No. 9 Arizona Basketball rebounds, beats Oregon State

CORVALLIS, OR – Looking to bounce back from their loss to Wazzu, No. 9 Arizona Basketball (15-2, 4-2) rebounded, routing Oregon State (7-10, 1-5), 86-74.

Following an abysmal showing against Washington State last Saturday, No. 9 Arizona Basketball was back in action on the road, this time taking on Pac-12 foe, Oregon State in Corvallis.

Taking on a feisty, but inconsistent Beavers team, the Wildcats led from the tip and didn’t look back, pacing themselves to a rather comfortable, 86-74 win.

Arizona’s offense was in prime form, collectively shooting an impressive 52.5 percent from the field, including 37.9 percent from three.

Azuolas Tubelis led the way for the Wildcats, finishing his day with 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while shooting 11-15 from the field, including 1-1 from three.

Beyond that, three different Wildcats finished in double-figures as Oumar Ballo looked dominant scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, meanwhile Kerr Kriisa notched another double-double with 13 points and 11 assists, and Courtney Ramey added with 11 points respectively.

Despite Oregon State’s second-half surge, No. 9 Arizona Basketball used a big first half to cruise to the comfortable win over the Beavers.

Looking to shake off the stench of last week, this one started in Arizona’s favor, as from the tip, the Wildcats looked dominant, jumping out to an early, 7-0 lead after the first two minutes off play.

Luckily, the Wildcats wouldn’t lose their intensity, using dominant play to take their lead from seven to 10, to eventually, as many as 21 in the first half.

Leading 42-21 with 1:46 to play in the first half, Oregon State would close the half on a 5-2 run to cut Arizona’s lead to 18 at the half.

Hoping to continue their momentum, the Wildcats’ offense would look sharp in the second half as well, despite the myriad of turnovers; however, it was the defense that would lose focus.

Despite leading 57-33 with 14:41 to play, the Beavers would finally come to life, responding by outscoring Arizona 29-15 over the next nine-plus minutes of play to cut the Wildcats’ lead to just 10 at 72-62 with 5:04 to play.

Fortunately for Arizona, with every push made by the Beavers, the Wildcats had an answer, keeping Oregon State’s offense mostly at bay.

Arizona would eventually cruise to the 86-74 win over host Oregon State!

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 15-2 (4-2) on the season and will resume basketball action on Saturday when they take on Oregon in Eugene. Tip-off against the Ducks on Saturday is set for 4:00 PM MST.

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