No. 4 Arizona Basketball cruises in 12-point win over Wazzu

PULLMAN, WA – Withstanding a few runs by Wazzu, No. 4 Arizona Basketball (21-2, 11-1), cruised to the comfortable 12-point win over the Cougars. 

It wasn’t their cleanest game, nonetheless, it was a rather dominant one as No. 4 Arizona Basketball used a 27-9 run in the second half to cruise to a 12-point win over a talented Washington State team.

Arizona finished the game shooting 28-57 (49.1 percent) from the field, including 8-19 from beyond the arc, and outrebounded the Cougars on the glass 46-31, as the Wildcats outpaced Wazzu 72-60.

Benn Mathurin would lead all scorers with 20 points and five rebounds on 7-12 shooting, meanwhile, Azuolas Tubelis would end his night with 15 points and five rebounds in the Wildcats’ victory, and Dalen Terry added with three points, but 12 rebounds (a career-high), and five assists.

Arizona would begin the game outscoring Wazzu 20-16 over the first 11-plus minutes of play before the Wildcats would hold the Cougars scoreless for seven minutes.

Using a 13-0 run, Arizona gave themselves a comfortable cushion before heading into the half with a 33-20 lead over the Cougars.

Putting together a dominant second half, No. 4 Arizona Basketball would put a whoppin’ to the conference’s leading defense.

Shaking off their rust, it was a matter of time before Washington State got going, as the Cougars began the second half on a 15-6 run to cut Arizona’s lead down to four with 15:11 to play.

However, as we all have seen, Arizona can score points in a hurry, and luckily for us, the Wildcats would respond with a 25-7 run over the next seven minutes of play to make it 64-42. The 22-point lead was the Wildcats’ largest of the game.

Washington State would keep things somewhat close down the stretch, slowly chipping away at Arizona’s lead as they were able to pull within 11 with 20 seconds to play.

Unfortunately for Wazzu, it was too little too late as the Wildcats cruised to the 72-60 victory.

Where does Arizona Basketball go from here?

With the win, Arizona Basketball improves to 21-2 (11-1) and will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they take on Washington (13-9, 8-4) in Seattle. The Huskies are coming off an 87-64 thrashing over Arizona State.

Relive those highlights from the Wildcats’ big win!