No. 3 Arizona Wildcats thump Utah Valley to remain undefeated: By the Numbers
Dec 10, 2014, 3:29 AM | Updated: 4:53 am
The Arizona Wildcats’ defense crushed the souls of yet another team that dared to enter McKale Center.
Led by its bench, including a career-high 13 points and seven rebounds by freshman center Dusan Ristic, the Wildcats held Utah Valley to 36.2 percent field-goal shooting and improved to 9-0 with an 87-56 win over the Wolverines on Tuesday.
UA turned a 14-point halftime lead into a blowout early in the second half. The Wildcats held the Wolverines (3-5) scoreless for over seven minutes early in the half, and Arizona racked up 18 points in that span to take a 32-point advantage.
Here’s a look at how the Wildcats expanded their home winning streak to 27 games, by the numbers:
0
Backup point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright saw plenty of action Tuesday after starter T.J. McConnell got into early foul trouble. The freshman responded with four points on 2-of-2 shooting and three assists and, most importantly, no turnovers in the first half. Jackson-Cartwright had seven points for the game.
8
This year’s Wildcat squad has plenty of depth, as evidenced by eight players scoring at least four points in the first half.
14
Freshman forward Stanley Johnson continues to impress. With 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting Tuesday, Johnson has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games. He added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals against the Wolverines.
40
After being out-rebounded by a 38-31 margin in Saturday’s overtime win over Gonzaga, the Wildcats bounced back by grabbing 40 boards to Utah Valley’s 25 Tuesday. Sophomore forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had a game-high 10 rebounds for Arizona.
59.4
The ‘Cats got to the free-throw line early and often Tuesday but struggled once they got there, connecting on just 19-of-32 attempts (59.4 percent). UA came into the game shooting 68.7 percent from the line as a team.
68
Last season, the Wildcats allowed their opponents to score more than 70 points just twice. (UCLA was the opponent on both occasions.) This season, it’s more of the same: With Tuesday’s win, UA hasn’t yielded more than 68 points in any of its first nine contests.
