Arizona 106, No. 23 Washington 97
The Jon Brockman/Jordan Hill matchup was supposed to be the main event. Turns out, it was just an opening act for the the little-man show.
With Hill, UA’s dominant big man, sitting out with foul trouble for 10:58 of the second half, Wildcat guards Nic Wise and Kyle Fogg took over to help give their team a 106-97 win over No. 23 Washington in McKale Center on Thursday night, giving the Wildcats a 10-2 home-court record for the season.
Wise scored a career-high 29 points to go with 8 assists, and Fogg netted a career-high 16 points.
“”My confidence is getting higher, and my teammates trust me more,”” said Fogg, a freshman. “”They just told me to shoot the ball when I got open shots.””
Wise was unavailable for comment after the game because he was in the training room with cramping.
Hill picked up his fourth foul of the game at the 14:40 mark in the second half, when the Wildcats (13-8, 3-5 Pacific 10 Conference) were winning 51-49. He re-entered the game with 7:05 left and Arizona held a 75-62 lead.
In short, Arizona went on a 24-13 run against the Huskies (15-5, 6-2) without their leading scorer.
“”Once Jordan went out, Nic and I kind of knew we had to step up for the team, and that’s what we did,”” said UA forward Chase Budinger, who tallied 25 points and 8 rebounds. “”We were aggressive out there, and we started attacking the rim.””
Hill fouled out with 3:23 left in the game with 18 points and 9 rebounds when he fouled Brockman in the lane. Brockman converted a 3-point play, giving him a team-high 27 points to go with a game-high 16 boards.
Wise scored eight points down the stretch and Fogg added another two – all coming from the free-throw line.
“”I thought Kyle really stepped up and was willing to handle the ball pressure,”” said UA interim head coach Russ Pennell. “”… He just gets better and better. I don’t think he plays like a freshman anymore.””
Fogg said associate head coach Mike Dunlap challenged him to see if he could work out each night this week. He’s been getting in 300 made shots each night. Some nights, he will go to McKale Center around 10:30 or 11 and shoot for about 20 minutes, Pennell said.
“”Now I know it’s a battle and you have to go 110 percent every game,”” Fogg said. “”In the beginning of the season I just didn’t know what to expect. I was pretty much just nervous every game.””
After the win over the No. 1 team in the conference, the Wildcats will have a quick turnaround heading into Saturday’s 11 a.m. game against Washington State, which beat No. 14 ASU 65-55 in Tempe on Thursday night.
“”It was a huge win for us,”” Budinger said. “”They’re the first-place team in the Pac-10, and we’re pretty far down. It was a huge win for us, it gives us a lot of confidence, it shows us that we can play with anybody in the Pac-10.””
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Arizona is now 2-2 against nationally ranked opponents this season. The Wildcats have also defeated then-No. 4 Gonzaga, but lost to then-No. 17 ASU and then-No. 9 UCLA. …
Fogg got to start after missing two starts. He last started for the Wildcats on Jan. 17 at USC. It was his 13th start overall. …
Coming into Thursday night’s game, the Huskies scored the most in the conference (78.9), and allowed the least (52.5). The result of Thursday’s game will certainly skew their numbers on both sides. …
Arizona is now 5-0 when scoring 80 or more points this season. The Wildcats are 175-19 overall when topping the 80-point mark since the start of the 1997-98 season.