Kevin Parrom goes up for two points in the first half against Oregon State. Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE
Arizona safely puts away a 70-59 victory over Oregon State, giving coach Sean Miller his first victory over the Beavers in four tries.
Not the prettiest of efforts, but it ends Arizona’s two-game losing streak and puts the Cats one game away from a perfect home season. They are 16-0 at McKale.
Now, it’s all about Saturday as the Wildcats (24-6 overall, 13-4 Pac-10) go for the outright Pac-10 title in a noon game against Oregon on CBS. UCLA lost at Washington, so Arizona has a one-game lead over the Bruins.
Even if the teams tie, Arizona has the tie-breaker edge and already has earned the No. 1 seed for the Pac-10 tournament.
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Quiet second half for Derrick Williams, who has no points and one rebound up to the 4:23 mark. After a timeout, he makes two free throws for his points of the half. UA leads 64-53.
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Sean Miller calls a 30-second timeout after his defense gives up a wide-open layup to Devon Collier. Miller walks out on the court, with his arms spread, palms up in a “What the heck?” expression.
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With a few more 3-point makes, Arizona would have made a blowout of this game. As it is, the Wildcats hold a 60-48 lead with 5:43 to play. That should be a safe margin … unless UA plays as poorly down the stretch tonight as it did last week at USC.
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Oregon State cuts the lead to 50-43 with about nine minutes left, bringing the McKale crowd to its feet to exhort on the Cats. Kyle Fogg responds with a 3-pointer.
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Intentional foul on Oregon State’s Jared Cunningham robs us of a Derrick Williams’ fast-break dunk. He goes to the line, missing both of the foul shots.
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Arizona now 3 of 16 from 3-point range, helping Oregon State hang around. The Wildcats lead 44-36 with 13:01 to play in a sloppy game for both teams.
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Sean Miller said this week he wanted to get Kevin Parrom more minutes. He has. Parrom played 14 minutes in the first half. He averages 19.
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UCLA leads Washington 25-24 at halftime. Sounds like a real thriller.
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Arizona led 34-23 at the half and has maintained that margin early in the second half as the scoring pace has picked up. Cats lead 42-31 with 15:45 to play. They should pull away at home against an inferior opponent. We’ll see.
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An ugly half of basketball. There was Arizona’s poor shooting (2 of 13 from 3-point range) and Oregon State’s inability to take care of the ball and find any rhythm on offense (14 turnovers).
The story has been the bounce-back of Derrick Williams after a poor trip last week to the L.A. schools. He has 13 points and 11 rebounds.
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Derrick Williams scores his 11th point with 1:23 to play in the half, giving him a double-double. He already has 10 rebounds.
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Mocking my previous entry, Derrick Williams makes two free throws with 3:22 to go in the half to give Arizona a 26-18 lead with 3:21 to play.
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Derrick Williams is shooting 1 of 4 from the line tonight. He has made 4 of 14 free throw attempts against Oregon State this season. He is shooting 78.8 percent (189 of 240) vs. everyone else.
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It can be done: Kyle Fogg hits UA’s first 3-pointer of the game with 5:14 to play in the half after the Cats missed their first nine attempts from beyond the arc. Arizona leads 22-14.
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The crowd gives ex-Wildcat Mohamed Tangara a nice ovation as he is introduced on the video board. Read the account of Tangara’s recent escape from Libya, as told by TucsonCitizen.com’s Christopher Wuensch.
Tangara is sitting at McKale next to Lute Olson.
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Shots not falling. Arizona shooting 31.6 percent (6 of 19). This comes after shooting 35.8 percent at UCLA and a miserable 31.5 percent at UCLA.
Still, Cats lead 16-14 with 7:48 to play.
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Arizona — the Pac-10′s best 3-point shooting team — is 0-for-8 from 3-point range. It’s not one for the basketball textbooks so far; Cats lead 10-9 with 11:18 to play.
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Derrick Williams gets to the line for the first time with 14:10 to play in the first half. He had only six attempts in the two games in L.A. last week after averaging more than nine per game.
And … Williams misses both attempts here.
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It takes Oregon State about four minutes to score, as Ahmad Starks hits a pull-up jumper on a semi-fast break. Arizona leads 4-2 with 15:35 to play, having launched too many 3-pointers so far … to no avail.
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Same starting lineup for Arizona after rumblings that there could be some changes.
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As was easily predicted, Arizona added “The Block’ to its pregame video at McKale Center, but a nice surprise was the addition of Damon Stoudamire to the roster of UA legends with speaking parts.
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I’ve been told the tape on Derrick Williams’ fingers is pink, not orange. Whatever. It still looks orange from our seats from the corner of McKale.
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I added up Arizona’s shooting percentage during its three-game losing streak to Oregon State, which has given the Cats trouble with its 1-3-1 zone defense. I expected the number to be lower.
Thing is, Arizona is shooting 45.5 percent against the Beavers in that stretch, which is plenty respectable. The Wildcats average about 51 shots per game against OSU in that stretch, a few below their usual average. Again, not a huge difference.
What coach Sean Miller says he would like to see against the zone is more patience.
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Derrick Williams not wearing the big white bandage on his right hand in warm-ups. Two fingers wrapped with orange tape.
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We’re here for tonight’s Arizona-Oregon State basketball game, as Wildcats coach Sean Miller looks to win his first game in four tries against the Beavers.
While there was grumbling about the Wildcats’ play — rightfully so — while getting swept in Los Angeles last week, all could be well by about 2 p.m. Sunday after the game against Oregon. Arizona, tied for the Pac-10 lead with UCLA, will earn at least a share of the league title by finishing off the home season with a perfect record.
The Arizona game tonight will tip-off as the same time as UCLA-Washington on ESPN2, so we’ll keep an eye on that as UA fans hope for a Huskies’ victory.
Check back during the game for updates and analysis and other silliness, and have your say in the comments section as Arizona tries to get back on track.