Arizona, a basketball team that despite its three early losses still has legitimate national championship aspirations, paid UNLV forward Brandon McCoy the ultimate compliment Saturday.
The Wildcats didn’t deem it enough to simply assign 7-foot-1-inch freshman Deandre Ayton to handle McCoy. They often sent guards to help defend and at times even threw 7-footer Dusan Rustic into the mix against UNLV’s 7-footer.
“I was used to being double-teamed in high school, but I wasn’t expecting Arizona to double-team me,” McCoy said. “I thought it was going to be mano-a-mano, but it’s all right.”
The double-teams helped force McCoy into six turnovers, but he also helped put the Rebels in position to win. He made 13 of 17 shots, scored 33 points and collected 10 rebounds in the 91-88 overtime loss.