No. 14 Arizona Basketball beats No. 10 Creighton, becomes Maui Champs

LĀHAINĀ, HI – No. 14 Arizona Basketball (6-0) outlasts No. 10 Creighton (6-1) as the Wildcats become the Maui Invitational Champions. 

Fresh off of dominant wins over Cincinnati and No. 17 San Diego State, No. 14 Arizona Basketball had a quick turnaround to take on No. 10 Creighton in the Maui Invitational Final.

Taking on a solid opponent in the Bluejays, the Wildcats would face yet another tough test in this young season.

Fueled by a collective team effort and some clutch shooting, four different Wildcats finished in double-figures, as Arizona combined for 81 points while shooting 52.9 percent from the field.

Former Gonzaga big man Oumar Ballo had a hell of a day, leading all scorers with a career-high 30 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Kerr Kriisa, Azuolas Tubelis, and Courtney Ramey also had big days, finishing with 13, 12, and 10 points respectively.

Jumping out to a comfortable, 11-point lead in the first half, No. 14 Arizona Basketball was able to hang on against No. 10 Creighton to secure the win.

Unlike their other games, this one was a bit back and forth as Arizona and Creighton exchanged buckets for much of the first half.

Leading 26-25 with 7:53 to play, Arizona would finally hit its stride in the first half, responding with a 13-3 lead to take a commanding, 39-28 lead.

Unfortunately, Creighton would hit a pair of free throws to end the half, trailing by nine.

Staying aggressive to begin the second half, the Wildcats would extend its lead to as many as 13 with 17:05 to play.

Unfortunately, with every offensive run by the Wildcats in the second half, Creighton would have an answer, responding with a 9-0 run to make it just 47-43, Arizona.

Luckily, the Wildcats would respond in kind, pushing their lead from four to 14 in just a matter of minutes.

Leading 79-67 with 3:37 to play, the Bluejays would close out the game on a fury, using solid defense and smart shot selection to cut Arizona’s to 81-79 with seconds to play.

Fortunately, Arizona was to hold off Creighton in the end, coming away with the narrow, 81-79 win over the Bluejays to win the Maui Invitational for the first time since 2014.

With the victory, the Wildcats improve to 6-0 on the season, and No. 14 Arizona will resume basketball action next Thursday against Utah to begin Pac-12 play. Tip-off for Thursday’s game is set for 6:30 PM MST.

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