Arizona Survives a Potential Upset by 12-seed Washington
LAS VEGAS, NEV. — In what may have seemed like a blowout during the second half, the Arizona Wildcats escaped to the second round of the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament after beating the Washington Huskies 77-70.
Being the 12th seed, Washington was the underdog coming into the game but managed to keep things close during the first half; ending it only down by 5 points. The first half was a struggle for both teams. Turnovers and fouls played a big role. In the first half the Wildcats had 10 turnovers and 8 fouls, and the Huskies weren’t any better in either of those stats, having 12 turnovers and 11 fouls. Isaiah Stewart was the backbone for the Huskies in the first. He led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-6 shooting and 5-for-5 from the foul line. While, the rest of his team combined for only 12 points out of their 30.
The second half seemed as if the Wildcats were going to run away with the game after taking a 15 point lead only 6 minutes into the second half, but Stewart and the Huskies would not go away quietly bringing the game back within single digits. Arizona’s Dylan Smith, despite shooting 3-10 from the field added 14 points for the Wildcats after going 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Arizona was able to use ball movement to get the Huskies defense out of position allowing for easy scores and racking up 7 assists in the second half while the Huskies only had 2 assists the entire half.
Arizona will move onto the second round to play the USC Trojans on the 12th at 2:30pm. Due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) the Pac-12 will only allow limited family and friends into the stadium, along with employees and credentialed media.
