Instant Analysis: Arizona sails to 66-49 win at Washington State
Arizona was locked in defensively and Stone Gettings was locked on offensively as the Wildcats cruised to a comfortable 66-49 win at Washington State. In doing so, the Wildcats became the first Pac-12 team to earn a conference road sweep this season.
What Happened?
Arizona and Washington State struggled to score all game, but Arizona’s defense and defensive rebounding proved to be significantly better. Despite shooting 39.7 percent from the floor, Arizona scored buckets the hard way and did all the little things right to extend a nine-point lead at halftime to an easy 17-point victory.
The Wildcats (15-6, 5-3 Pac-12) limited Washington State to just 20-for-54 shooting (37%), while holding CJ Elleby in check all night. The Cougars leading scorer, who dropped 27 points and hit the game-winner against Arizona State on Wednesday, finished with only seven points on 2-of-12 shooting. Importantly, the Wildcats took full advantage of WSU’s misses by controlling the defensive boards and ending the night with a plus-13 rebounding margin.
Stone Gettings scored a season high 19 points and produced his first career double-double with the Wildcats by adding 12 rebounds. The graduate transfer from Cornell was sound from start to finish, scoring big buckets when the rest of the Wildcats were struggling on the offensive end of the floor.
Zeke Nnaji also turned in a double-double with 10 boards and 10 rebounds, while Nico Mannion gave Arizona some scoring punch from the guard position with 14 points, four assists and four rebounds.
Washington State (13-10, 4-6) had been playing well at home this year, owning wins over UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, and ASU in Pullman. However, the Wildcats, with newfound road confidence after defeating Washington in Seattle on Thursday, would have none of it. The Wildcats completely took the crowd out of the game with solid defense, dominate defensive rebounding, and enough highlight reel plays to leave the home fans shaking their heads.
Who Starred?
Stone Gettings was brilliant against WSU. Following a 13-point effort at Washington, Gettings went next level to turn in his first double-double as a Wildcat. At the start of the season, the Gettings Arizona fans have seen over the last four games is exactly the player Sean Miller knew he was getting. Gettings’ ability to knock down mid-range jumpers, including 2-for-3 three pointers in Pullman, completely opens the floor for his teammates. Arizona scored 38 points in the paint and had 11 second chance points, primarily because of spacing and their ability to score in transition. Gettings played a role in both areas, securing defensive rebounds to kick start the early offense while stretching the Cougars defense on pick and pops all over the floor.
Josh Green deserves a nod as well for his defensive effort against WSU’s Elleby. Green continues to struggle offensively, but his defense remains outstanding.
How Arizona Won?
Arizona won by the numbers. Arizona outrebounded WSU 49-36. The Wildcats had 15 offensive rebounds to just five for the Cougars. Arizona’s defense produced nine steals. WSU had only a single steal. Arizona only committed six turnovers for the game, including just one giveaway in the second half. And where it mattered most, on the scoreboard, the Wildcats held Washington State to less than 50 points AT HOME. All of these things helped erase an otherwise poor shooting night for the Wildcats from the field (27-for-68) and a very poor shooting night from the charity stripe (8-for-14).
X Factor(s)?
The steady and heady play of Jemarl Baker is critical. Baker is a model of efficiency in terms of not turning the ball over and playing defense. Fans witnessed his scoring potential in Arizona’s 75-72 win at Washington, but the real reason the Kentucky transfer is getting real minutes is because he does not make mistakes on either end of the floor.
Bigger picture, Arizona’s X Factor for the rest of the season will be how well all of their role players perform. Gettings is finding his groove and is a major reason the Wildcats earned the road sweep this week in the Pacific Northwest. Similarly, Arizona will need the better version of Max Hazzard more times than not. And then there’s Ira Lee. Saturday was kind of a weird statistical night for Lee (2 points, zero rebounds), but his defense, much like Baker’s, was outstanding. The better these student athletes play, the easier it will be for the freshmen to do their thing and not have to worry about being perfect.
Player of the Game
Without question, the player of the game was Gettings. Points aside, fans are witnessing the tougher, chippie side of Gettings lately and it’s beautiful. If Gettings can keep this going, opponents will no longer be able to automatically double team Nnaji on the block and that can really change the outlook of this club.
Stat of the Game
The plus-13 rebounding margin was the biggest stat of the game. Mainly, because rebounding has been this team’s biggest problem throughout the season. At one point, Arizona had secured 18 of 19 defensive boards. Wazzu would ultimately grab five offensive rebounds on the night, but four of those came after the contest was no longer in doubt.
Up Next:
The USC Trojans visit Arizona on Thursday, February 6 in Tucson. Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on ESPN 2.