Maybe it only makes sense for a team like Arizona that took until the final week of January to earn its first road game of the season to then become the first team in the Pac-12 to earn a road sweep. The Wildcats have struggled in true road games this season and before Thursday night's victory over Washington in Seattle the team had yet to earn a victory in another team's arena.
That changed with the victory over the Huskies, and Saturday night in Pullman the Wildcats (15-6, 5-3 Pac-12) took it a step further by securing a road sweep with a 66-49 win over Washington State.
UA's win means it is the first team this season to sweep two road games in conference play. Arizona was able to pull away in the first half with a couple impressive extended runs sparked by the play of graduate transfer forward Stone Gettings.
A 3-pointer from Gettings with 8:06 left in the opening half gave the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish. The senior from California finished with a season-best 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for Arizona.
The impressive performance comes on the heels of a strong showing against the Huskies Thursday night as he scored 13 points in the victory. It was Gettings' best week since becoming a starter a few weeks ago when he took over for injured center Chase Jeter.
Gettings has had a difficult time producing in his new role, but the switch flipped on the team's trip to the Pacific Northwest as he put together two double-digit scoring performances.
As a team the Wildcats were able to check off a lot of boxes that head coach Sean Miller wants to check off each game. Most notably, Arizona was able to keep its turnovers limited and finished the night with just six giveaways in the win over Washington State. UA also won the rebounding battle 49-36 and allowed the Cougars to grab just five offensive rebounds.
Defensively, Arizona was able to hold dangerous Washington State sophomore CJ Elleby in check throughout the game. He finished the night with seven points after making just two of his 12 shots. The Cougars (13-10, 4-6) missed 15 3-pointers in the game as well with the Wildcats able to control the perimeter.
“Watching Washington State on film, and we had a lot of respect for them, CJ Elleby is a terrific player and he’s put it on a number of teams this year, especially here in Pullman,” Miller said during his postgame radio interview after the win. “I thought our team did an outstanding job guarding him and we did an equally outstanding job guarding Isaiah Stewart two nights ago, and that’s a sign of a good defensive team — when you can take what the other team does very well or a particular player that continuously produces, but against your team he doesn’t have that same type of night."
Arizona received contributions from all over the floor Saturday night in a balanced effort that featured three players in double figures including freshmen Nico Mannion who had 14 points and Zeke Nnaji who had 10 points and 10 rebounds to secure his ninth double double of the season.
The Wildcats return home next week to face USC and UCLA at McKale Center.
