PHOENIX – As the Illinois basketball team headed to Phoenix for its desert showdown with No. 16 Arizona, head coach Bruce Weber didn’t know what would happen.

To Weber’s surprise, Illinois got off to its best start of the season Saturday, racing out to an early 35-19 advantage.

But with a flurry of early second-half fouls and Arizona’s ability to adjust to Illinois’ defense, the Wildcats ended the Illini’s hopes for an upset.

Illinois fell to Arizona 84-72 in front of a crowd of 15,507 at the U.S. Airways Center in the inaugural Hall of Fame Challenge.

The Illini (7-2) had their chances, though. Even with injuries to Brian Randle (groin) and Jamar Smith (ankle), and the 16 second-half team fouls that limited the playing time of Warren Carter, Shaun Pruitt, Rich McBride and Marcus Arnold, Illinois led 51-48 with 16 minutes to play.

“To their credit, (Arizona) started with zone (defense), we kind of shredded that,” Weber said. “They went man, we shredded that, and then they picked up their intensity. They out-pressured us.”

With most of the team saddled with three and four fouls, it was difficult for Illinois to get anything going offensively. The Illini’s second-half field goal shooting fell to 46.4 percent (13-of-28 shooting), dropping off from the 54.8 percent during the first 20 minutes.

A Calvin Brock jump shot with 16:39 to play gave the Illini a 51-45 lead, but the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run over the next 7:18, turning a six-point deficit into a six-point advantage.

The Illini only managed two points in the last 3:57 of the game.

“They move so well without the ball and they penetrate so well, and they’ve got so many athletic and versatile guys,” said Carter, who led the Illini with a career-high 24 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Carter’s playing time was limited in the second half after he picked up his fourth foul with 17:31 remaining. Weber’s team picked up four fouls in the first 2:30 of the second half.

“Over the course of time, they spread you out and it gets you in binds,” Weber said.

Chester Frazier and Pruitt each contributed 11 points, while McBride scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds.

Brock added eight points and eight boards. Freshman center Chase Budinger led the Wilcats with 22 points and Marcus Williams tallied 20. Five Arizona players finished in double figures, compared to only three Illini players.

“I think we did a good job of coming off early and bringing it to them, instead of letting them bring it to us,” Pruitt said. “The thing we can take from this game is not to let a lead slip away.”

Now with its two top-25 match-ups in the past, the Illini are looking forward to getting back to practice.

Carter called the team a “work in progress,” and hopes the Illini can start putting together 40-minute games.

In previous games, the Illini started slow and had to fight back to win. The opposite was true against Arizona, as the team saw an early lead disappear.

“Even with all the stuff, we still had our chances,” Weber said. “We didn’t do it. It’s a great crowd, great venue, great event, so just disappointing.”