No. 3 Arizona overcame a 3-of-23 shooting performance from 3-point range behind 14 points each from Bennedict Mathurin and Oumar Ballo to beat Arizona State 67-56 in a Pac-12 game Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats (17-2, 7-1 Pac-12) were able to pull away in the last eight minutes from Arizona State (6-12, 2-6) because of the Sun Devils going 2 of 15 from the field in that stretch.
Christian Koloko also had 12 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots for Arizona, which made a concerted effort to score inside after its perimeter shooting went cold.
Koloko and Ballo, Arizona’s interior players, were a combined 7 of 13 from the field and they went to the free throw line 16 times and made 12.
Arizona State was led by D.J. Horne, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half on five 3-pointers to keep the game close with a 32-32 halftime score.
A 10-0 run by Arizona allowed the Wildcats to take a 60-48 lead with 5:20 left.
The Sun Devils had a field goal drought of 7:26 before Jay Heath made a jumper with 3:05 left to cut the lead to 62-51.
Arizona never led in the first half and trailed by as many as eight points largely because of its 24.1 percent shooting from the field, including an 0-of-13 performance from 3-point range.
What buoyed Arizona to be tied at halftime was its free throw shooting (18 of 21) and Arizona State committing 11 turnovers.
The Wildcats finished 26 of 32 from the free-throw line while Arizona State was 8 of 15.
The Sun Devils had 17 turnovers.
Arizona took its first lead, 36-35, with 17:34 left on a free throw made by Mathurin.
Kerr Kriisa, who missed 13 straight 3-pointers dating to Tuesday’s loss at UCLA, ended the drought with 15:25 left against Arizona State to give the Wildcats a 41-37 lead.
–Field Level Media
