The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (19-0, 6-0 in Big 12) remained undefeated after a win at home against the University of Cincinnati (10-9, 2-4 in Big 12) on Wednesday, Jan. 21. The Wildcats took down the Bearcats 77-51 in a thrilling matchup.
The Wildcats caused 14 first-half turnovers and drew nine fouls throughout the first half. However, they gave up 13 bench points while just scoring one and were outrebounded on the defensive side of the ball, 12-11. Arizona built a small 6-point lead going into halftime 33-27. Though the Wildcats were leading at the end of the first half, it wasn’t enough to make them comfortable going into the second half.
The second half was a lot like the first, as both teams were fighting for momentum. Cincinnati was able to cut Arizona’s lead to only 2 points at the 14-minute mark. Junior center Motiejus Krivas made a layup and a jumper off a turnover that started to rebuild the gap. Within 3 minutes, Arizona extended their gap to 10 points after a second-chance layup from Tobe Awaka. The Wildcats were on fire, taking every scoring opportunity that would lead them to take the win with the final score of 77-51.
Key players
Cincinnati’s leading scorer was senior forward Baba Miller who ended the night collecting 14 points on 5-13 shooting to go along with six rebounds and one assist.
Following Miller for the Bearcats was freshman guard Shon Abaev who finished out the game with 13 points, two rebounds and one assist. He made two 3-pointers in the first half that were huge for Cincinnati and helped them stay in the game longer.
The Wildcats were led by Krivas, who recorded 17 points, nine rebounds and one assist for the Wildcats by the end of the game.
“[…] and [Krivas] said to me, coach, I think I just got to be a little bit tougher. And when a player tells you that, taking the physical beating he is, you tip your hat to him because that ain’t easy to do,” head coach Tommy Lloyd said about Krivas’ improvements post game.
Another essential player was freshman forward Ivan Kharchenkov who had a stellar performance. He ended the night with 14 points, two rebounds and one assist.
“It helps us a lot, honestly. It helps us generate points. It makes us stay more connected with each other. It feels like we’re just in practice, just having fun with each other,” Brayden Burries said postgame about teammate Kharchenkov.
Looking forward
The Wildcats are looking to remain undefeated as they play West Virginia University on Saturday, Jan. 24 at noon MST. This is the last home game before the Wildcats are on the road for two challenging games against BYU and a rematch against ASU.
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