Arizona Basketball: Arizona wins the battle against South Dakota State

Arizona Basketball found a way to get 71-64 win over South Dakota State and improved their record to 5-0 on the season.

Arizona Basketball is now 5-0 on the season, but it wasn’t an easy victory. Right from the beginning, South Dakota St came out with a lot of energy and confidence as they grabbed a 10 point lead a couple of times during the first half. The Wildcats clawed their way back and found a way to come out on top 71-64.

For the majority of the first half, the Wildcats were trailing. Poor three-point and field goal shooting, defense lapses and sloppy turnovers contributed to the result. Didn’t help either that one of the best players in the Pac-12 and in the country, Zeke Nnaji, faced early foul trouble and didn’t get a shot off in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Jackrabbits were immediately double-teaming Nnaji, forcing into tough situations.  As the season continues, he will need to expect that happen and be ready to make quick decisions with the ball. The absence of Nnaji was felt in the first half, but Nico Mannion kept his team in it leading the way with eight points.

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A good sign early in the season for this team as they were facing a deficit of 10 points a couple of times in the first half, but didn’t panic. Knowing they have the talent and depth to win every game, everyone continued to fight hard even though things were going there way.

After shooting 21% from three and 46% from the field, the Wildcats were only down three to begin the second half. Whatever head coach Sean Miller had said to them must have worked because they began to play like a top-ranked team in the second half.

They took much better care of the ball, in which they only had three turnovers compared to 12 in the first half. As a team, they attempted only three three-point shots (didn’t make one) and focused mainly on attacking the rim and getting higher percentage shots inside. A better offense led to a 10-0 run to help regain control and the lead in the game.

Their defense was much better as well, forcing eight turnovers and turning those into 10 points. This team does better when they cause turnovers and can run the ball. That they did. Eventually the relentless attack, depth and skill level of the Wildcats was too much for the Jackrabbits to handle.

Even though Nnaji didn’t take a shot in the first half, he wound up finishing with 12 points and 5 rebounds. His consecutive field goal streak was snapped tonight, but that did not stop him from making a big impact in the second half.

Josh Green had a solid showing with 15 points and two rebounds. He once again showed tonight why he was one of the premier defenders in the country. His counterpart Mannion put up 14 points, four assists, and three rebounds. When the Wildcats needed a bucket, he stepped up in a big way.

He easily had the dunk of the night!

https://twitter.com/APlayersProgram/status/1197731241832792065?s=20

Not every game is going to be a blowout for Arizona Basketball. Sometimes this team will face a challenge like they did tonight. There are things from this game they can learn from. The key is though they battle hard all the way to the end, didn’t give up, believed in one another and came up with the win! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!