Rawle Alkins missed the game with a sore foot, but Arizona men’s basketball picked up a 79-58 road win over Cal Wednesday behind a team effort in the Haas Pavilion.
The win improves No. 14 Arizona to 15-4 and 5-1 in the Pac-12, while Cal falls to 7-12 and 1-5 in the conference.
Arizona broke the game open in the second half with strong defense and solid offense. The Wildcats held Cal to only one 3-pointer for the game and without a field goal for nine minutes late in the second half. Arizona shot 62 percent from the floor and made 11-of-19 3-point attempts.
Alkins missed the game because of pain in his right foot. He previously broke his foot in the offseason and missed the first nine games of the season. He returned to play in the next nine games and averaged 14.8 points and 4.3 rebounds. According to the Arizona Daily Star, he is not injured but sat as a precaution.
Dylan Smith started in Alkins place, scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds on perfect 5-for-5 shooting and 4-for-4 from three. Smith had an all around good night, he was quick on defense and shot the ball confidently. His success could be a good sign for Arizona, since it has been lacking signifigant contribution from its bench players.
Deandre Ayton lead scoring with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 9-for-11 shooting to give him his 13th double-double of the season. He now holds the record for the most double-doubles by a freshman in Arizona history, a record originally set by Al Fleming in the 1972-73 season.
In the first half Arizona shot over 70 percent from both the floor and 3-point range, as well as held Cal to 39 percent from the floor and 11 percent from deep. At a glance, those numbers would indicate a blowout, but the Wildcats ended the half with Cal hanging within 10.
The reason is turnovers. Arizona turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, including three times in the first three possessions. In the second half Arizona continued to struggle taking care of the ball, adding 10 more turnovers to finish with 21 total.
Cal handled the ball better than Arizona, finishing with 14 turnovers, but struggled to score. Freshman forward Justice Sueing led the Bears with 19 points and nine rebounds. He shot 6-for-17 from the floor, but 0-6 from deep.
In total Arizona had five players in double figures. Allonzo Trier finished with 15 points, Parker Jackson-Cartwright with 14 and a game high six assists, while Dusan Ristic added 10 of his own.
The Wildcats move on to play at Stanford Saturday at 2:00 p.m. on CBS.
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