Arizona Basketball cruises over Long Beach State, wins convincingly 91-56

Arizona Basketball fans breathe a sigh of relief as the Wildcats cruised past Long Beach State.

Panic set in. Arizona Basketball coach Sean Miller had gone home doing some soul searching along with his team after three straight losses in the Bahama’s. He is mad, don’t get me wrong, he is stinking mad. After beating Long Beach State tonight, he remains mad. He thought his team had more fire in them and feels sitting players will make them play harder.

What went wrong in the Bahama’s? Well, according to Miller: defense, intensity, and confidence were lacking. The Cats had gone cold from beyond the arc, and it is hard in this era of college basketball to win a game without three’s and especially when the other team is making them.

Sure there’s more but let’s put that all behind us, shall we? Because, as fans, we are happy that the team won big tonight. There are things to fix hopefully sooner than later because the Cats are going to face two huge opponents in Texas A&M (6-0) and UNLV (6-0) next. But that’s Miller’s responsibility. As a fan, I feel hopeful.

The Wildcats won tonight by beating Long Beach State by 35 points, 91-56. As well they should have. A big heavy collective sigh was exhaled as the clock ticked down to zero. This team is good at home. That’s something to feel right about.

The team was more efficient in the first half but widened the gap in the score more in the second half. There were several exciting plays by several Wildcats.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Highlights:

• Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Deandre Ayton were perfect on offense in the first half
• The team turned over the ball twice in the first half
• Allonzo Trier broke his slump shooting three’s, made three in the first half
• Ira Lee scored a few beautiful layups that spun into the basket, and one was coast-to-coast.
• Cats were up by 36 in the second half during the first half and ended the half 42-24 over LBSU
• Dylan Smith showed intensity, and it was enjoyable.
• At one point PJC lost the ball in a crowd, then on defense took the ball back, sent it to Alex Barcello who launched and made a three-pointer.
• Parker Jackson-Cartwright became the floor general, and Alex Barcello followed suit.
• Arizona has won 44 games in a row in McKale.
• Deandre Ayton finished the game making all six FG’s including one three (scoring 13 total), nine rebounds, three assists
• Rebounds: Dusan Ristic and Ayton
• Alex Barcello scored a career-high 11 points including three of four three-pointers
• Six Wildcats scored in double digits: Ayton (13), Trier (15), Jackson-Cartwright (12), Ira Lee (11), Alex Barcello (11), Brandon Randolph (10).
• Arizona scored 18 fast break points.
• Cats made 12 out of 22 from three (54.4% over.
• PJC has made 39 assists and 13 turnovers on the season, a one-to-three ratio.

https://twitter.com/AZATHLETICS/status/936080013421457408

Things to work on:

• Team had 19 turnovers, 17 in the second half
• Deandre Ayton only scored once in the second half
• Transition defense, it’s better but needs work.
• Commit fewer turnovers.
• Intensity on defense, crank it up even more.
• Only two guards had two rebounds, need more boards from players not named Ayton or Trier.
• Coach still needs to be unpredictable playing the next two teams.

Quotes:

• “We shared it [the ball] – we got stops – played off each other a little more tonight because of our defense.” – Parker Jackson Cartwright 
• “He challenged myself, Allonzo, the some of the older guys to set the tone defensively – I used my quickness trying to get under people and get steals and it ignited us in transition.” – Parker Jackson-Cartwright
• “He’s a glove defensively.” – Steve Lavin on Kadeem Allen
• “Our team doesn’t play hard…Until we play together on defense with more toughness, we’ll win a couple, but we’ll lose a lot more.” – Sean Miller (via Javier Morales)
• “I bring Rawle up because he’s part of the solution. I know that.” – Sean Miller (via Erica Weston)
• “We had our good moments – there’s a lot of room for growth.”  Sean Miller (via Brian Jeffries)
• “We have too many guys right now that don’t play hard on defense, and it’s not anywhere close to the level where we can be successful.” Sean Miller (via Brian Jeffries)
• “They’ll get better as they gain experience.” – Allonzo Trier on the freshmen
• “I think we looked a lot better. Shot the ball very well.” – Gregory Molina (Fan)

Arizona Football stars showed up to support the team and catch the action court side. Khalil Tate (QB), Lucas Havrisik (WR) and Colin Schooler (LB) got the best view in the house; they were in the front row. Chuck Cecil and his wife Carrie were also in attendance.

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Arizona travels to Las Vegas to play UNLV on Saturday at 7 pm PST/8pm MST. This will not be an easy win, but they will have two-three days to prepare not in a hotel ballroom.