Solomon Hill makes one of his six 3-pointers in the first half. Photo by James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona beats Washington State 79-65 to finish the first half of the Pac-12 season at 7-2, tied with Oregon for first place.
The Cats were in good offensive rhythm most of the game, with Solomon Hill leading the charge early (18 first-half points) and getting a balanced effort after the break.
Hill went scoreless in the second half. Mark Lyons finished with 20 points. Kaleb Tarczewski had 10 for the third consecutive game. Brandon Ashley scored 10, too. Nick Johnson, battling the flu, had six points in 30 minutes.
Eighth-ranked Arizona swept the road trip to the Washington schools for the first time since 2006.
The Cats (19-2) return home to play Stanford on Wednesday night at 7.
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Mark Lyons with a dagger — a 3-pointer with 3:04 to play and then a steal and layup. That puts Arizona up 71-56.
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Brandon Ashley fouls out with 4:44 to go. He finishes with 10 points and five rebounds.
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It’s been a nice all-around game for Arizona’s four freshmen. Brandon Ashley has flashed a mid-range game and made 4 of 5 shots. Brandon Jerrett has four blocked shots so far. Gabe York has played more than usual, hitting a 3-pointer. Kaleb Tarczewski has eight points with five minutes to go. Solid everywhere.
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Arizona can’t start the bus just yet. Washington State is hanging around, down 62-51 with 6:45 to play. Solomon Hill after 18 first-half points (all on 3-pointers) is scoreless in the second half, including 0 for 2 on 3-point attempts.
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Solomon Hill is on the court with the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th player in the rotation. Arizona is up 16 halfway through the second half. The Cats should be able to bring this one home despite the foul trouble and loss of Kevin Parrom.
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Now Kaleb Tarczewski has four fouls. Good thing Arizona is deep.
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Nick Johnson’s first points of the game come with 13:03 left as he drives and dunks. On the next possession, Johnson picks up his fourth assist with a crisp pass to Gabe York, who drains a 3-pointer. The second half should be a good audition for York, too, who is earning the trust of coach Sean Miller.
Arizona is up 57-38 with 11:54 to go.
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Mark Lyons picks up his fourth foul with 17:21 to play. Lots of time coming up for Jordin Mayes, an opportunity for him to gather some confidence. Brandon Ashley, soon after, also picks up his fourth foul. Could get tricky for the Cats in the second half, although they lead 48-34 with 16:11 to go.
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Washington holds off Arizona State in a thriller, 96-92, dropping the Sun Devils to 6-3 in the league. That means that Arizona would be tied with only Oregon atop the league at 7-2 if it beats Washington State. Jahii Carson had 32 points for Arizona State.
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Solomon Hill tied a school record with his six 3-pointers in a half (Salim Stoudamire, Matt Othick and Chris Mills also did it). Stoudamire holds the school record for 3-pointers in a game with 9, set against Oregon State on Feb. 20, 2005, on 14 attempts.
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Arizona had two bad things happen in the first half — Kevin Parrom was ejected, Mark Lyons picked up three fouls — but good shooting has a way of erasing mistakes. The Cats make eight 3-pointers in the half — six from Solomon Hill — who launches a last-second shot from three-quarters court … and banks it in.
Hill has 18 points as Arizona leads 40-26.
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Solomon Hill’s seventh 3-point attempt of the game is an air ball with 27 seconds left.
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Wow. Solomon Hill now 5 of 6 on 3-pointers.
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The Cats are liking the 3-point shot tonight against a Washington State team that is sometimes playing zone. Arizona is 6 of 15 from behind the arc (6 of 12 inside it) with a 34-20 lead with about three minutes to go before the break.
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Solomon Hill drills his fourth 3-pointer of the half to give Arizona a 31-18 lead.
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That’s three fouls on Mark Lyons with 5:51 to go in the first half, and the Cats already down a perimeter player after the ejection of Kevin Parrom. Two of Lyons’ fouls came on charges.
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Solomon Hill is hot, hitting 3 of 4 3-point attempts. That puts him at nearly 50 percent in conference play: 17 of 35. Arizona leads 26-16 with 7:16 to go in the half; Washington State has turned the ball over eight times.
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Grant Jerrett with two blocks in the span of a couple of minutes. He’s so long and quick that he should end up being the best shot-blocker of the UA’s freshman big men.
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Kevin Parrom is tossed from the game with 10:42 to go in the first half after he backhands WSU’s DaVonte Lacy in the face with his right fist. Parrom and Lacy were jostling for a rebound and Parrom shot out his right hand. Pretty easy call for the officials.
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Gabe York comes in at the 11:56 timeout and, on UA’s first offensive possession, fires up a 3-point attempt from straightaway that is wide right off the glass. Ouch.
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Washington State doesn’t really have an edge on Arizona in any area, and the Cougars are probably going to have to shoot lights out to win. WSU, through eight conference games, attempted more 3-pointers than anyone in the league … will they make them? The Cougs are 1 of 3 from deep with 11:56 to go in the first half, Arizona up 18-9 at the timeout.
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Kaleb Tarczewski, who has back-to-back games of 10 points, has four in the early going as the first media timeout comes late at 13:19 before halftime. Mark Lyons poured in five quick points on a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup to put UA up 16-9 at the timeout. Good start for the Wildcats — the opposite of Thursday night’s game at Washington.
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Less than a minute in, and Mark Lyons has attempted a too-quick 3-pointer. Game on!
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Arizona’s win over Miami at the Diamond Head Classic before Christmas looks better all the time. The Hurricanes won at North Carolina State today to improve to 17-3 overall and 8-0 in the ACC, giving them a 2.5-game lead in the conference.
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Washington State is trying to pull off a White Out at Beasley Coliseum. The first 6,000 fans will each receive a free T-shirt to help in that effort. Early on, looks like way too many empty red seats to pull off the White Out in the way that Arizona has done in each of the past three seasons.
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Arizona will be trying to end tonight in a first-place tie in the Pac-12 as it takes on Washington State in Pullman.
Oregon lost at Cal earlier today to finish the first half of conference play at 7-2. The Wildcats will be trying to match that mark before heading home to Tucson.
Arizona has won four consecutive games against the Cougars, including a 76-72 decision in Pullman on Feb. 16. Washington State big man Brock Motum had 28 points in that game. Motum leads WSU in scoring (18.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.8) this season.
Arizona coach Sean Miller was pleased with his team’s defense in Thursday’s win at Washington, and the Cats should have a good chance to put the clamps on Washington State, which entered the weekend last in field-goal percentage in conference games (39.3 percent).