The Arizona Basketball team traveled to Palo Alto to complete their weekend trip. After a hard-fought win against Cal, the Wildcats were looking to come out swinging against Stanford.
Arizona Basketball rang in the new year in Palo Alto preparing to take on Stanford for a New Years Day game. The game was the best all around team performance of the season. Five players scored in double figures as Arizona routed Stanford 91-52, completing the Bay Area sweep.
Rawle Alkins led the way with 19 points, shooting 3-4 from deep, pulled down seven rebounds and hit all eight free throws. Tonight Rawle Alkins took charge and didn’t back down. Against Cal, he looked a bit rattled, even uncomfortable from time to time.
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Any uneasy feeling we may have seen at Cal disappeared Sunday night. Alkins showed his strength down low by out-rebounding all but one Stanford player. His shooting looked sharp and his defense was harassing.
In the first half against Cal, Arizona was sloppy, slow and struggled shooting. Sean Miller wanted to see his team come out swinging at Stanford and he got just that. Aside from a sluggish couple of minutes in the middle of the first half, Arizona was never in any real threat.
Dusan Ristic continued out-rebounding on offense, carrying over from his performance at Cal. In the first four minutes of the game, Dusan was 3-3 from the field. He finished the night with 16 points and 4 rebounds, including a two-hand slam off the pocket pass from Rawle.
Throw it down big man! @APlayersProgram #AZvsSTAN https://t.co/c2QWFAikEM
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) January 2, 2017
Stanford was overmatched from the start. Dusan, Chance Comanche and Lauri Markannen were a force down low. Even Arizona’s guards were out hustling and physically forcing their way inside. The sheer size and talent of Arizona was too much for Stanford all night.
At the end of the first half, Arizona held a 49-30 lead. Those 49 points came on only 24 shots. They were perfect from deep and from the free throw line. It was the most efficient shooting we’ve seen from this team and it continued all night.
Lauri Markannen was the definition of efficiency. Lauri finished with 15 points while only taking four shots and was 3-3 from deep. He got in foul trouble, four in total, but that didn’t seem to bother him.
The second half was just like the first but on steroids. After going 12-12 from the line in the first half, the Wildcats went 9-11 in the second, finishing 21-23 from the charity stripe. They were 5-7 from deep in both halves, 10-14 for the night.
“Coach told us ahead of time don’t forget we have the size advantage,” Chance Comanche said post-game. “It started to wear and tear on them and eventually it overpowered them.”
“Coach told us ahead of time don’t forget we have the size advantage,” Chance Comanche
Arizona shot their best shooting percentage from deep and from the free throw line all season: 91 percent from free-throw and 71 percent from three. They finished 62.5 percent from the field overall. You couldn’t ask for more being on the road and in conference play.
On a night of a truly balanced attack, Chance Comanche emerged as the sixth man of the game. He finished with his first career double-double: 13 points and 10 rebounds. It’s been an up and down season for Chance but he has found a great rhythm and is producing. When he plays calm and under control, he becomes a very real threat down low and on defense. If he can continue to play like this, it will only make Arizona that more dangerous.
Kobi Simmons had another really good performance. Over the last couple of games we’ve seen a confidence grow in him. Against Stanford, he finished with 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Oh, and we can’t forget this highlight reel dunk! It made the ESPN SportsCenter Top Ten, coming in at No. 5.
Sean Miller is now 13-0 against Stanford and Arizona has now won 14 straight over the Cardinal. This type route and dominating performance only excites fans, players, and coaches for what can become of this team.
“The production we’re getting from that group on offense, defense and rebounding give us a lot of firepower,” said Miller in regards to his big men. “I think we can play a lot of different styles.”
You learn the most from hard losses but there are just as valuable of lessons to learn in the blowout wins. As the season goes on, games will only get tougher. It’s only one blowout win. But it is one to recall back on when we see this team become whole finally.
Next: Arizona Wildcats Player Grades So Far
Arizona now heads back to Tucson for their conference home opener on Thursday against Utah. The game can be seen on Fox Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. MT. Bring on the Utes! BEARDOWN!