No. 14 Arizona Basketball outpaces Cincinnati to advance in Maui

LĀHAINĀ, HI – No. 14 Arizona Basketball (4-0) hangs on against Cincinnati (3-2) to advance in the Maui Invitational Tournament. 

Fresh off of dominant wins in Tucson, No. 14 Arizona Basketball returned to action, this time taking their high-flying offense on the road as they began the Maui Invitational Tournament.

Taking on a formidable opponent in Cincinnati, the Wildcats were fueled by a collective team effort in this one as the Wildcat starters combined for 87 of the teams’ 101 points.

Azuolas Tubelis led the way offensively for the Cats, scoring an impressive 30 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Oumar Ballo and Kerr Kriisa both had great games for Arizona as well, as both scored 21 points and 11 points respectively.

However, it was Arizona’s Courtney Ramey that may have stolen the show. The graduate transfer finally made his first start with the Cats in the 2022-23 season, and the former Texas guard came up big in the end, finishing his day with 17 points, grabbing four rebounds, and dishing two assists.

Jumping out to a comfortable first-half lead, No. 14 Arizona Basketball was too much in the end, using a high-flying offense to pace themselves to the win.

Despite Cincinnati hanging tough early, Arizona was finally able to gain control around the 8:18 mark when the Wildcats expanded their three-point lead to nine, before eventually pushing it out to 16 around the 2:59 mark.

Continuing to stay aggressive; however, it was the Bearcats that would try to claw their way back in, ending the half on a 6-0 run to cut Arizona’s lead to just 10 at halftime.

Using a strong effort to begin the second half, the Wildcats would open the half by expanding its lead to 15 with 15:13 to play. Unfortunately, Cincinnati would not go quietly, responding with a 13-5 run to cut Arizona’s lead to just seven.

Using a relentless offensive barrage, luckily, Arizona was able to keep enough separation in this one to stave off any Cincinnati run.

Despite the Bearcats’ best attempts to come back in this one, Arizona eventually paced itself to the convincing, 101-93 win over Cincinnati.

Cincinnati transfer Landers Nolley II would finish with a game-high 33 points while shooting 9-14 from three.

With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 4-0 on the season, and No. 14 Arizona will resume basketball action on Tuesday evening when they take on No. 17 San Diego State in the second round of the Maui Invitational. Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is slated at 8:30 PM MST.

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