After Arizona Basketball had split the series with the Oregon schools, the team looked to recoup on the road.
The Washington schools are up this week, with the first stop in Pullman against the Cougars.
The 23rd ranked Arizona Wildcats are on the road this week. Their first stop is in Pullman, WA as they face the Washington State Cougars, who have not won a game in a month. So it made perfect sense that Arizona would have one of their worst starts in a half this year.
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The first 10 minutes of the game, for Arizona, was terrible. There is no need to beat around the bush with this. On both sides of the ball, Arizona played an absolutely terrible first 10 minutes of a half. Washington State was able to get to the rim with ease, looking quicker than the Wildcats in all facets of the game. The offense wasn’t any better as they continued to miss shot after shot. As a team, Arizona missed 9 of 12 shots as they fell to an early eight-point deficit, 17-9.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright got the nod tonight as Kadeem Allen, according to an Arizona spokesperson, was ill during the week. The flow wasn’t happening with PJC in the game early, so Kadeem got a shot at bringing life to the team. Unfortunately, he played very little due to committing three fouls. Gabe York was also playing selectively with foul trouble early on, two in the first half, which called for more activity from Justin Simon.
But the night belonged to Ryan Anderson. In a first half that wasn’t pretty to watch, he led the Wildcats with 11 points and six rebounds to help dig Arizona out of the early funk. The Cougars did not have an answer for Anderson when he touched the ball on the block. The physical power we saw tonight is what Anderson can bring every game. He finished the night with a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds.
The Wildcats were able to push ahead of the Cougars with a 39-30 lead at half-time. This wasn’t exactly what Sean Miller envisioned coming into Pullman tonight. With a hostile trip to Seattle closing out the weekend, all hopes were that the Washington State game was going to be a cakewalk. If it wasn’t for the work of Anderson, Mark Tollefsen (clutch 3’s), and PJC, tonight would have been much worse.
In the second half, we saw a much calmer Wildcat team feeding to their strength inside the paint. Anderson scored 11 points in the first half, and another 20 in the second half. It was easy to see how Miller’s offense was going to flow through Anderson the rest of the night. And it was clear that PJC was going to be the facilitator tonight, and he did just that.
PJC finished the night with absolutely zero turnovers. NOT ONE! With Kadeem clearly struggling due to his illness, and Gabe being guarded tight, PJC stepped up to the plate, and Miller was very happy with his performance.
The second half lead had reached to 20 before Washington State went on a run to close the gap to 10 points. Arizona went through a scoring drought during this team. But their defense also went through a drought. Fans were tense, at times, the lead shrank to eight points.
The Cougars were able to hit open shots, get to the basket, and get out running in transition. It’s lapsed like this where it starts to make one worry. Against better teams and looking ahead into March Madness, droughts on both ends of the floor in the second half will cost the Cats the game if they can’t fix this trend.
But tonight, as mentioned previously, was all about Ryan Anderson. He carried the team on his back with his 20-point second half effort. His strength, toughness, and will could not be stopped. And give credit to the rest of the team for realizing he couldn’t be stopped. They found him all night, feeding tough, crisp passes as soon as any space was created. And he did not disappoint on receiving dime after dime, ending the night with another double-double.
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This Cat is for real!
York to Anderson for the finish @APlayersProgram #AZvsWSU https://t.co/juSs4kW8HY
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) February 4, 2016
We saw everything this team has been through the entire year into this one game. Sure, the ending result ended up being a 14 point win. The Wildcats flexed their muscle and physically beat down the Cougars tonight. But we saw everything from foul trouble, missed shots, and lack of energy, to over-powering offense, stingy defense, and big blocks. If this team can play with consistency, March into April could be an exciting time.
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The time has come for Ryan Anderson to grab full control of this team. His inconsistency can’t be ignored either. But when he’s smiling, having fun, and putting up 20+ points, it’s hard to beat this team. He has the resolve, strength, and mental toughness to lead the team. If everyone can get on the same page, for a full game, this team will be scary. But they have to come together.
The Washington Huskies are up next after beating Arizona State in OT. Seattle will be rocking Saturday afternoon. Can the Wildcats answer the call and prove they should not be counted out just yet? We’ll definitely find out in a couple of days.