Butler coach Chris Holtmann's team is off to a 5-0 start but he still is uncertain of its capabilities after upsetting No. 8 Arizona 69-65 on Friday night in the championship game of the Continental Tire Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev.

"People have called this a rebuilding year, and I don't know what it's going to be to be honest with you," Holtmann said. "Time will tell what kind of team we are. I know that we are trying to grow as a team.

"We've had some good moments like winning this tournament. But we know there's a long road ahead of us."

Butler sustained a 15-2 run by Arizona (5-1) that gave the Wildcats a 61-57 lead with 3:52 remaining on a layup by freshman guard Kobi Simmons, who had eight points in that surge. Simmons scored all 14 of his points after halftime.

Arizona's season leading scorer Lauri Markkanen, who had a team-high 15 points, fouled out with 3:10 remaining. Butler proceeded to go on a 12-2 run to take control of the game.

"Lauri played through foul trouble and had some tough calls go against him," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "He was not able to assert himself. A couple of fouls he probably could have controlled by being where he was supposed to be."

Butler junior guard Kelan Martin, a preseason All-Big East selection, scored a game-high 16 points and had a key assist late to forward Tyler Wideman, who took the pass in the lane, made the dunk and was fouled by Arizona guard Kadeem Allen.

Wideman converted the 3-point play with 29 seconds left to give Butler a 66-63 lead.

Simmons missed a three-pointer and Allen quickly fouled Butler forward Andrew Chrabascz, who made one of two free throw attempts to increase the lead to 67-63 with 10 seconds left.

Allen was fouled on a drive and missed two free throws with five seconds remaining in Arizona's last gasp.

"Very seldom when we've been up, have we self-destructed like we did today," Miller said. "We self-destructed in the last three minutes on virtually every possession. We weren't able to have the poise to move the ball and to get the right shot."

What also help turn the tide Butler's late run was Holtmann switching to a zone defense, which seemed to disrupt Arizona's offensive flow. The Wildcats went 1 for 7 from the field and committed three turnovers during Butler's rally.

"We had to calm down a little bit and do what we do after we went down by four," Holtmann said. "Players make plays and they did. We had to play within ourselves. We told them to move the ball offensively we told them we were going to switch the defense late.

"We told them to focus on the possession at hand really."

Miller, whose team finished making only 3 of 11 3-pointers, including 0 for 3 in the second half, said his players "were dysfunctional offensively" down the stretch.

"We were not a smart team late in the game," he said. "They came out of a time out and switched to a zone and we lost our poise. We forced a shot. We had a couple of turnovers and they were a byproduct of trying to do something individually instead of as a group."

Arizona next hosts Southern Texas on Wednesday before playing against No. 11 Gonzaga on Dec. 3 in Los Angeles. Butler travels to Utah for a game Monday night.

NOTES: Arizona started its season 5-0 for the fifth consecutive year before the loss. ... Butler junior guard Kelan Martin was the Bulldogs' only scorer averaging in double figures with 16.2 points a game. With 60 field goal attempts entering Friday's game, he also took 21 more shots than the next player (guard Avery Woodson). ... Entering the game, Arizona junior point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright had 28 assists with only seven turnovers, a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. ... The Wildcats had a 3-0 series edge over Butler before Friday, including a win in the 2001 NCAA tournament second round en route to the school's fourth and last appearance in the Final Four.