Fifth-ranked Arizona dominated Montana State 85-64 on Tuesday night at McKale Center to give The Wildcats its second win over the Bobcats out of the two schools third-ever matchup.
"Montana State, it's a good program," Tommy Lloyd said. "I thought they did a really good job tonight executing their game plan. We hung in there and luckily us playing at home did enough to get us over the top, but I tip my hat to them."
Arizona’s win was led by its leader and floor general point guard Kerr Kriisa, who scored 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting, including six 3-point field goals.
Big man Oumar Ballo also impacted the game both offensively and defensively, quietly scoring 11 points, 10 rebounds, as well as two blocks and two steals. Ballo's double-double was his fifth of the season.
Although they scored 85 points, the Wildcats appeared to have another hangover game, struggling to find their touch only shooting 44% from the field, including a stretch of a 4:16 scoring drought in the second half.
"When you sit in my seat, and you're trying to drive a culture through standards," Lloyd said. "No matter who we're playing, you got to be excited to play. And I'm not saying we didn't, I'm not saying we didn't play hard. I just feel like our keenness at times can be a little disconnected and I don't like that feeling and it just doesn't sit well with me. And it doesn't mean I'm mad at the guys or anything like that. But there just has to be a feel with how you operate on a day to day basis."
Arizona once again took advantage of getting to the free throw line after getting to the charity stripe 27 times in its win against Tennessee, as it was able to get to the line 29 times.
After allowing the Bobcats to shoot 48% from the floor and three 3-pointers in the first half, Arizona’s defense picked up the intensity with relentless pressure in the second half, only allowing 36% and no 3-points field goals.
Arizona was able to get all over the court defensively, forcing 19 turnovers, and able to make the most of them, scoring 20 points off of the Bobcats' turnovers.
Despite winning the rebounding battle 39-34, the Wildcats struggled in giving Montana State second chance opportunities, allowing 10, including eight in the first half.
Averaging only 11.3 turnovers per contest in its last four games, The Wildcats were able to once again handle the ball efficiently, committing 13 turnovers for the game.
After not scoring a point in its win against then-No.6 Tennessee, Cedric Henderson Jr. and Kylan Boswell were the only players to produce against Montana State, With Henderson Jr. scoring 16 points on 5 of 9 shooting in 25 minutes and Boswell with four points, three rebounds and two assists.
"Kylan is really coming along," Kriisa said. "He's helping me out a lot too with with my minutes and stuff because sometimes they get out of hand so I'm really thankful for Kylan for showing up, he's really hard worker in practices. He's always locked in and I wouldn't only credit up Kylan I would say all of our young guys. He is probably most ready to play out of all of them so far. So I'm really appreciative for Kylan."
Lloyd will need players such as Henri Veesaar, and Adama Bal to step up when they get more opportunities off the bench against “easier” opponents.
"I want to play that bench more," Lloyd said."Montana State it's a really good team. When you put your bench in, you don't want to be at a disadvantage. I felt at times tonight like we might be a little bit of a disadvantage. That's credit to Montana State."
Arizona will have another opportunity to get back into shape against Morgan State on Thursday.
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