Breakdown: Arizona downs Wazzu

The Lowdown: Jesse Perry picked up his fourth foul
just one minute into the second half leaving the Wildcats
without his services for the next eight minutes. With
Perry on the bench, nobody was able to guard Cougar
forward Brock Motum as he exploded for 28 points, 17 in
the second half. The inside-outside play of Motum kept the
Cougars (13-13, 5-9) in the game until the very end.

For Arizona it was Solomon Hill who once again stepped up
and adapted to the situation. He scored four clutch
baskets and may have had the assist of the year to Perry
late in the game. Hill also took on the task of guarding
Motum down the in the closing minutes.

The best defense for the Wildcats on Motum in the end was
the free-throw line. He started 9-11 from the line and
then proceeded to go 1/7 in the final seven minutes of the
game. Outstanding execution in the pick-and-roll was the
cherry on top of the 76-72 win for Arizona on the road.

What went right for Arizona? Down the stretch
execution was crisp, fluid, and that of a veteran team. On
back-to-back plays they ran a pick-and-roll. First Hill
took a screen from Perry and dropped a perfect pass
leading to a nice finish. Then to top that off Perry gave
Josiah Turner a pick and rolled through to catch a laser
left-handed pass capping the play off with an old
fashioned three-point play. That play put the Wildcats up
three with :38 seconds to go.

When it was over? Brendon Lavender on the season
was only a 58.3% free-throw shooter, but stepped to the
line with 10.1 seconds to go and a two point lead on the
road. He calmly, and confidently sank both free-throws for
the win.

Who stepped up for Arizona? Perry and Hill were
great, but it was Lavender’s hot shooting that sparked the
win. The team was 9-19 from deep and that was thanks to
Lavender going 5-7 on his own.

Stat of the Game: When Perry went to the bench,
someone needed to step up on the glass and an unexpected
career-high 10 rebounds came out of Kyle Fogg. It
was indicative of Fogg’s career; no matter what the team
needs he finds a way to do it night in and night out.

They said it: “It is a great feeling, we worked so
hard throughout the week in practice to get those wins on
the road so it’s a beautiful feeling. As long as we can
keep it up and stay together and everyone just keeps
playing as hard as they can then we’ll
have a good outcome.” – Brendon Lavender

What it means: With the win the Wildcats are now
19-8 overall and 10-4 in Pac-12 play thanks to their
current 5-game winning streak.

What’s Next: The Rematch is on. Arizona stays in
the Pacific Northwest with a big-time matchup against
Washington. A win in Seattle Saturday would propel the
Wildcats into first place in the conference.

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