The Arizona men’s basketball team pulled off another blowout victory with a 82-59 win against Santa Clara at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Forwards Derrick Williams and Solomon Hill led the way for the Wildcats with 22 and 20 points, improving the Wildcats to 5-0 before their big showdown with No. 6 Kansas on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Invitational.
In the first two minutes of the game, Williams picked up two quick fouls forcing him to sit, allowing Hill and reserve small forward Kevin Parrom to lead the way for the Wildcats.
In the first half Parrom, led the Wildcats in scoring with 10 of his final 12 points, allowing Arizona to go into halftime with a 34-28 lead despite Williams’ early foul trouble.
Whether it was Parrom going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc or Hill getting to the free throw line, both small forwards carried the Wildcats to victory.
“”When coach calls your number you always want to deliver,”” said Hill. “”We saw D-Will go out early so we had the mindset to get to the hole.””
Hill indeed got to the hole as he pounded smaller Santa Clara defenders in the post the entire game, which resulted in him living at the foul line. Hill went 10- for-12 from free throw line.
“”When they put a smaller guy, like that in, you have to exploit it,”” he added.
Thought Williams was slowed by foul trouble, he still found a way to lead the Wildcats in scoring, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half.
“”We we’re fortunate to get him to halftime with two fouls,”” Miller said. “” He was able to play a significant role in the second half because of it.””
In the second half Miller made a change to his starting line-up, replacing shooting guard Kyle Fogg with junior Brendon Lavender.
Fogg struggled in the first half shooting 0-for-3 with four turnovers. The junior guard never returned in the second half and is not in good standing with Miller right now.
“”Kyle had a bad first half and didn’t handle his bad play well,”” Miller said. “”This is a team sport this is basketball it isn’t tennis, there is no time to pout or pity party if you don’t make shots.
If guys on this team don’t buy in to the total team effort and play for the win at all times, you’re not going to see them at Arizona and you’re damn sure not going to see them in the game.””
When Miller was asked if Fogg would play against Kansas he simply said, “” I do’t know.””
Miller may not know what his starting line-up will look like against the No. 6 Jayhawks on Saturday night but one thing is for sure.
“”We’re going to find out a lot about our team,”” he said.
