Arizona wins its fifth consecutive game by surviving Washington State 76-72. Brendon Lavender hit two huge free throws with 10.1 seconds left for the final margin.
It wasn’t always pretty — it usually isn’t with the Wildcats — but UA found a way to win a tricky road game and basically accomplish what it wanted on this road trip. Arizona can do no worse than a split, and should be able to play free and easy in a big game at Washington on Saturday.
When the game was on the line in the final 90 seconds, Arizona played very well on offense.
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Kyle Fogg hits two free throws with 19.6 seconds left for a 74-70 lead. A quick layup by the Cougs makes it a two-point game again with 13 seconds to go.
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Brock Motum shooting three free throws with 21 seconds left … miss, miss, good. He has 28 points but missed six consecutive free throws until making that last one. UA by two points.
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Two great entry passes — one from Solomon Hill and the other from Josiah Turner — feed Jesse Perry for key layups. He converts a three-point play for a 72-69 lead with 38.8 seconds left.
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The Wildcats have gone cold, going about three minutes without scoring as the game is tied at 67 with 1:31 to go. With the way this game is going, Arizona needs to let Solomon Hill try to take over in the final 91 seconds.
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Here we go. Arizona up 67-65 at the final media timeout — 3:53 to play. Washington State will have the ball after the timeout.
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Solomon Hill has been impressive in the second half, very clever driving to the hoop as this one is going down the wire, with UA leading 67-65 with 4:28 to go.
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Brock Motum entered the game having scored at least 20 points in four of the past five games, and the Wildcats haven’t had an answer to end his hot streak. Motum, now working against Solomon Hill, had 24 points with about six minutes to play.
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Fox Sports Net’s Ernie Kent is right about this: Kyryl Natyazhko can’t guard Brock Motum. Motum gets the ball on the perimeter and steps back for an open 3-point shot … which is good. There is 8:11 to go, and Miller goes back to Jesse Perry, who has four fouls, in the post.
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B-Lav is red hot, nailing a 3-pointer — his fifth of the game — in transition for a 59-57 lead with 9:18 to go. He’s been very good since the Cats lost Kevin Parrom and Jordin Mayes to injury.
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Washington State’s 8-0 run was good for a five-point lead before Solomon Hill made a layup. Cougars are up 57-54 halfway through the half.
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Oops. Fourth foul on Angelo Chol with 11:19 to go. Jesse Perry, with four fouls, is coming back in. Arizona can’t guard Brock Motum without fouling him.
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Brendon Lavender is the perfect answer to WSU’s zone. He was 4 of 5 from 3-point range in the first meeting, and is 4 of 5 from behind the arc tonight. Arizona needs all of it as the game is tied at 52 with 11:36 to play.
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Brock Motum has 17 points for Washington State, but he also has committed five turnovers … so that’s something for Arizona to feel good about.
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Three fouls on Chol with 15:41 to go. Might we see Kyryl Natyazhko?
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Angelo Chol misses a layup with about 16:30 to play. That would have given him a career-high 10 points. He has tied his career best with eight.
Game is tied at 42 with 15:56 to play.
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Bad start to the second half for the Cats. Brock Motum works with his back to the basket and beats Jesse Perry with a drop-step to the baseline, converting a three-point play and picking up the third foul on Perry.
And then Perry picks up his fourth foul with 19:24 to go on a charging call. Yikes. Arizona needs all Angelo Chol can give.
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What has become of Arizona’s defense? The Cats have allowed the opponent to make 37 of 73 shots in the past 60 minutes of hoops.
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Halftime. Arizona leads 40-39, thanks to Nick Johnson’s blocked shot at the rim in the final seconds as Reggie Moore drove to the basket. Both teams are shooting well — Arizona is at 46.7 percent and WSU is at 51.9 percent. Which team can keep it going in the second half? I’ll take the Cats.
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And now Turner picks up an offensive foul after dishing to the perimeter when driving along the baseline. It’s a fine line between not being aggressive enough and being too aggressive, and Turner hasn’t always been able to find that sweet spot as a freshman.
WSU leads 35-34 with 3:27 to go in the half.
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Josiah Turner has a bad sequence. He is out of control driving to the hoop — and gets no call as players crash to the floor — and then he gets lost on a screen as his man cuts to the basket for a layup.
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Josiah Turner and Brendon Lavender now with back-to-back 3-pointers. When the Cougars let up even a little bit on defense, Arizona is making them pay, hitting 4 of 7 from behind the arc.
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Jesse Perry picks up his second foul with 9:25 to go in the half, as Brock Motum makes two free throws. Arizona doesn’t want to send the good-shooting Cougars to the line, especially Motum, who was 10 of 10 in the teams’ first meeting.
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So little has come easy for the Wildcats this season, and this night seems to be no different. Washington State has had a couple of tough 3-pointers and Brock Motum showed his nimble footwork with a spin past Angelo Chol, ending in a finger-roll layup. WSU leads 19-15 with 10:56 to go in the half, with Jesse Perry shooting a free throw.
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Here come the 3-pointers — back to back from Solomon Hill and Kyle Fogg. When the Wildcats can get good looks in transition, they are hard to beat. An 8-0 UA run ties the game at 11 with 13:13 to go.
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Sean Miller says he really isn’t the superstitious type — at least when it comes to what he wears — but note that the Wildcats are wearing red road uniforms for the third consecutive time after its Bay Area sweep.
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WSU opens in its 2-3 zone — no surprise — and Arizona brings in zone-busting Brendon Lavender with 16:50 to go in the half. He made 4 of 5 3-pointers in the first meeting.
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A slow start? Have we seen this before? Coach Sean Miller used his first timeout with 17:35 to go in the first half after his team fell behind 7-0. Arizona missed its first three shots and committed a turnover in the opening stretch.
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Arizona begins its last out-of-state road trip of the regular season, taking on Washington State tonight in Pullman. The Cougars are 9-2 at home (8-1 in Beasley Coliseum).
The Wildcats (18-8 overall, 9-4 in the Pac-12) are at an interesting point of the season. With a sweep of the Washington State, Arizona would be well-positioned to win the conference’s regular season title. With two losses, the Cats could very well find themselves on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Arizona enters the game on a four-game winning streak — matching its longest of the season — but coach Sean Miller will want to see more effort than he saw in a close call against Utah on Saturday.
Washington State’s 6-10 junior Brock Motum has been outstanding lately, averaging 20.5 points in conference games. With his inside-outside skills, he’ll be a tough matchup for UA’s big guys (who aren’t that big).
“He’s very physical,” Miller said of Motum.
“He rebounds the ball at a very high level. He can score both facing the basket and with his back to the basket. … He’s really one of the hardest individual players to guard in our conference.”