Arizona Basketball was on fire and ran all over the Utah Utes, knocking down 15 threes, winning 93-77.
No place like home. For Arizona Basketball, it’s just what they needed. A trip back home and a dominating win over the Utah Utes. After being swept by the Oregon schools on the road and getting a needed win against the Utes, the Wildcats have face a big test against No.20 Colorado, this Sunday at home at 12:30pm MST.
It was the Max Hazzard and Zeke Nnaji show. Each had 24 points and were unstoppable. Hazzard came off the bench, had a career high at Arizona and reached the 1,000 points in his overall collegiate career. Quite a night!
He went 6-10 from three and 7-11 from the field. Hazzard showed why he is one the deadliest shooters in the country when he gets going. Wow, his release his quick!
Nnaji once again put up big numbers. In the 24 points he scored, he went 9-12 from the field, which included one three pointer! He starts making threes, good luck to the rest of the country on trying to guard him.
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Prior to the start of the game, it was announced that Chase Jeter would be out due to back spasms. The question was, who was going to take his place. Leading up to the game, Miller had indicated their might be a change to the starting lineup, but I am sure he didn’t see it happening like this. In the end, it was Stone Gettings who took his place.
Gettings finished with 7 points and 2 points. With him in the starting rotation, it just felt better, the flow of the offense was better and it showed.
The Wildcats got off to a good start, knocking down threes, two and free throws. They went on to build a 7 point early on and never looked back. The closest the Utes go was 4 points with 7 minutes to go in the game, but could never get on a consistent runs or stops to back in the game.
By half, the Wildcats were up 52-28! 8-14 from three, 54% from the field, just five turnovers, and leading in every category contributed to their success in the first half. Nico Mannion only had 5 points in the first half, but had four assists, which is equally as important. He finished the game with 11 points, 3-7 from three, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. That’s what you got filling up the stat sheet!
Both Josh Green and Dylan Smith had solid first halves, scoring a combined total 14 points. Green would finish with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Smith had 12 points, 2-4 from three and five rebounds.
The second half was all Arizona, with an average lead of 20 points throughout. Towards the end of the game, the Utes starting to make a couple threes, but the Wildcats answered right back and came away with the victory. They won by 16, but the score didn’t do justice how dominating this team played.
More then anything, the Wildcats shot much better tonight then they have in a while. 15-29 from long range helps. All nine players that played tonight contributed for 40 minutes. On defensive, they were superb, forcing the Utes into tough shots, which resulted the Utes shooting 36% from three. They did shoot 44% from the field, but wasn’t enough against a Wildcat team that could not miss!
This was a much needed win for Arizona, but up next they face the Buffaloes. The Wildcats are now 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-12. A Saturday afternoon game, against a Top 25 ranked opponent and for the Wildcats to get back into the Pac-12 race. This win is a must!
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At Zona Zealots, we would like to congratulate this team on their performance against the Utes. Let’s keep it going.As always, Bear Down, Arizona!