Arizona Basketball needs Double Overtime, to pull off the win in Pullman

PULLMAN, WA – It wasn’t a pretty performance, nonetheless it was a win, as Arizona Basketball (9-1, 2-1) pulled off the double-overtime win in Pullman.

Three days into the New Year and already Arizona Basketball (9-1, 3-1) has the first Pac-12 After Dark game, as it took two overtimes for the Wildcats to pull off the dramatic win over Washington State (8-1, 1-1) in Pullman.

Arizona went 28-75 (37 percent) from the field and Ben Mathurin was the difference maker as the freshman wing finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds en route to the 86-82 win.

Arizona Wildcats

Following the win, former Arizona player and current assistant Jason Terry took to the press conference to address the teams’ win. “Well, first of all, I’m just very proud of our guys,” he said. “This is the first game all season where we really faced some true, real adversity.”

Coming in, Washington State was 8-0 (1-0) and despite the poor shooting night for both teams, the Cougars showed why they were the only remaining undefeated team in the conference.

“We did not shoot the ball well, defensively we fouled a little bit too much, and I thought our guys remained resilient,” Terry said.

And resilient they were!

Arizona fell behind early, erasing an 18-11 deficit in the first half, to finish with an 18-9 run over the next 8:45 to lead 29-27 at the half.

The second half unfortunately was much like the first, just a back and forth effort as both teams exchanged the lead numerous times.

The Wildcats would have a chance to come away with the win leading 70-68, but Cougars guard Isaac Bonton converted on a layup with 23 seconds left to tie it, sending this one to overtime. Bonton led all scorers with 25 points.

In the first overtime, Arizona got off to a quick start as Terrell Brown, Jr. made a huge jumper just 10 seconds in. Unfortunately, they would then go ice cold, not scoring again until 24 seconds left to go in the game.

Trailing 76-74, Brown would then hit about the biggest shot in the game, a jumper with 12 seconds to go in the overtime, tying it at 76-76, ultimately sending it to a second overtime.

Wazzu would pull ahead 79-77 after another Andrej Jakimovski three, but luckily for us, it was the last time they would lead as sharp-shooting and free-throws propelled the Cats to the 86-82 win.

Finishing 25-32 from the line, Terry was very complimentary of the teams’ performance, “it’s an emphasis that coach put on we have a ‘free-throw program’,” he said. “We take pride in making free-throws.” And it proved to be the difference last night!

However, not to go unnoticed was the play of Brown this weekend, who was playing with a heavy heart, after he lost his grandfather on Friday night.  The Seattle native finished the night with 15 points and four rebounds, following his 10 points, five-rebound performance against Washington just a couple of nights earlier.

Virtually hitting the game-winning three, Brown felt “that was him [his grandfather], guiding the ball in,” he said. “I was trying to get a shot up before the clock ran out… hopefully, my grandfather was watching.”

At Zona Zealots, we’re happy with the win and glad to see the Wildcats come away with the sweep in Washington! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!