MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Surging Arizona is now showing why it was considered one of the best teams in the country at the beginning of the season.
 
The Wildcats shot 51% tonight to defeat 21^st-ranked West Virginia 75-56 here at the WVU Coliseum in snowy Morgantown.
 
It was Arizona's fifth straight victory and boosts its Big 12 record to 3-0 with wins over TCU and Cincinnati.
 
Former starter KJ Lewis came off the bench to lead three double-figure scorers with 21. The sophomore guard was 9-of-13 from the floor in just 26 minutes of court time.
 
Jaden Bradley contributed 15 and Anthony Dell'Orso added 10 for the Wildcats, now 9-5 overall.
 
Arizona's bench outscored West Virginia's 34 to 10 and the Wildcats also had a 36 to 22 edge in the paint.
 
"We weren't our usual selves, especially defensively," Mountaineer coach Darian DeVries said afterward. "I didn't think we were quite as connected as we have been, and I thought Arizona did a good job of exploiting some of our pick-and-roll defensive things that gave us some issues. It's certainly something we've got to clean up and get better at as we move forward."
 
Arizona took control of the game with seven minutes to go in the first half and never relinquished its lead. The advantage got to 13 in the first half, and then to 15 early in the second half before WVU went on a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to five, 48-43.
 
Lewis answered with a pair of free throws and then later his layup started an 11-0 run during a three-minute stretch to put the game away. 
 
Arizona made 31 of its 61 field goal attempts, including 7 of 20 from behind the 3-point arc. West Virginia, meanwhile, connected on just 21 of its 58 field goal attempts for 36.2%
 
"The ball got stuck a little bit at times and I thought we were a little too anxious trying to go get it on our own," DeVries said. "When there were opportunities when we did get it and had a few open looks that didn't go in, but that's basketball. 
 
"I thought Arizona did a nice job. They bumped us off our spots and got us out in spaces where we weren't as comfortable," DeVries added.
 
Javon Small was the only WVU player to reach double digits with 17.
 
"We weren't the aggressor on both ends of the floor for a good portion of that game and that aggressiveness and physicality typically gets rewarded," DeVries noted. "You have to be the one on the right side of it and I didn't think we were tonight."
 
WVU's injured list now includes freshman guard KJ Tenner, who did not suit up for tonight's game. West Virginia has been playing without double-digit scorer Tucker DeVries and has yet to see Detroit Mercy transfer Jayden Stone play in a game this season.
 
Arizona's victory tonight avenges an 83-76 nonconference loss to the Mountaineers in the Bahamas back on Nov. 29.

This week was the Mountaineers' first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 since Dec. 26, 2022.
 
West Virginia, which saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end tonight, tallied a season-low 56 points. The Mountaineers drop to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play.
 
WVU continues conference play this Sunday at Colorado.