Mark Lyons drives to the basket in the first half. Photo by Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats hung on beat Washington 57-53, snapping a five-game losing streak at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle.
Washington had three shots at the basket after Arizona took a 57-53 lead, the last attempt being a wild 3-pointer from the corner from 7-footer Aziz N’Diaye, attempting his first shot of the season from being the arc. Grant Jerrett grabbed the rebound and threw the ball ahead to Mark Lyons as the Cats ran out the clock.
Arizona, which shot 35.1 percent, improved to 18-2 overall and 6-2 in the Pac-12.
Washington made only 1 of 12 3-point attempts.
Nick Johnson led the Cats with 15 points, and he was also largely responsible for holding C.J. Wilcox to 11 points on 4 of 16 shooting.
The 110 combined points was the lowest total for an Arizona-Washington game since a 65-51 Arizona win on Jan. 4, 1990.
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Washington turns the ball over on an alley-oop pass, and the Huskies foul Nick Johnson with 26.8 seconds left. He shoots one-and-one. Makes both for a four-point lead.
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Nick Johnson a bit out of control in the lane, but he gets fouled with 41 seconds left. He misses the first, makes the second: 55-53.
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The teams trade baskets and Arizona calls timeout with 51.2 seconds left, holding a 54-53 lead.
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Aziz N’Diaye shoots two free throws with 1:36 left … he missed both.
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Kaleb Tarczewski fouls out with 1:36 to go. A free throw early in the second half was his only point after halftime.
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C.J. Wilcox ties the game with 2 of 3 free throws at the 3:05 mark, and Shawn Kemp Jr.’s free throw puts the Huskies up 51-50 with 2:31 to go. Nick Johnson responds with a running one-hander off the glass with 2:03 to go.
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Mark Lyons ties the game at 48, shaking free down low on a nifty head fake. Arizona steals the ball on the other end, with Nick Johnson and Solomon Hill passing their way down court, capped by Hill’s layup for a 50-48 lead with 3:22 to play.
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Washington finally makes a 3-pointer, and it’s a bit of a dagger. C.J. Wilcox drills a shot from the left baseline for a 48-46 lead and a 7-0 run for the Huskies. UW missed its first 10 3-points shots … and now the crowd comes alive for the final stretch.
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Can’t believe there are only a total of 85 points with about six minutes to go. Back when both programs LOVED to run, that would have been something like a halftime total.
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Arizona still has more turnovers (16) than field goals (15) but it has its largest lead of the game at 44-39 with 7:24 to play. Solomon Hill and Mark Lyons have had success lately driving to the basket, but I barely noticed because I’m distracted by Bill Walton howling over the “Werewolves of London.”
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Arizona’s situation looking much brighter. Nick Johnson gives the Cats a 37-35 lead with a 3-pointer with 12:20 to go, off an assist from Solomon Hill, who had grabbed an offensive rebound. UA gathering momentum while Washington’s best player sits because of foul trouble. Bill Walton says that the Cats are “shockingly in control.” Strange game.
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C.J. Wilcox picks up with fourth foul with 13:54 to go as he makes an aggressive play to try to block a Nick Johnson block. Not smart, but great news for the Cats.
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Washington says, “I see your 14 turnovers, Arizona, and I’ll respond by missing my first seven 3-pointers.” Huskies up 33-31 with 15:33 to go. Washington’s C.J. Wilcox, who is averaging 20 points in conference play, has six points on 3 of 11 shooting.
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Second half underway. Shawn Kemp Jr. picks up his third foul 18 seconds into the half. Kaleb Tarczewski makes 1 of 2 free throws to tie his career high with 10 points.
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So, how ugly was that first half? There were a combined 22 turnovers and the teams hit only 1 of 11 3-point shots.
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Washington center Aziz N’Diaye has seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half. He’s erasing or altering plenty of Arizona’s drives into the lane. Sean Miller was concerned about the Huskies’ prowess on the glass, and UW does have an 18-13 rebounding edge.
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Wow. Arizona can’t even get a shot off on the final possession of the half and goes into the break down 28-23. The Huskies scored the final six points of the half, and the Cats committed 12 turnovers.
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Kaleb Tarczewski came to play. He has nine points, and is 5 of 5 from the free throw line. He entered the game making 53.3 percent. (As I finish typing that, he misses a slam dunk. Throw it down, Kaleb!)
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A jumper by Nick Johnson gives Arizona a 21-20 lead with 4:35 to go in the half. The Cats are on an 11-2 run and have overcome 11 turnovers.
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Solomon Hill’s first shot is a jumper with 6:17 left in the half. It’s good.
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The Wildcats have used 10 players in first 13 minutes. Eight of them have turnovers.
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Washington up 20-13 with 7:30 to go in the half. Here is Solomon Hill’s line: 0 points, 0 field goal attempts, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers.
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Angelo Chol has seen about a minute of action in the first half, and now freshman guard Gabe York checks in for Nick Johnson with 8:42 to go.
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Shawn Kemp Jr. picks up his second foul with 10:43 left in the half. Could be a huge break for Arizona is he has to miss time, considering how he has dominated so far.
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As Sean Miller said this week, “We’re getting a lot of teams’ best shot.”
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Shades of the UCLA game. A slow start and shoddy defense. Washington has made 8 of 13 shots, most of the makes coming right around the rim, as it has taken a 16-5 lead with 11:52 to play in the half. Arizona has seven turnovers.
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Kevin Parrom with an early spark off the bench, finding Grant Jerrett along the baseline for a dunk and then hustling to block a fast-break lay-up attempt from behind.
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Washington junior power forward Shawn Kemp Jr. is making his first start of the season, coming off a career-high 12-point effort at Oregon. Kemp has six points already as the Huskies lead 10-3 at the first media timeout, 15:44 to go in the half.
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A turnover and a quick, long 3-point shot from Mark Lyons in the first two minutes. Turnovers happen, but his shot selection is still baffling. Washington is off to an 8-2 start, and Arizona coach Sean Miller calls timeout with 17:04 left.
Raves ESPN announcer Bill Walton: “Washington looks awesome!”
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The Seattle Times’ Percy Allen, in his live game thread, writes that he talked to four NBA scouts in the arena tonight. Writes Allen: “They’re here to look at Wilcox, Lyons, Ashley, Tarczewski and Hill.”
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| Opponent | W | L |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State | 5 | 2 |
| Cal | 4 | 1 |
| Colorado | 2 | 2 |
| Oregon | 4 | 2 |
| Oregon State | 5 | 3 |
| Stanford | 5 | 0 |
| UCLA | 5 | 4 |
| USC | 6 | 2 |
| Utah | 3 | 0 |
| Washington | 2 | 5 |
| Washington State | 4 | 2 |
Arizona coach Sean Miller, in his fourth season with the Wildcats, has a losing record against only Pac-12 opponent.
That would be tonight’s foe — Washington.
Miller is 2-5 against the Huskies, including 0-3 in Seattle, the site of tonight’s game. (See Miller’s record vs. Pac-12 teams in chart on the right.)
Miller, who is 45-23 against Pac-12 teams (including the conference tournament) called the atmosphere at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion “the best arena that we go into.”
“The crowd is revved up. It’s always packed, energized,” he said.
But it’s more than the student section behind the visitor’s bench.
“We’ve played against three really good teams, too, up there,” Miller said.
“The crowd is really on top of you, but most importantly, they have an excellent team and they play with a lot of effort. If they had no people in the stands or just a mediocre crowd, a talented team that plays really hard is always difficult.”
The Huskies (12-8, 4-3) have had their ups and downs this season after losing guards Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten early to the NBA. Washington has lost three in a row after a 4-0 start in conference play that included road wins at Washington State, Cal and Stanford.
Washington senior center Aziz N’Diaye will be a load for Arizona’s freshman big men; he’s averaging 10.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. Junior guard C.J. Wilcox leads Washington with 19.0 points per game, shooting 41.9 percent from 3-point range.
“They have one of the most dynamic players, not only in our conference, but in the country, in Wilcox,” Miller said.
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Arizona allows opponents to shoot only 39.9 percent, and Washington coach Lorenzo Romar made note of the Cats’ perimeter defense in his weekly press conference with Husky reporters. “They have some guys that are really scrappy,” Romar said. “A perimeter full of junkyard dogs. They’re very physical, very mentally tough.”
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Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports was in Tucson last week, not just to be at the Arizona-UCLA game but to work on a feature on Sean Miller and his coaching family. Great stuff on the Millers, especially from the father, John Miller. Go to Yahoo! Sports for the story.