Arizona Wildcats hold off Eastern Washington 70-67

James Akinjo scored 15 points, Dalen Terry had a steal and the clinching free throws with five seconds left as the Arizona Wildcats edged Eastern Washington 70-67 on Saturday.

The Eagles had a chance when Tanner Groves converted a three-point play with 41 seconds left and Azuolas Tubelis only made one free throw after being fouled, grabbing his own miss with 13 seconds left. The free throw put Arizona on top 68-65.

Jacob Davison drove into the lane and tried a kickout pass for a tying 3-pointer but Dalen intercepted and was fouled. After he made two free throws, Eastern Washington made a layup as time expired.

Tubelis finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (2-0).

Eastern Washington (0-2) led 43-38 at the half, making 8 of 17 3-pointers and shooting 55% overall. Brothers Tanner and Jacob Groves both had 10 points.

The Eagles managed to stay in the game despite missing their first nine shots of the second half and shooting 25%, going 2 of 15 behind the arc. The Wildcats clamped down on the Groves brothers with Tanner’s 3-point play, their only points after the break.

Arizona, now 109-12 in its last 121 games at home, grabbed the lead early in the second half but the Eagles had an 11-1 run to go up 56-48 with 8:32 to play. Kim Aiken Jr., made three free throws and Casson Rouse followed with a triple. Arizona came back with a 14-4 run as Eastern Washington couldn’t find its shooting and a Tubelis jumper made it 67-62 with 1:47 to go.

Tyler Robertson scored 14 points and Rouse had 13 to join the Groves brothers in double figures for the Eagles.

Eastern Washington was outrebounded 29-13 in the second half and 47-27 for the game. Arizona had 16 offensive rebounds it converted into 17 second-chance points.