College Basketball

Arizona Basketball blows 22-point Lead and still beats The Aggies 67-63

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:32 p.m. ET

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With finals over, Arizona Basketball can now put all focus on basketball. The Lone Star Shootout tipped-off at 11:00 a.m. CT with Arizona taking on Texas A&M.

Sean Miller and his Wildcats squared off for another early Saturday morning basketball game. After traveling to Missouri last week, today’s game was held in Houston for the Lone Star Shootout. Texas A&M out of the SEC was the challenger at 7-2 on the year. Arizona Basketball had another morning game.

The Wildcats are coming off of a sloppy, turnover-filled game against Grand Canyon University. As 1 1/2 point underdogs, Arizona needed to stay under control on offense in order to come out with a win.

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For a little over 30 minutes, Arizona absolutely owned Texas A&M. They led by as many as 22 points in the second half. But after the Aggies went on an 18-2 run, and Arizona going scoreless for close to five minutes, the Cardiac Cats snuck out with a 67-63 win.

The story of the first half was the offensive game of Dusan Ristic. Texas A&M is one of the few teams who can match up size-wise for Arizona. Miller still made it a focus to go inside early. Dusan and Lauri Markannen scored the first 13 points for Arizona at the 14:00-minute mark of the first half. It was a battle back and forth as Tyler Davis for A&M could not be stopped.

Davis was able to push the Wildcat bigs around on the block. He’s a very physical player and positioned himself deep by the rim as soon as he could. For the night, Davis put up a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He punished Arizona in the last five minutes as the Aggies leaned heavily on him to bring them back.

Dec 17, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Lauri Markkanen (10) shoots the ball as Texas A&M Aggies center Tyler Davis (34) defends during the first half at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona went on a run to close out the first half. Rawle was missing from deep, but he took his game inside and on the boards. Kobi Simmons was much more active on offense, attacking the middle. He looked like a true PG with his pocket passes, but also made smart decisions on when to take the shot. At the half, Arizona rolled to a 41-28 lead.

Turnovers plagued Arizona in previous games. The GCU game saw an ugly 19 turnovers with nine in the first half. However, Arizona only committed three in the first half and nine total. Unfortunately, it was the five late in the second half which helped the Aggies climb back in the game.

Arizona came out in the second half very strong, aggressive and active on the defensive side. Kadeem Allen was everywhere on the floor disrupting the Aggies every chance. His stats weren’t eye-popping to the casual fan with only two points, but he finished with seven rebounds, four assists, five steals and several deflections.

The Wildcats began to match their defense on the offensive side around the 15-minute mark. It was a series of steals by Arizona that led to a Kobi Simmons dunk, helping push the lead to 17 points, 49-32. One minute later it was another defensive stop, a steal by Kadeem, that transitioned to an alley-oop from Simmons to Comanche.

A three-pointer from Lauri and another defense to offense transition pushed Arizona’s lead to its biggest lead of the game, 22 points. Unfortunately, at 60-38, the entire game shifted. This was the perfect time for Arizona to stay active and secure the win, but the team deflated.

Dec 17, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Arizona Basketball Wildcats head coach Sean Miller yells from the sidelines during the first half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

After the game, Miller pointed out their seven-man rotation began to show fatigue.

“We have seven scholarship players, and we hit around that 10-minute, 8-minute mark, and guys start missing shots and defense is not that easy as it once was. That is why depth is so critical. When they sensed we were running out of gas, they put it into overdrive. We were fortunate to hold on, but I also think we deserved to win.”

Shooting 53 percent in the second half by the Aggies is a good example of turning it on. Texas A&M went on an 18-0 run to bring the team within two points with 22 seconds left in the game by a clutch three from A&M’s DJ Hogg.

The Cardiac ‘Cats may have made fans rattled, but freshman Rawle Alkins was able to step to the line and sink two big time free throws to close out the 67-63 win in Houston.

Rawle told reporters after the game, “After the first one, I felt comfortable. Coach trusted me and Lauri to make the play happen.” That play was an in-bounds pass to Lauri in the corner. At a time where some freshman panic, Lauri maintained his composure and found Rawle to get out of the trap. Having the two freshman seal the deal is another example of the major impact freshman have made this season.

The defense for Arizona stepped up big when needed. Texas A&M committed 14 turnovers due to harassing defense from the Wildcats. Arizona was then able to convert those 14 turnovers into 18 points.

Dec 17, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Arizona Basketball Wildcats guard Kobi Simmons (2) dunks the ball during the second half against the Texas A&M Aggies at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The ending wasn’t pretty. Arizona simply stopped playing efficient basketball and put little effort into closing the game. Whether the team ran out of gas or not, there is no reason Texas A&M should have had a chance to win. It’s still early, but better teams will make Arizona pay for large lapses like this.

At 10-2 the Wildcats look poised to move up a couple of spots in the polls. They finish their non-conference schedule Tuesday night in Tucson, taking on the New Mexico Lobos. After that, Pac-12 conference play takes over with a trip to Cal.

With Miller hinting at Parker Jackson-Cartwright possibly being ahead of schedule, it is now time to execute the lessons learned. BEAR DOWN!

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