Arizona Basketball escapes with win against Oregon State
TUCSON, AZ – After losing three of their last four games, the Arizona Basketball team (14-6, 8-6) got back on track with their 70-61 win over Oregon State (10-9, 6-7).
Ben Mathurin finished with 14 points on 5-12 shooting, while James Akinjo added with 14 of his own, finishing 5-11 from the field en route to the 70-61 Arizona Basketball win.
However, it wasn’t the best performance of the season. The Wildcats shot just 20-50 from the field, and also had 13 turnovers in what was a bit of a sloppy showing for Arizona.
Arizona Wildcats
Needing to rebound from their losses to Utah and Colorado last week, Arizona would control this one from the tip, but whatever the Wildcats did, Oregon State would seem to respond.
Arizona would lead by as many as nine in the first half when Kerr Kriisa would his second of back-to-back threes with 12:18 remaining to make it 22-13.
However, just as we consistently saw throughout the game, the Beavers would claw their way back, cutting Arizona’s lead to just three with 1:28 to go in the half. Luckily for us, Akinjo would hit a couple of huge buckets to extend Arizona’s lead to 38-30 at the break.
Second half mistakes would prevent Arizona Basketball from pulling away in this one…
Leading by eight, Arizona would find some success offensively in the second half but would ultimately run into their same problems.
Arizona would shoot just 8-23 from the field in the second half, also turning over the ball eight times, allowing Oregon State stay within this one.
The Wildcats would pull ahead by as many as 13 when Azoulas Tubelis would convert on a fast break layup, making it 57-44 with 7:22 to play.
Unfortunately, that would be Arizona’s largest lead of the game, as Oregon State would eventually cut it down to four just moments later.
The Wildcats would go onto win, converting on numerous free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win.
With the victory, Arizona improves to 14-6 (8-6) on the season, and will now look to face Oregon (10-4, 5-3).
Listen to head coach Sean Miller following the teams’ win…
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At Zona Zealots, we’re excited for the win and can’t wait to see the Cats back in action against Oregon. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!