Team of the week: Arizona men’s basketball
It was another busy week of sports in Tucson, full of intense games and many victories. The men’s basketball team continued to make strides as they faced in-state rival ASU to start the week, followed by a weekend slate in the Pacific Northwest.
Everyone knows head coach Tommy Lloyd’s success in McKale center so far. As the season begins to wind down, finding the team’s identity in college basketball is found away from the home basket while playing on the road.
The Wildcats lived up to the challenge despite some lopsided first-half performances. Last Monday, against the Sun-Devils in Tempe, Arizona, was challenged with overcoming a 14-1 run by Bobby Hurley’s squad. Arizona climbed back into this one and led by four at the break, ultimately squeezing out a 91-79 victory.
Arizona had two days off before packing their bags for a weekend trip to Washington following the win. The first two-game trip took place at the Beasley Coliseum against Washington State University.
Arizona had taken control of this game early. Finding success at the defensive end was key as WSU struggled tremendously, not having any open looks and shooting a poor 34% from the floor. Arizona pulled out another conference road win 72-60 despite a late second-half run.
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The last challenge of the weekend likely had many fans in Tucson worried. The Wildcats traveled east to Seattle to play the University of Washington. For the first 14 minutes, ex-Arizona guard Terrell Brown Jr gave the Wildcats fits, having 18 points.
There seemed to be no answer as Brown was lights out to start. However, the tide began to turn as the Wildcats completely flipped the script of this game and closed the 12 point deficit, closing the half up by nine. As the last six minutes of the first half were all Arizona, the second-half remained much of the same, outscoring Washington 92-68 to complete the weekend sweep.
Player of the week: Shaina Pellington
Despite the men’s team’s success, last week’s player of the week comes from the women’s team, Shaina Pellington, who had a field day at Arizona State.
In Tempe, the Wildcats fell short, 81-77, but Pellington had a season-high 30 points, shooting an efficient 9/16 from the field.
Pellington also distributed the basketball, having five assists. Pellington is averaging just shy of 11 points per game for head coach Adia Barnes on the season.
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