Wildcats win 65-63 as the Cougars’ Klay Thompson, who struggled all night on offense, misses a turnaround jumper in the lane. The clock runs out as WSU corrals the rebound.
Arizona improves to 16-4 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-10, tied for second play with UCLA.
It wasn’t pretty for Arizona, but we know by now that this isn’t a pretty team. What matters for the Wildcats is that they have Derrick Williams be Derrick Williams … and everybody else has to keep grinding, especially on defense.
Williams was Williams — 17 points, 19 rebounds.
And Arizona’s work on the boards, plus some clutch late 3-point shooting from Jamelle Horne (who had been invisible for more than 70 minutes of game time on this road trip), helps UA get the all-important road split.
Sometimes, it also just helps when the other guys aren’t making shots. WSU missed 18 of its last 20 3-point shots. Cougs probably should have been more intent on getting the ball inside.
* * *
Kyle Fogg at the line with 15.8 seconds left. Remember, he hit three in a row vs. USC last season. Of course, he misses both …
* * *
WSU answers quickly on a basket by DeAngelo Casto with 22.5 seconds left.
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MoMo Jones handles the pressure in the backcourt, eventually getting fouled with 29.0 seconds left. First one good; second one good. Two possession game: 65-61.
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Klay Thompson grabs a rebound and scores on a putback to cut the Arizona lead to 63-61 with 36.5 seconds left.
* * *
With shot clock running down, Derrick Williams drives into the lane with his left hand and gets fouled. He heads to the free throw line with 48.4 seconds left. He makes one for a 63-59 lead.
* * *
Another 3-ball from Horne.
* * *
Jamelle Horne responds with a clutch 3-pointer. You never know what you’re going to get from Horne.
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Faisal Aden drains a 3-pointer from the corner. Big shot. WSU gets within 56-55 at 2:34 to go.
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Derrick Williams back at the line with 2:51 to go. He makes both for a 56-52 lead. That’s 16 points and 19 rebounds for D-Will.
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Kyle Fogg hits a jumper for a 54-52 lead with 3:30 to go.
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Intentional foul on Marcus Capers. Officials rule he pulled down Derrick Williams on the rebound before the timeout. Williams then misses both free throws. Huge misses. But UA gets possession.
* * *
MoMo Jones gives UA the lead at 52-50 with two free throws with 4:19 to go … and that didn’t last long. Marcus Capers ties it for WSU but misses the free throw (another miss!) on the and-one play.
* * *
Arizona putting the hex on WSU from the foul line. WSU only 7 of 14 from the stripe. One of the reasons why the Wildcats are hanging around, tying the game at 50 with 5 minutes to go.
* * *
Programming note: Our Javier Morales is covering UA signee Nick Johnson tonight as his Findlay Prep team plays Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Javier says the UCLA coach Ben Howland arrived in the building to watch after his Bruins beat Stanford today in Pauley Pavilion.
* * *
Lack of go-to guy evident without Williams in lineup. He returns to the court with seven minutes left.
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Critical spot for Arizona: Derrick Williams picks up his fourth foul with 8:17 to play; he heads to the bench.
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Jesse Perry with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to tie the game at 47. His second 3-pointer of the season.
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Derrick Williams with a career-high 15 rebounds. WSU leads 45-42 with 10:02 to go.
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Klay Thompson: seven points, seven assists, seven rebounds. He’s suffering through a poor shooting night but still making an impact.
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Derrick Williams pours in a 3-pointer to stop WSU’s 9-0 run.
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Officials hit Sean Miller with a technical foul (but Klay Thompson misses both foul shots) on the play involving Kevin Parrom’s elbow. Can’t wait to hear what Miller has to say about this after the game.
* * *
It’s a 9-0 run by the Cougars. They lead 45-37 with just under 12 minutes to go.
* * *
Certainly, no intent on Kevin Parrom hitting WSU’s Faisal Aden with his elbow. Hardly even a foul. Fox Sports Northwest announcers have no idea what’s going on.
* * *
Did not know this until I just looked it up: Kyryl Natyazhko has failed to score in four of six Pac-10 games. He has not scored tonight. Really, could Alex Jacobson be worse?
* * *
Arizona retakes the lead (briefly) at 37-36. Game sloppy, but somewhat entertaining, in the second half.
* * *
Yes, the Fox Sports Northwest announcer just called the Wildcats “Arizona State.”
* * *
No momentum carryover for Arizona, which comes out cold. WSU scores the first five points of the half for a 36-32 lead … but Kyle Fogg comes back with a 3-pointer.
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Arizona with 26-12 rebounding edge in first half.
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Derrick Williams with 11 rebounds in the first half. Career high: 14 (vs. New Mexico State this season).
* * *
Arizona battles back from double-digit deficit to lead 32-31 at halftime. As mentioned below, Cats crashing the offensive boards, hitting 3-pointers and WSU shooter Klay Thompson is cold from the field.
Overall, not bad after the Cougars looked like they were going to run Arizona out of the building. WSU led 22-10 at one point.
* * *
Wildcats take first lead with 35.1 seconds left in the half, with Derrick Williams spinning to his right and finishing with his left hand … plus the foul. His three-point play makes it 32-29.
* * *
Tie game at 29 as Solomon Hill hits a 3-pointer with about a minute to play.
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Wow … Derrick Williams with 11 rebounds with two minutes to go before halftime.
* * *
Kyryl Natyazhko with a quick jumper (was that an air ball?). That’s not the shot coach Sean Miller is looking for.
* * *
Arizona was withstood the early Washington State charge. Call it a combination of UA’s offensive rebounding, 3-point shooting (Brendon Lavender and Jordin Mayes hit in recent minutes) and a cold shooting night from WSU star Klay Thompson.
The Cats have cut the lead to 24-22 with 3:05 to play before halftime.
* * *
Brendon Lavender and MoMo Jones have hit 3-pointers for Arizona — and Derrick Williams has a dunk off a 3-point miss from Kyle Fogg — but Washington State is much more in sync and energetic offensively.
Cougs lead 22-15 with 6:52 to go in the half.
* * *
Are NBA scouts noticing that DeAngelo Casto is dominating Derrick Williams down low? As mentioned below in this post, Casto had his way with Arizona last season, and tonight is no different.
WSU leads 18-7 with 11:09 to play in the half.
* * *
Arizona’s interior defense … what interior defense?
* * *
Kevin Parrom guarding Klay Thompson is a matchup I can live with. Thompson staying in the game with those two fouls.
* * *
Good news for Arizona: Klay Thompson picks up his second foul with 14:26 to go in the half. WSU leads 10-5.
* * *
Dueling blocks: Jamelle Horne on Klay Thompson … and then an even more emphatic one from WSU’s DeAngelo Casto from behind as Kyle Fogg drives to the basket.
* * *
Klay Thompson hits a 3-pointer for a 10-2 lead. In the big-man battle, DeAngelo Casto has the early edge with four points and a block of Derrick Williams. WSU leads 10-2 at the first media timeout with 15:10 to play in the half.
Arizona coach Sean Miller, who called timeout earlier, already has subbed in Jordin Mayes, Kevin Parrom and Jamelle Horne.
* * *
Reggie Moore hits from way behind the 3-point line. Is it going to be one of those nights for Arizona? The Wildcats will let him shoot that one all night long.
* * *
Cougars come out in a zone. Jesse Perry hitting the offensive boards hard for the Cats.
* * *
First strike made by WSU’s DeAngelo Casto, working down low on Derrick Williams. Nice battle of big men as Casto spins inside for the layup.
* * *
Usual starters for Arizona: Jones, Fogg, Hill, Perry, Williams.
* * *
Ex-Wildcat news: Point guard Mustafa Shakur was called up from the D-League today by the Washington Wizards. He played 10 minutes — with five points, five assists and two blocks in 10 minutes — as Washington upsets the Boston Celtics.
The days of Shakur at the point probably look pretty good to UA fans right about now.
* * *
The Arizona Wildcats try to get a split on the Pac-10 road (which is about the best you can hope for on his trip) by beating Washington State tonight.
Arizona coach Sean Miller talked after Thursday’s 85-68 loss at Washington about how it wasn’t time to push the panic button. The Huskies are the class of the Pac-10. The Wildcats needed to play at their highest level to win that matchup in Seattle … and, clearly, that wasn’t the case. In other words, a loss was understandable.
Will it time to panic if the Cats lose tonight?
Now comes a dangerous Washington State team. Junior shooting guard Klay Thompson is the headliner, the best scorer in the league, and, heaven knows, Arizona has had trouble stopping elite perimeter threats.
But also watch WSU big man DeAngelo Casto. He had a combined 35 points and 18 rebounds in the two games against the Wildcats last season. On Thursday against ASU, Casto had 25 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Granted, the Sun Devils’ inside game is nearly non-existent, but that still shows how capable he is.
This page will be our spot for the in-game updates and analysis. Keep hitting refresh and vent your concerns (or, express your happiness … whatever the case may be) in the comments section.
Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. Tucson time.
In the meantime, who has the best dunk in the Pac-10?