Alkins scores career-high 26 points as Arizona Basketball beats Lobo’s 89-73

Arizona Basketball guard Rawle Alkins added a considerable punch to the Wildcats offense and defense to beat the Lobo’s 89-73.

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The now 8-3 Arizona Basketball team took on New Mexico (3-8) in The Pit which is a difficult place to play, and beat the Lobo’s 89-73 Saturday night. It’s been 18 years since the two teams have competed. The Lobo’s record may have been dampened by missing their forward Sam Logwood from a leave of absence.

The Wildcats came out on fire, they looked really sharp and ended the half having made 71% on 17 of 24 shots. What was more impressive was that the Wildcats made 6-7 three-pointers (85.7%)!

The Wildcats danced into the locker room with a 16-point lead at the half, 49-33.

In just his second game back from a foot injury, after Sean Miller said he was only about 60% of his usual self, sophomore Rawle Alkins scored a career-high 26 points. He averaged 10.9 points last season. The King scored the first basket, he sunk his first of three three-pointers. He made all three of his three’s and scored 13 points in the first half alone.

Here are some first half highlights from the King:

In the first half, Allonzo Trier wasn’t too far behind Rawle with 11 points, and Deandre Ayton scored 10. Ayton also grabbed four rebounds and his fellow big man Dusan Ristic had a taken away a team-high five rebounds from the Lobo’s. Sean Miller only had eight players in his rotation when his opponent had ten, a short bench was seen as a gamble by some fans.

Early in the second half, Alkins, Ayton, and Trier weren’t done. Alkins racked up 13 more points in the second half and was perfect from the charity stripe making all five free-throws he was awarded. His stat line topped the leaderboard with 26 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

What the Wildcats have been missing were hustle and follow-up, but with Alkins back, they get a much-needed punch. Watch as Alkins misses a shot but makes sure he gets the rebound and ends up getting fouled and making the putback. This is a beautiful thing we haven’t seen too much of this season.

Getting the ball to Dre under the basket is assures the passer an assist and two points for Ayton. Trier can always count on Ayton to be there for him as an outlet if he finds he doesn’t have a shot, which is a good thing. The Wildcats scored 42 of their 89 points in the paint compared to just 20 from the Lobo’s who were focused on getting their threes. Zo sunk both of his three-pointers and made 8-9 of his free-throws. He ended the game with 22 points and five assists.

https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/942221147294220289

The closest New Mexico came to Arizona was deep into the second half at about the 4:24 mark when New Mexico’s Dane Kuiper hit one of his six three’s to come within seven points, 69-76. Kuiper hit six of eight of the three-point shots he took on the night. The Lobo’s were almost perfect at the line making 13 of 14 (92.4%).

Ayton was huge on offense and defense and showed that when he wants to defend the three, he can. We all would love to see more of that, but it is hard to be critical of such a dominant player. Ayton ended the game with a double-double. He scored 14 points on 7-9 baskets and snatched 13 rebounds.

Another standout, although it doesn’t seem so in the stats, was Parker Jackson-Cartwright (eight points, five assists and two steals). Parker is skilled at breaking the press which the Lobo’s threw at the Wildcats almost the entire second half. This is something that Miller seldom has his team do, press, and it is irritating because it works. The Lobo’s successfully pressed the Cats, and it shook them up a bit; they got caught in the trap quite a few times.

Ristic got fouled a bunch of times, but no whistles were blown, so he never got to the line. He had a sweet spin move. However, that was fun to watch:

Perhaps Dusan learned how to do this spin move from his former teammate T.J. McConnell. Dusan did post this a year ago, does it look familiar?

https://twitter.com/MracnaKomora/status/750367039521484800

Brandon Randolph hit a crucial three near the end of the game to put the Cats up by double digits (85-73) with 1:05 to go.

https://twitter.com/ZonaZealots/status/942227500599357440

Queue the UofA chants which could be heard over the television broadcast.

https://twitter.com/AZcruzin/status/942204583400443904

In all, Wildcats made nine out of 13 three-point shot attempts and 64% of their FG’s.

Enjoy these game highlights:

Must Read: More on Arizona Basketball from ZZ....

Granted, the Lobo’s weren’t the best team Arizona has faced this season, but they were on the road for this one in a very loud and challenging place to win, The Pit. The Lobo’s pressing and making their three’s at crucial times in the game kept them in the game as most predicted. But Arizona’s top three are a force to be reckoned with, and the team left the Lobo’s road kill in Albuquerque, New Mexico.