The Arizona men’s basketball team finally got its revenge on the University of Utah after they handed them their first loss of the season on Dec. 1, 2022. This time around Arizona won 88-62 in McKale Center. Arizona is now 23-4 on the season and 12-4 in Pac-12 play.
For the second straight game the Wildcats’ best player, Azuolas Tubelis got into foul trouble early. After picking up two fouls, he only played five minutes in the first half, but unlike in the loss to Stanford University, Arizona had plenty of contributors.
Seven Wildcats finished the game with at least eight points while Kerr Kriisa led the team in scoring with 17 points. Kriisa was excellent in this game, he was 6 for 8 from the field and a perfect 4 for 4 from 3-point range. Pelle Larsson had 11 points on 5 for 8 shooting from the field, while having four assists.
Arizona only had six turnovers during this contest, which is the least amount that they have had since they had five of them on Dec. 4, 2022.
After each of the Wildcats’ four losses this season, they have won the following game by at least 10 points. This is their fourth win by at least 20 points during their last six games.
Arizona freshman center Henri Veesaar played 9 minutes, his most since Dec. 31, 2022. He looked confident on the floor, scoring seven points on 3 for 4 shooting from the field while grabbing two rebounds.
“Henri you know, he lost a bit of confidence, which happens with a young player. I always tell the guys this is going to be harder than they ever expect,” head coach Tommy Lloyd said. “So I was happy that he had a little bit of success today because it would be nice to add another player or two to the rotation in case of situations like this.”
Courtney Ramey is 11-22 from 3-point range throughout the last two games. Tonight, he made three of them while scoring 13 points, assisting on six baskets and grabbing seven rebounds.
Former Wildcat and current Dallas Maverick, Josh Green returned to Tucson today for the first time since playing at Arizona in 2020. Green was inducted into the Arizona basketball ring of honor during halftime of tonight’s game. He averaged 12 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game during his single season at Arizona.
“I think everything feels different, being back here in a college environment, you know, it’s awesome. It’s cool to be back here, I miss being in Arizona a lot,” Green said. “And honestly, I can’t wait to watch the game tonight and it’s a different type of fan base than in the NBA, so it’s gonna be cool to see that again.”
Arizona only has four games remaining in the regular season before they head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament and start their postseason run. The Wildcats will face the University of Colorado Boulder for the first time this season on Saturday at 6 p.m. in McKale Center.
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