Arizona has a chance in the final seconds, with Solomon Hill coming up with a steal at halfcourt and passing to Nick Johnson behind the 3-point line. His 3-point shot at the buzzer came up well short, and Division II Seattle Pacific wins 69-68.
Johnson finished with a team-high 18 points.
Arizona was out-rebounded 29-20 and was consistently beaten inside for easy points by SPU’s cuts and sharp passing.
Tweets former Arizona Wildcat, the star of last season’s team: “That’s embarrassing.”
* * *
Jobi Wall is all alone under the basket for an easy layup, as Seattle Pacific takes a 67-65 lead. UA coach Sean Miller calls timeout with 2:13 to go.
* * *
Nick Johnson to the rescue. He hits back-to-back 3-pointers to give Arizona a 63-61 at the final media timeout — 3:44 to play. Johnson has a team-high 16 points and has made 3 of 4 shots from behind the arc.
* * *
Now, it’s SPU making mistakes, throwing the ball away to nobody on one possession and following it up with a blocking foul on the next possession. Arizona is withing 61-57 with 6:23 to play, and the crowd is fully engaged in the game.
* * *
Life Without Derrick: Arizona getting out-rebounded 23-15 and is still playing catch-up, down 57-48 to Seattle Pacific with 8:21 to play. Let’s just say Kyryl Natyazhko’s post defense has been lacking.
* * *
Nick Johnson doing his best to keep Arizona close, hitting a 3-pointer to counter Jeff Dorman’s 3-pointer on the previous possession. Despite more intensity, Arizona still trails 51-42 with 11:42 to play, with Johnson tied for the team lead with Solomon Hill with 10 points.
Jobi Wall has 20 points for Seattle Pacific, making 4 of 8 3-pointers.
* * *
With the crowd on its feet like it is a Pac-12 game, freshman guard Nick Johnson scores four straight points — on a layup and an 18-foot jumper to cut Seattle Pacific’s lead to 46-37 with 13:43 to go. There is now an energy in McKale Center you would have thought Arizona would not have needed tonight.
* * *
This is life with Derrick Williams … or as radio analyst Matt Muehlebach said before the game, “LWD.”
* * *
The tenor of this exhibition has changed from “useful warm-up” to “oh my god, we better make a comeback or else we’re going to lose to Seattle Pacific.”
Arizona’s sloppy play from the first has bled into the second half, with the Cats having 11 turnovers as they trail 46-33 with 15:53 to play.
Could this Arizona team be picked to win the Pac-12 in Friday’s Media Day?
* * *
Arizona has been out of sync and mostly slumbering in the first half as it works four freshmen into the rotation and tries out various lineup permutations.
Combine that with the fact that Seattle Pacific is a pretty good Division II team — ranked 24th nationally — and knows what it is doing on offense and defense … and, well, you have this surprising halftime score:
Seattle Pacific 37, Arizona 29.
The Cats trailed 35-22 with more than a minute left, but did finish on a high note, including a 3-point play on a driving layup by Nick Johnson.
* * *
Seattle Pacific is a team that is going to run some offense and pass the ball, making Arizona’s freshmen, especially, work and be sound defensively. The Falcons have been able to find holes in the Cats’ defense, getting inside and making 11 of 18 shots from the field with 4:43 to go in the half. They lead 25-21.
* * *
Seattle Pacific has made 8 of 13 shots and leads 19-15 with 7:55 to play in the half at a media timeout.
* * *
Each of Arizona’s center combination of Kyryl Natyazhko and Sidiki Johnson picked up a foul for an illegal screen in the first 10 minutes. Might as well say it: Derrick Williams wouldn’t have done that.
* * *
Coach Sean Miller is using his bench — all 10 healthy scholarship players within the first eight minutes — but Seattle Pacific has the lead 15-13 with 11:13 to play in the first half.
* * *
Three subs for Arizona after the first media timeout: C Sidiki Johnson, PG Jordin Mayes and SG Nick Johnson.
* * *
It was a busy first four minutes for freshman Josiah Turner. The point guard picked up an assist in the first minute, whipping a left-handed pass into the post for Kyryl Natyazhko, who finished for two points.
Later, Turner spotted a opening in the lane and made a quick drive to the hoop, although he couldn’t convert. Defensively, he picked up a blocking foul near halfcourt (that won’t make Sean Miller happy), but he later made a nice block against David Downs, who was trying to get off a short jumper from the right baseline.
* * *
Junior Kyryl Natyazhko starts at center over freshman Sidiki Johnson, and freshman Josiah Turner gets the call to start at point guard over sophomore Jordin Mayes. That might mean something; it might not. Those are the positions where the starters are not entrenched, so these exhibitions and early season games will tell the tale.
* * *
The Arizona Wildcats begin their exhibition season tonight at McKale Center against Seattle Pacific, with coach Sean Miller intent on getting his four freshmen ready for an early flurry of game, beginning Nov. 7 against Valparaiso.
Junior wing Kevin Parrom, who was in New York City early this week to attend to the funeral of his mother, is back with the team and is dressed out for the game, although he won’t play. He is going through lay-up drills in warm-ups and wearing knee-high CATS socks, a la Jason Terry.
We’re have updates and analysis from the game right here, so keep checking back.
The game will be telecast live on Fox College Sports. Fox Sports Arizona will have a replay at 11 p.m. You can also watch the game streaming on the internet with an All-Access pass at ArizonaWildcats.com.
