gone either way and it was the same here tonight. We had some guys have a bad night. It is something to learn from and I'm thrilled that we are able to leave with a win and address some things." – Miller on the win.
"We can learn from this game for sure. We made a lot of mistakes on the defensive end so we want to go home and enjoy the four days of break, then come back, watch film and learn from it. Like the Baylor game, we got out-rebounded and we learned from that. Now, we will learn from the UC Davis game." – Coleman.
"It's a good feeling to get a win like this. We are 9-4 in non-conference and we are heading into Pac-12 when we get home. So we kind of step away for a little bit and then come back to get geared up to go for Utah and Colorado." – Chase Jeter.
