The Arizona Wildcats basketball team was looking to feed off of the big win against Gonzaga coming off of their best overall performance of the year. The question was, what Arizona team will show up against Fresno State?
The last game against Gonzaga was a good game. It got scary early on, but the Arizona Wildcats survived the two-headed monster of Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis to be one of the few teams in recent years to win in Spokane. Facing a confident Fresno State team in Tucson tonight, Arizona looked to avoid the lapse of coming down off of the big W and continue their home winning streak.
The starters for tonight were Kadeem Allen, Gabe York, Allonzo Trier, Ryan Anderson, and Dusan Ristic. With Kaleb Tarczewski still out of for about four more weeks, Arizona will continue to lean on Dusan in the starting line-up.
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Right away Fresno State showed they weren’t afraid of the 13th ranked Wildcats. In what seems to be a common theme, Arizona was flat coming out of the gate and didn’t pick up much steam for the entire first half. This is exactly what Arizona wanted to avoid.
The Wildcats went into the paint early, and often, which Coach Miller has been preaching since week one. Even with Zeus still out, opponents bigs won’t be larger than Arizona’s bigs. Dusan Ristic was the first to score for the Wildcats. Allen and Trier both took their men off the dribble and went straight to the rim. Unfortunately for Arizona, Fresno State was there to respond after each basket.
The Bulldogs took an early lead at the 17-minute mark and kept a lead for the majority of the first half. It was a back and forth scoring half for sure. After Fresno State had gone up 10-5, Ryan Anderson responded with a dunk off of the
Dec 5, 2015; Spokane, WA, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller looks on against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
feed from York inside. Fresno State scored again, which was followed by a 2-pt jumper by Allen. After an uncommon stop on the defensive side for Arizona, Anderson scored on another dunk off the feed from Allen inside.
Arizona was able to take the lead back, briefly 13-12, with a dunk by Chance Comanche off the Gabe York assist. This was great to see for Chance. With the injuries suffered lately, he has been given a chance to show what he can do. His minutes have been limited, only six this game that was more than he’s played since game one, but he needs to make the most of the time he gets.
The story of the first half was defense or lack thereof. Nothing against Fresno State, but there was no reason they should have been controlling the game. Arizona was slow to react on defense, playing soft, and not contesting shots. Miller was visibly upset with his team’s effort multiple times in the first half, but nothing was sticking to them.
Allonzo Trier and Ryan Anderson were the leaders in the first half. Anderson has been consistent this year with showing a dominating presence down low. It wasn’t a surprise to see him out muscle his opponent. Trier has slowly been showing why he was highly sought after in high school. When you watch him play, he has a very smooth game and knows how to score. With Gabe York having an extremely quiet half, the duo of Trier and Anderson kept Arizona in the game.
In fact, it wasn’t until the clock hit Zero that York got in the scorer’s book. Arizona was able to close the scoring gap by forcing a turnover. York received a dime of a pass to hit a lay-up at the buzzer. He had been banged up during the game according to coach Miller.
You know how we feel about buzzer beaters.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) December 10, 2015
This one from Gabe York grabs @APlayersProgram's #12Best Moment!https://t.co/CsgMf9tcpJ
The second half started out much better for Arizona. They came out and went right into the chest of Fresno State. Ristic and Trier helped give Arizona the lead while Trier continued to push the Wildcats lead. Fresno State went scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but the way Fresno was scoring, this was a big win for the Bulldog’s defense.
With more back and forth scoring, Fresno State took a 4-point lead with just over 12 minutes left in the game. As mentioned before, when Arizona needed a big bucket, Trier was the guy to step up. He has an open three-pointer to cut the lead to one. This was a big momentum swing for Arizona, even though the Wildcats were still trailing at the time.
Dec 9, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Allonzo Trier (11) shoots the ball as Fresno State Bulldogs guard Paul Watson (3) defends during the second half at McKale Center. Arizona won 85-72. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
Trier and Allen helped push Arizona to keep a lead, extending it to six. It was at this time when the game seemed to be heading into a contention. The Fresno State players, mainly Cezar Guerrero and Paul Watson, were chirping quite a bit on the court and also at Arizona’s bench. Arizona kept their composure thank goodness and began to play with a toughness that had been missing up to this point.
Anderson had learned his lesson from the Boise State game in Anaheim: Keep your mouth shut.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere came to a sudden halt when Allen went down on a non-contact injury. It seemed like he slipped on the court, but after a replay, you saw Allen roll up on his ankle and immediately hit the floor. He was visibly in a lot of pain and could barely put any pressure on his right foot as he was helped into the locker room.
Panic struck the fans on social media hoping they hadn’t just lost another starter on their basketball team.
Guerrero for Fresno State was able to cut the lead down to one with just under 3 1/2 minutes remaining. But Gabe York wasn’t about to let the Bulldogs stop the winning streak at McKale.
York only had four points leading up to late in the second half, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to shoot. He hit a much needed three from deep that brought the crowd to it’s feet. The bank was open late for York as he hit another deep three to extend the lead 77-71 with two minutes remaining.
The game was still a contentious battle, and with two minutes remaining, the prediction became reality. After calling a tight game thus far, the referees began to let the teams play physically, and sometimes too physically without calling fouls. Miller was very upset after the refs missed a Fresno State player throwing an elbow into Parker Jackson-Cartwright‘s head. He was showing signs of conversations usually seen with referees in conference and NCAA tournament play.
Feeding off of Miller, the Wildcats flexed their muscle denying the Bulldogs any thoughts of a possible comeback. It started with York plowing right into the chest of the Fresno State defender, drawing the foul, and making the lay-up. The game finished with an EMPHATIC dunk from Trier giving him a college career high 27 points and Miller’s kudos for carrying the Wildcats throughout the game earning them their 43rd consecutive win at McKale.
https://twitter.com/ESPNCBB/status/674812760971075584
It wasn’t the best defensive game Arizona has played. The team will need to find a way to have a consistent defensive game and a strong first half without committing too many fouls early.
The question all along was how Arizona would play after the emotional Gonzaga win. The answer is that the team kept fighting when their backs were against the wall, and the home game winning streak continued for the Wildcats.
Next: Arizona Football: Rich Rodriguez Stays a Wildcat
Next up Arizona will face the Missouri Tigers in the Pac-12/ACC Challenge on Sunday as they look to continue their home court dominance!
NOTES
- Allonzo Trier was the MVP of the night. He finished with 27 pts, 8/11 FG, and 3/5 from deep.
- Ryan Anderson finished the game with a strong 17 pts, eight rebounds
- All Wildcats who played tonight scored
- As mentioned, Kadeem left the game with a hurt ankle. There is no timetable for his return.
- Gabe York appeared to get hurt late in the game, but Miller thinks he will be ready for Sunday.
- Miller did mention these are the most injuries ever suffered at the beginning of a season.