PHOENIX – Is there some bad juju between the Arizona Wildcats and the Phoenix Suns arena? A year ago, Tommy Lloyd’s squad gave up a 13 point lead, falling to rival UCLA in the building. On Saturday, it looked like the Wildcats could be in for another long night, but Arizona (11-0) found a way to rally in the second half, defeating San Diego State (6-4) 68-45 at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix.
The Wildcats played their worst offensive game of the season, shooting just 22-58 (37.9%) from the field. Arizona shot just 6-25 (24.0%) from the perimeter, including just 1-10 from 3-point range in the first half. Fortunately for the UA, it was able to lean on its defense and make things challenging for San Diego State. The Aztecs shot an underwhelming 15-57 (26.3%) from the field, making just 1-14 attempts from the beyond the arc.
The difference in the game was rebounding. Arizona out-rebounded San Diego State 52-28, snaring 20 offensive boards versus 10 for the Brian Dutcher’s crew. After the game, head coach Tommy Lloyd pointed to Arizona’s effort on the glass as the difference in the game.
“We really haven’t faced that much conviction with that defense. I think it just took a while for our guys to get comfortable in the game. Sometimes you got to make a decision, you know, maybe today’s not the day we shoot it as good as we’d hoped. So there’s lots of ways to win, and if you can win in the effort areas, which we did today, that’ll go a long way to helping it.”
Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas led the rebounding charge for the Wildcats. The two big men combined for as many rebounds as the Aztecs had on the night, with Awaka and Krivas pulling down 15 and 13 boards respectively.
While Awaka didn’t lead the team in scoring, he was the spark the Wildcats needed in the second half to pull away from the Aztecs. Awaka finished a game-high 15 rebounds, including six of Arizona’s 20 offensive boards. He also added nine points on 4-6 shooting, including a personal seven-point scoring run for the Wildcats late in the second half to ice the game.
“To be honest with you, the only guy to compare him with just how he impacts the game with effort and toughness is Domantas Sabonis,” said Lloyd after the game. “That guy’s an NBA All Star, you know? I know Tobe is putting himself on people’s radar, just the force he’s playing with and how much better he’s gotten. It’s crazy impressive.”
Five players finished in double-figures, led by Jaden Bradley and Koa Peat, who each had 11 points. Ivan Kharchenkov, Brayden Burries, and Anthony Dell’Orso, who connected on 3-8 from downtown, including 2-5 in the second half, each scored 10 points.
Blatantly put, Arizona played an ugly first half of basketball. The Wildcats trailed for much of the first half, turning the ball over 10 times and shooting just 1-10 from the perimeter through the first 20 minutes. But Arizona was able to turn defense into offense, ending the first half on an 8-0 run that culminated with a Dell’Orso triple to give the Wildcats a one-point lead at halftime. San Diego State head coach Brian Dutcher was also assessed a technical foul in the final 90 seconds of the first half in what proved to be a spark of momentum heading into halftime.
The Wildcats were much more methodical in the second half, out-scoring the Aztecs 19-7 through the first nine minutes out of the locker room. Dell’Orso and Dwayne Aristode connected on back-to-back triples with 11:00 to play in the second half, giving Arizona a double-digit lead that would only balloon from there with the help of Tobe Awaka.
The Wildcats now have a quick turnaround before hosting Bethune-Cookman (3-8) on Monday, December 22, at 7:00 PM MST on ESPN+.
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