|
 This time, however, the plan wasn't as successful, as the
Wildcats beat the Beavers 57-34 on Friday, stretching the Arizona's
winning streak to six.
The Beavers' zone defense gave the Wildcats trouble in spots, as
Arizona shot just 41 percent and turned the ball over 16 times. But
Oregon State's offensive strategy of taking 30 or more seconds off
the shot clock to limit possessions did not work, as the Beavers
(14-7, 5-4 Pac-12) made just 29 percent of their shots and had 17
turnovers of their own.
"We didn't make shots but when we got the ball we had some good
looks," said Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle. "We told them at
halftime that they needed to be more aggressive. I loved the effort
and we played hard defensively."
The Beavers out-rebounded Arizona in the first meeting, but this
time out it was the taller Wildcats (20-2, 8-1) who won the battle
on the glass 37-27.
Forward Brandon Ashley led the Wildcats with 12 points on 5-of-9
shooting, while forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 11 points.
 Arizona guard T.J. McConnell had a balanced line, scoring seven
points, dishing out six assists and getting eight steals.
"You could come to a lot of games at McKale for the next 50 years,
very seldom will you see a player have eight steals in a game, and
he only played 30 minutes," said Arizona coach Sean Miller. "He was
dominant on the defensive end."
Tinkle was also impressed with McConnell.
"McConnell is my player of the year," said Tinkle. "He is everything
to this team."
No Oregon State player scored in double figures. Forward Olaf
Schaftenaar led the Beavers with eight points thanks to a pair of
second-half 3-pointers.
Arizona was held scoreless for the first 4:54 of the second half,
but Oregon State could do little to take advantage, getting just
four points in the stretch thanks to a pair of foul shots by
Schaftenaar and a dunk by forward Daniel Gomis.
"No question we had some unforced turnovers at the beginning of the
second half, some real bad basketball on our part on offense,"
Miller said "But a lot of it had to do with Oregon State's defense."
"I think for a minute we just tried to rush things," Ashley said of
Arizona's reaction to the Oregon State slowdown attack, which led to
the early second half sloppiness. "We let them speed us up a little
bit and take us out of our game. I think when we relaxed and played
our style of play, everything comes naturally for us."
Reserve guard Elliott Pitts finally got Arizona back on the
scoreboard with back-to-back buckets. Point guard T.J. McConnell
found the sophomore in transition, and Pitts converted a tough
lay-up and drew the foul for a three-point play. On the next
possession he was left wide open for a three from the wing and
pushed the Wildcat lead back up to 30-17.
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Oregon State used back-to-back buckets to trim the lead to single
digits, but Ashley got hot, scoring seven points as part of a 13-4
run that left little chance for the Beavers to come back.
Ashley started the run with a jumper and then after a pair of Kaleb
Tarczewski foul shots, Ashley scored twice off of misses. First he
grabbed his own miss and buried a soft hook, then corralled a
rebound, made the bucket and drew the foul. His foul shot made it
39-24 with 10:34 left.
"I'd say Brandon is capable of doing that at any point in the game,
and he is the biggest key in why we pulled away like we did," said
McConnell.
Oregon State went scoreless over the final 7:45 of the first half
and Arizona took advantage, going on an 11-0 run to close out the
half and take a 24-13 lead into the locker room.
The Beavers missed their final six shots of the half, committing
four turnovers. Conversely, Arizona found a bit of a rhythm over the
final 5:39. Guard Gabe York broke the tie with a 3-point shot and
the Wildcats kept attacking, getting to the line on three-straight
scoring plays, including a pair of and-one opportunities.
"Arizona is really aggressive, which pushed us in taking shots we're
not normally comfortable with taking," said Oregon State guard
Malcolm Duvivuer, who scored all seven of his points in the first
half. "We couldn't get the ball in the rim tonight even though we
were getting people in position to score."
Forward Stanley Johnson capped the first half scoring by grabbing a
long defensive rebound and racing coast-to-coast for the score.
NOTES: Arizona was without the services of freshman G Parker
Jackson-Cartwright. He was in street clothes after suffering a
concussion against Oregon State on Wednesday. ... Not only did
Arizona play a rare Friday night Pac-12 game, but it was an even
more rare second game of the two-game home stand. Traditionally
Pac-12 teams play the second game on Saturdays and Sundays. ...
Arizona had their fans take part in a red and white out, with
alternating sections of fans wearing all red or all white.
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