Arizona allowed Oregon State to stay within striking distance for a big portion of the night, but in the end the Wildcats proved to be the better team for the second time this season. Arizona put together a pair of second-half runs that helped create some separation and give UA its 14th win of the season, 70-61.
Two Arizona freshmen were the catalysts for the runs that helped the Wildcats secure the victory over Oregon State. Big man Azuolas Tubelis helped spark a 9-0 run for UA that was highlighted by a steal and dunk while Bennedict Mathurin scored on a layup followed by a 3-pointer to help the Wildcats push their lead back up when OSU closed the gap.
Mathurin, who scored 31 points in the first meeting with the Beavers, finished with 14 points that included hitting three 3-pointers in the win. Tubelis had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds for UA.
Overall, the Wildcats (14-6, 8-6 Pac-12) didn't dominate the second matchup like they did back in January up in Corvallis, but Sean Miller's team found a way to grind out the victory led by an impressive performance on the glass. UA won the rebounding battle 47-34 to make up for having 13 turnovers.
The Wildcats also had 15 assists on 20 made field goals in the game. Those were two of the elements that led to another UA win helping the team break out of its rut having lost its last two contests.
"Oregon State, you have to give them a lot of credit," Miller said. "They are a very hard-playing, physical group. Wayne Tinkle and his staff they just do a great job of making the game hard and physical. When you think of those two words, rebounding. Right?
"Offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, physical close to the basket and you have to play through it. You have to play through that contact. You can't get frustrated. ... For the first time in a while, especially in the second half, we played much better defense without fouling. I think playing our man-to-man, playing our defense without fouling and them fouling us was really the big difference in the game."
In addition to controlling the rebounding battle with five different players having at least seven rebounds, the Wildcats were also able to utilize their aggressiveness getting to the basket and the free-throw line. UA shot 34 free throws in the game with 23 made shots from the line.
The Wildcats had four players with at least four free-throw attempts led by big man Jordan Brown who had 10 attempts helping him score nine points in the win. As Miller alluded to, getting to the free-throw line was a point of emphasis for his group Thursday night.
"We knew coming in that they were a hard-playing team, so that was one of our game plans just to drive and create fouls because we knew that's what they do," said UA center Christian Koloko after a game in which he connected on five of his six free-throw attempts. "They play hard and they jump for every shot, so we knew that if we were going to attack the rim we were gonna get fouled. That's what we did and I think it worked out pretty well."
Freshman guard Kerr Kriisa was one of three players to hit at least two 3-pointers in the game Thursday night. It came on a night when Kriisa made his first start for the Wildcats just a couple games after making his college debut on the road against Utah. The combo guard ultimately scored eight points in the victory over the Beavers (10-9, 6-7) while he provided plenty of energy for the Wildcats in his 20 minutes on the floor.
"I would say coming off the Mountain trip defense is really the priority for us trying to improve it," Miller said about moving Kriisa into the lineup over senior Terrell Brown Jr. "I thought Kerr, with his energy and his ability to take charges and take pride in that area, why not give him an opportunity here early on? That's not really to the detriment of Terrell. It's just every once in a while, I think when you have a team like ours, to shake up the lineup keeps everybody on their toes and backs up me and our staff trying to become a united, altogether better defensive group.
"That was the reason why."
Brown also provided the Wildcats with quality minutes off the bench as he scored seven points to go with seven rebounds and a team-high six assists giving Arizona positive contributions on both ends of its shift to the starting lineup.
Now Arizona will shift its focus to what will be its first meeting of the season with Oregon. The Ducks had to postpone the first game of the season series because of COVID-19 issues, but now the two teams will meet up Saturday at McKale Center. Tip off for that matchup is set for 12 p.m. MST.
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