Bennedict Mathurin tallied 25 points and 10 rebounds and Arizona rallied after giving away a 16-point lead, beating Wichita State 82-78 in overtime Friday night at the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas.
The Wildcats scored the first nine points in overtime thanks in part to a 3-pointer and two free throws by Kerr Kriisa. The Shockers missed their first seven attempts from the floor in overtime and couldn’t recover, despite Qua Grant hitting a 3-pointer on a frantic last-second possession.
Arizona (4-0) also got 13 points and 11 rebounds from Christian Koloko. Azuolas Tubelis scored 16 points, and Kriisa added 12 with six assists.
Tyson Etienne led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-27 shooting for Wichita State (3-1). The Shockers shot just 33.8 percent (27-for-80) and had three players foul out.
The Wildcats were up by three, but missed a chance to extend the lead when Tubelis misfired on two free throws with 2:22 left.
Grant drained a 3-pointer to tie the game for the Shockers, and on their next possession, his free throw at 1:41 handed Wichita State its first lead of the game, 65-64.
In the final minute of regulation, Tubelis put Arizona up 69-66 by converting a three-point play, but Etienne answered with a fast-break 3-pointer with 17 seconds left that tied it at 69 and eventually forced overtime.
The Wildcats survived despite losing 22 turnovers. They will face the winner of the No. 4 Michigan-UNLV game that was played later Friday night, while Wichita State will head to the consolation match.
Mathurin earned 17 of his points in the first half thanks to three 3-pointers and two dunks. Arizona got its largest lead of the half at 34-20 with 5:09 left thanks to a 6-0 spurt that included a layup and a trey by Mathurin.
The Wildcats led 40-33 at halftime and extended their lead to 16 with just over 12 minutes left in the second half.
–Field Level Media
