Arizona Uses Second Half Surge to Beat OSU 80-63
By Mark Barrera
The home winning streak is over. After a brutal game, Arizona takes sight on Oregon State to start a new winning streak.
The past is the past for a reason. You acknowledge it was there, you learn from it, and you move on. It was one of the worst performances of the season. The winning streak is over. The Miller and Zeus incident is over as well. Time to leave it in the past.
Sean Miller, to put it nicely, was disappointed with his team’s overall effort in the Wildcats last game. The question coming into tonight was how this team was going to respond?
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Oregon State brought in another team with long, athletic players, who can shoot. The team also plays one of the best zone defenses in the conference. And in case you haven’t been watching in recent years, Arizona struggles against the zone.
The entire first half was a back and forth battle. Kaleb Tarczewski started the night off with scoring the games first points. Gary Payton II responded right back with an assist and his bucket to get an early lead for the Beavers. But Gabe York gave his response with a three, one of several for the night.
The Wildcats went on a quick 9-0 run to go up 14-6 with 14:50 remaining in the first half. But just as quick as Arizona went on that run, Oregon State responded with their own run of 10-0 with help from Tres Tinkle. Tinkle, who finished with 16 points, was active early. He was able to take the Wildcat guards off the dribble and knock down a couple three’s on the night.
Gabe York and
both hit more three’s to push for a lead. The guard duo showed up big tonight, hitting clutch shots, and making big plays to put life back to the team when they needed it the most. And the first half play of the two was only a sign of things to come in the second half.
But the story of the first half was the zone defense of Oregon State. Even with York and PJC hitting some shots, the zone defense from Oregon State was putting Arizona into uncomfortable situations. The Wildcats were all too often being forced into bad shots and bad passes. Now, we weren’t at the turnover level from the Oregon game, with 10 in the first half Thursday night, but the turnovers were killing any momentum Arizona would build.
With just over two minutes to go in the first half, Ryan Anderson put Arizona up by seven, 34-27. But Olaf Schaftenaar hit a big three to end the small Wildcat run. Schaftenaar was giving the Arizona big’s some problems periodically on the offensive end.
He’s not a strong post player, as his zero rebounds will show you, but he is quicker than the trio of Anderson, Tarczewski, and Dusan Ristic. He was able to sneak off screens to hit two big three’s in the first half, driving Miller to throw Chance Commanche into the game, in small spurts, to try to get something out of his team.
At the half, the Arizona Wildcats held a 34-30 advantage. To start the second half, Arizona was quick to go inside. The zone was causing problems for the Wildcats, and an easy way to break a zone is to push the ball inside, under control.
, who hit a three early on in the first half to only later air-ball another, took it to the rim for a lay-up. Zeus was fed down low the next trip down the court. But, again,
was there to hit another three to stop any momentum.
Gut check time came at about the 15:00 mark of the second half. The Wildcats were able to pull ahead 47-40 after a Gabe York jumper. Twenty seconds later Tres Tinkle responded with an easy lay-up. After forcing Justin Simon into a terrible pass, it was Tinkle again, this time from deep, to make Arizona pay and bring the Beavers within two, 47-49. Arizona’s defense began to fall into an unfortunately all too common slump.
At a much-needed timeout by Miller, the Wildcats had to make a choice. They needed to decide whether to continue with the lack of effort and energy you need to win a game, therefore losing back-to-back games at home for the first time since the first year or two of Miller’s tenure, or dig down deep to find out who wants it more. The two players who took this challenge to heart were Gabe York and PJC.
York got the flow rolling with another three. After a Kadeem Allen steal, who revved up his defense in the second half, Allen was able to get a foul on the fast break and sink both free throws.
PJC was able to get a big steal, stripping the ball away from Schaftenaar, and taking it coast-to-coast with a lay-up. He wasn’t done there as he hit a smooth stroking three after an Oregon State turnover to put Arizona up 61-49. But the Beavers weren’t going away quietly. They hit a much-needed three, which was followed by an Anderson lay-up, which was then followed by another Schaftenaar three.
At this point, the intensity that Miller has been begging from his team started to show up. York wouldn’t back down as he hit his sixth three of the night, a career high. Kadeem Allen a huge block on the defensive side, his third of the game.
PJC was hounding the Oregon State guards, forcing errors, and getting his teammates to start flexing their muscle. He was the smallest player on the court, as he is most nights, but was playing with the biggest heart. His hustle, creativity, and intelligent play were the driving force in the closing minutes. Miller boasted about PJC’s play in the post-game presser, said when PJC is on his game; then they have an excellent chance to win.
The announcers for tonight awarded him with the Sixth Man of the Night award, and he earned it. PJC had his best game since the Washington schools, ending the night with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and a couple of steals.
When the dust settled, Arizona closed the night on a 22-11 run to win the game 80-63. Gabe York was the player of the game tonight. York finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. When the team needed a big shot, York was there to answer the call. When he saw his teammates slacking, he demanded them to step up. We were finally treated to what this team can truly do when they bring the intensity and energy.
The hope now is to move forward and show the nation you can’t jump ship just yet. The Wildcats next travel to Washington to face the Huskies and Cougars.
The last time Arizona played both schools, albeit, in Tucson, the Wildcats absolutely destroyed them. The other schools in the Pac-12 have seen Arizona take the hits. They smell blood and come in for the kill. Arizona will be in hostile environments on the road from here on out. Lack of effort and intensity must be left at home. There are still a lot of games left. Arizona must keep the momentum, and respond with authority next week.
Related Story: Arizona Basketball: Miller and Tarczewski, it is what it is
Notes:
- After previous failed attempts, Sean Miller FINALLY got his 300th career win tonight.
- Ryan Anderson finished with yet ANOTHER double-double: 13 points, 12 rebounds
- Kadeem Allen put a rough first half behind him and finished with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks
- Tarczewski now has one more win climbing the most wins record, needs 105 to tie for fifth place
- Coach Sean Miller won his 300th career game
- Gabe York hit six three-pointers and moved up the all-time leader board tied now with No. 6 ranked Othick with 191 three’s. Scored career-high 24 points