LOS ANGELES — The Arizona Wildcats kept their hopes of wining the Pac-12 Conference Tournament alive by defeating the Oregon State Beavers 72-61 on Friday in Staples Center. The UA got big performances from seniors Kyle Fogg and Jesse Perry as the Wildcats move on to the tournament championship game on Saturday. Perry recorded a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Fogg posted a game-high 22 points. It is the seventh time Arizona (23-10) has advanced to the tournament championship game in the Pac-12 tournament’s history. Here are some notes from Friday’s game:
Hill gets unplanned rest
Junior forward Solomon Hill fouled out with 5:30 left in the game after he was assessed his fourth personal foul and a technical for his reaction after the foul.
“I think Solomon erred in what he said,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. “I’ve talked to Solomon. You can’t be an all-conference player and as important to our team as he is and all of the sudden lose track that you have four fouls, say something unnecessary to official. He learned from it.”
Hill played 27 minutes in Friday’s game after playing nearly the entire contest between Arizona and UCLA in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
“In a funny way, Solomon is probably more fresher than he would have been,” Miller said, “but that’s a bad reason to be fresh.”
Chol steps up
After Hill was ejected from the game, freshman Angelo Chol continued to contribute for the Wildcats down the stretch. The freshman registered a total of 17 minutes, four rebounds and four points. He also had a game-high three blocks.
Chol’s play earned him so major respect from his teammates.
“He stepped in with a lot of big plays, big rebounds and put backs and he played great defense,” Perry said.
Chol helped the Wildcats matchup to the size of OSU’s Joe Burton and Eric Moreland.
“His confidence is really coming up,” Fogg said. “He had a few big time blocks and a few big time rebounds to help us win the game.”
In his time filling in for Hill, Chol registered two rebounds. Miller said the experience was good for Chol’s confidence.
“It was good to give him that time on the court,” Miller said. “It made us bigger and he did and excellent job.”
Wildcats run over Beavers
The Wildcats used big runs to help them climb back into the game against Oregon State. Arizona went on a 10-0 run near the beginning of the game after Oregon State took the early 2-0 lead at the beginning of the game.
The Beavers quickly answered with a 13-0 run to take the lead back at the 5:12 mark of the first half. OSU took a 34-27 lead into halftime.
“They kind of kicked us in the mouth,” freshman guard Nick Johnson said, “but we came out in the second half and gave it right back to them and flipped the momentum.”
Arizona came out on fire in the second half, sparked by Johnson’s play. He was involved in all of the plays resulting in a 14-2 run by the Wildcats. Six of Johnson’s nine points and four of his five assists came in the second half. The momentum shift helped Arizona build its run to 20-3, effectively keeping the Beavers at bay.
Byrne calls on SoCal fans
Athletic director Greg Byrne said he’s working with the Pac-12 Conference to get as many seats as possible available for Wildcat fans to represent at Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament Championship game.
“We have such a passionate fan base,” Byrne said. “We have a lot of people in southern California. Let’s get everybody out here and show it tomorrow.”
Byrne said Arizona Athletics was organizing the Wildcat Walk, normally associated with Arizona football, for the basketball team’s trip to the championship game, which is scheduled to tip at 4:10 p.m. MST. The walk will begin at 1:15 p.m. outside the JW Marriott, which is located across the street from the Staples Center.
