Arizona rallies from 19 down in first half to edge Drexel

Arizona was on the wrong end of a big score and finally did enough things right to advance to the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

The fourth-ranked Wildcats were down 27-8 to Drexel with 7 minutes left in the first half Wednesday night. They closed the deficit to nine at halftime and then went on to much tougher than expected 66-62 victory.

Nick Johnson scored 20 points and freshman Aaron Gordon had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to wipe out the 19-point deficit and take their first lead of the game, 33-31 on a basket by Brandon Ashley with 16:11 to play.