Arizona Basketball: Wildcats put up triple digits in win over 49ers

Arizona Basketball came to play against Long Beach State as they went on several runs to win 104-67.

Unstoppable. When this team plays as one cohesive unit and relentlessly attacks the ball on offense and smothers their opponent on defense, Arizona Basketball can’t be stopped. That was the case against Long Beach State as they put together several offensive runs and defensive stops to come away with the 104-67 win. They are now 6-0 on the season and face Pepperdine in the Wooden Legacy Tournament.

Much different first half. In the first 20 minutes against South Dakota State, the Wildcats played “carnival” basketball, but not this time around. They immediately were looking to get Zeke Nnaji the ball. In the first half, he went 3-4 from the field and 11 points and 5 rebounds. He would go on to finish with 21 points and 5 rebounds. Good things happen when you get Zeke the ball.

Wildcats went on a couple of runs in the first 20 minutes of play to take the lead, but the 49ers fought back and even took a one-point lead. That was short-lived though as the Wildcats took decent care of the ball and made better decisions on offense to take a 38-33 lead into the half. They were though 9-16 from the free-throw line and were slightly getting outrebound, but still up by five points.

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It was raining threes all second half. After going 3-7 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Wildcats went 9-17 from long range in the second half, which included one the deadliest shooters in the Pac-12 and country Max Hazzard who went 4-6. All he needs his less than a second to shoot the ball, his release his ridiculously quick. With the departure of Devonaire Doutrive, Hazzard is likely to see more minutes and if he shoots like this watch out this team is going to be hard to defend.

The Wildcats went on a 12-2 run in the second half to really open things up. Causing nine steals and producing 15 points off of steals put the Wildcats in full control of this one. They finished with a total of 15 steals, forced 22 turnovers, which lead to a total of 31 points…that’s good!

Almost everyone got involved in this one, with walk-on Matt Weyand hitting a three at the end of the game (Kory Jones was the only one who didn’t score). Mannion led with 22 points, shooting 3-6 from three, 6-11 from the field, 7-8 from the line, 1 rebound, 8 assists, and just one turnover. He was feeling it tonight.

As a team, they had 26 assists and 38 bench points, wow. Hazzard had 14 points and Jemarl Baker had 11. Stone Gettings contributed with five points and four rebounds and Ira Lee had 3 points and five rebounds, including two points that got Arizona to the 100 point mark!

The one stat that stands out is 34 fast breakpoints to the 49ers, who only had 8. They were relentlessly pushing the pace and capitalizing. That type of offense will make this a dangerous team.

On defense, they forced the 49ers to shoot 29% from three and 41% from the field. They played much better defense in the second half, making it difficult for them to get into any sort of rhythm. Better close out on three-point shooting and communication was the key in this one.

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At Zona Zealots, we loved what we saw tonight! They showed why they are the No.14 team in the country by putting up 100+ points at home, in front of the best fans in the country. As always, Bear Down, Arizona

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