Arizona Basketball

Arizona Wildcats earn coveted road win to start Pac-12 season


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Some important developments for Arizona in the Wildcats’ 94-82 win over ASU this afternoon in Tempe:

— Arizona has scored 80 points or more in six consecutive games with eight games overall exceeding that mark. Sean Miller’s teams in his first six years averaged 9.6 games a season with 80-plus points. The Wildcats still have 17 regular season games and the postseason to build on their eight. Further evidence that this is Miller’s most potent team and most difficult to defend.

Ryan Hansen of the Arizona IMG Sports Network called Gabe York “Big Game Gabe” after the senior guard’s 22-point performance, including a 4-of-7 performance from three-point range. York also tied a career-high with six assists with only one turnover in 30 minutes. Entering the game, York had as many assists (28) as turnovers (28).

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— Arizona came through from the free-throw line for the most part, making 27 of 36 of its attempts from there. The Wildcats did not even attempt a free throw until 7:13 remained in the first half. That means in roughly the last 27 minutes of the game, the Wildcats averaged an impressive 1.3 free-throw attempts a minute. Arizona won by 12 points and outscored ASU 27-16 at the free-throw line. ASU guard Gerry Blakes fouled out, becoming the 18th Arizona opponent to foul out in the first 14 games. Opponents are on pace to have 39.9 foul-outs against Arizona by the end of the regular season. The school record is 38 opponent foul-outs in 1974-75.

— Arizona corrected its turnover flaws in an electric atmosphere with ASU in a full-court pressure defense for much of the second half. The Wildcats had only eight turnovers after averaging 13.5 a game entering the day. The three primary ballhandlers — York, Kadeem Allen and Parker Jackson-Cartwright — combined for 12 assists with only two turnovers.

Kaleb Tarczewski returned from missing the last seven games while nursing a foot injury. He played as huge as his 7-foot, 250-pound frame. He finished with eight points and five rebounds in 15 minutes. His eight points give him 992 points for his career, only eight shy from joining the 1,000-point club. He stands at No. 50 on the Arizona career scoring chart, 14 points shy of No. 49 Matt Muehlebach (1,086).

ARIZONA’S TOP SCORING CENTERS
Rank: Overall school ranking.
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— Add York: His four three-pointers allowed him to overtake Muehlebach for No. 10 in Arizona career three-pointers. He now has 165 threes in his career. Next up is No. 9 Miles Simon with 176 from 1994-98.

THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS CAREER
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— Two of Arizona’s impact newcomers — Trier and Ryan Anderson — continued to roll while another — Mark Tollefsen — had his best game with the Wildcats. Anderson, who had one point and six rebounds at halftime, finished with his fourth consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He has seven this season and 27 in his career. Trier achieved his second consecutive 20-point game and his fourth overall this season. Stanley Johnson had only three 20-point games last year in his freshman season. Tollefsen had eight points in 17 minutes but he never hurt the Wildcats. He drilled a three-pointer and had an assist and steal.

Dusan Ristic also played effectively, making five of his six field attempts, many of them one-handed shots with a feathery soft touch. He finished with 10 points and also had four rebounds and a blocked shot in 20 minutes.

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He has also written articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.

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