UA-N.C. State game blog: It’s Wise again for the victory
by Anthony Gimino on Dec. 23, 2009, under SportsFinal, Arizona 76, N.C. State 74: Nic Wise is giving himself a bit more margin of error. He hits the game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds left on a full-court sprint after Javier Gonzalez tied the game at 74 with a driving layup. Wise cut it closer against Lipscomb with a 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left on Monday.
Wise’s heroics erased a furious finish by Gonzalez, who scored 10 points in the final 30.4 seconds.
As Fox Sports Net announcer said after the game, “I’m glad I was here.”
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20.4 seconds left, Arizona 71, N.C. State: Not over yet. Javier Gonzalez hits a tough 3 from the corner under pressure. Arizona is going to have to hit more free throws down the stretch. Cue Nic Wise.
Arizona had an 8-point lead with less than a minute left.
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28.1 seconds left, Arizona 71, N.C. State 67: Nic Wise (a 96 percent free throw shooter heading into the game) misses his second of the game, but makes one to make it a two-possession game. Wise actually missed another free throw earlier, but got a second chance because of a lane violation. That point looks awfully big right now.
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1:06 left, Arizona 67, N.C. State: Like I wrote earlier … a couple of defensive stops. Arizona has made two plays around the basket — Jamelle Horne drew a charge against Dennis Horner, Derrick Williams swatted an in-close shot from Horner and then Horner, going for the trick, missed a short shot in the lane. Horne grabbed the rebound.
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1:47 timeout, Arizona 65, N.C. State 61: Welcome back, Jamelle Horne. After missing the last game with a foot injury, he has 12 points and six rebounds … and he drew a key charge against Dennis Horner with 2 minutes left to preserve a four-point lead.
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3:11 timeout, N.C. State 61, Arizona 61: Wise actually missed one of his free throws, but he came up with a steal on the other end. Does Wise and Arizona coach Sean Miller, one of the top free throw shooters in Big East history, ever go head-to-head from the foul line in practice?
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3:38 timeout, N.C. State 61, Arizona 60: How does every feel about another overtime game? It could be headed that way. Nic Wise — 48 of 50 from the free throw line this season — is set to shoot his first two foul shots of the game after the timeout. What the Wildcats could use is a couple of defensive stops. N.C. State is 15 of 28 in the second half.
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7:41 timeout, N.C. State 53, Arizona 52: It’s not Arizona-Lipscomb (yet), but this has turned into a thriller. The game has taken a nasty turn for the Wildcats, though, as Nic Wise committed his fourth foul with 7:41 left on a 3-pointer by Javier Gonzalez … who then makes the free throw after the timeout for a 54-52 lead.
Interesting coaching move as Wise stays in the game. It could backfire, but Wise is a senior who knows how to handle himself. One big thing tonight: Wise has not gone to the foul line.
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11:41 timeout, Arizona 47, N.C. State 42: UA freshman post player Derrick Williams scored 11 points in the first eight minutes of the half, scoring five baskets a variety of ways around the basket. He has 21 points. That’s his third 20-point game of the season, and he’s only seven away from his career high, set earlier this month in an overtime loss at UNLV.
Williams stopped a 9-0 N.C. State run with two layups. The Wolfpack had pulled within 35-34.
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15:20 timeout, Arizona 35, N.C. State 29: Nic Wise has picked up his third foul, which is potential trouble for the Wildcats. Alex Jacobson was the first big man off the bench in the half and is eating up the minutes that were going to freshman Kyryl Natyazhko not too long ago. Sean Miller has already used nine players before the half is five minutes old.
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Halftime, Arizona 31, N.C. State 23: The Wildcats end the half on 21-10 run. As coach Sean Miller expected, the Wolfpack is throwing different defenses at Arizona, including man-to-man, a 2-3 zone and a 1-3-1 zone. Arizona made 12 of 27 shots in the first half (44.4 percent).
Jamelle Horne has nine points for Arizona. Derrick Williams leads the way with 10.
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3:12 timeout, Arizona 23, N.C. State 15: The crowd goes wild as 7-footer Alex Jacobson, who wasn’t moving well on offense, finds himself alone with the ball above the 3-point line as the shot clock is winding down. Nothing to do except take the shot … and he makes it from straightaway. Arizona is on a 13-2 run. The Wolfpack has 10 turnovers and is shooting 33.3 percent from the field (7 of 21).
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5:33 timeout, Arizona 18, N.C. State 15: With Nic Wise picking up two early fouls, MoMo Jones has played significant time at the point in the first half. Has it always been this obvious he has no left-hand dribble? And just because he has no left hand, that doesn’t make him the second coming of Jerryd Bayless.
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11:55 timeout, Arizona 10, N.C. State 10: UA freshman forward Kevin Parrom, who has not played this season because of a stress fracture in a foot, has now played this season. He entered with 12:12 to play in the first half. The Wildcats had a 9-0 run to take a 10-8 lead, but center Alex Jacobson had a bad stretch, losing a ball underneath off his hands that led to a fast-break basket and then committing a foul on the offensive end.
Encouraging, though, that the Cats have quickly re-added Jamelle Horne to the lineup and seen the debut of Kevin Parrom.
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15:41 timeout, N.C. State 8, Arizona 6: No need to worry about Jamelle Horne’s foot injury. After missing Monday’s game, Horne comes off the bench and shows his athleticism and energy, first hitting a 3-pointer and then stealing the ball near halfcourt and dribbling in for an all-alone power dunk. He had no problems going up or coming down.
Horne has helped inspire a fire-up late-night crowd at McKale. Loaded up on caffeine?
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The crowd is unhappy with the second foul on UA point guard Nic Wise with 17:26 left in the half, but … it was a foul. He goes to the bench.
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Freshman center Kyryl Natyazhko makes his second consecutive start in place on an injured Jamelle Horne. Question is, how long until Sean Miller goes to a smaller lineup or puts in Alex Jacobson, who was effective Monday night against Lipscomb. Miller immediately unhappy as he calls a 30-second timeout with 18:57 left after N.C. State takes a 4-0 lead.
To answer my own question, I was typing this, Horne comes in the game for Natyazhko.
OK then.
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It turns out that Arizona junior forward Jamelle Horne won’t even be out until January. Wildcats coach Sean Miller said after Monday’s overtime victory over Lipscomb that Horne said he might be out until February with some sort of a mid-foot injury.
Call it a Christmas miracle.
Horne is warming up, and although he is not expected to start, should play tonight. He is the team’s leading rebounder at 8.1 per game and the team’s third-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game.
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