LAHAINA, Hawaii – Four hundred and 17 points scored over Arizona’s first four games is a pretty good indication the Wildcats know a thing or two about offense.

But what they showed in game No. 5 on Tuesday, when they reached the Maui Invitational final with an 87-70 win over San Diego State, is that they also might be sneaky good on the other end of the floor.

Getting 21 points each from guards Courtney Ramey and Kerr Kriisa, the Wildcats not only shot 58.6% from the field against a team known for defense but also held the Aztecs to just 38.1%.

Moreover, the Wildcats limited the Aztecs to just four assists on their 24 made baskets, disrupting their offense enough to often force a game of one-on-one.

Sometimes that worked well enough for SDSU, which erased UA’s 16-point first-half lead to take a 42-40 advantage early in the second half, but it wasn’t sustainable. Arizona actually led for all but a minute and 23 seconds of the game, and did so by up to 21 points.

β€œWe wanted to really choke off their perimeter players; we really feel like they're the heart and soul of that team offensively,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. β€œWe wanted to be a little stickier on their shooters -- we were trusting we could help off their bigs and … try not to give them a bunch of easy uncontested jump shots.”

San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher indicated the Wildcats kept their help to a minimum, making it difficult to kick passes back to the perimeter, while also managing to shut down the corners.

β€œTheir half-court defense was good,” Dutcher said. β€œThey did a good job staying extended, top locking (double-teaming) our corner guys. They were well prepared, well coached and played really well.”

Except the Wildcats won’t have much time to be well-prepared for their next game: They’ll meet Creighton (6-0), a 90-87 winner over Arkansas in the other Maui semifinal game at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

That means they'll have only about 14 hours between the time they left the Lahaina Civic Center on Tuesday night and when they’ll have to return for warmups.

β€œOn the back end of a back-to-back-to-back, especially playing at noon (Hawaiian time), there's probably not going to be a ton of adjustments made by either team,” Lloyd said. β€œYou’re just going to kind of hunker down and do what you do.”

While teams never go into back-to-back games totally blind --- they typically divvy up staffers to advance scout any possible team they will be playing in a tournament – the Wildcats will also, of course, try to do what they do.

That is, score. Especially with Ramey back, scoring 38 points over his first two games as a Wildcats after siting out a three-game NCAA suspension.

"He's hungry," Lloyd said.

In another reveal Tuesday, the Wildcats also showed again that they can be comfortable scoring in different ways. San Diego State actually outscored Arizona 18-8 in fast-break points, in part while scoring 23 points off 19 UA turnovers, but the Wildcats got it done in other ways.

β€œIf you'd have told me we'd have done that good job on their fast break, I’d say we had a chance to win,” Dutcher said. β€œBut they did a great job in the half court against us. It just shows how versatile they are. They're more than one-dimensional. They're not just a running team. They did a great job executing the half ball with the ball screens, moving the ball and back cutting.”

Still, it wasn't as easy for the Wildcats as the final score might have indicated. There was tension throughout the game until the final minutes, starting from the beginning.

Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) goes for the basket over San Diego State forward Aguek Arop (33) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

After UA pulled out to a quick 10-4 lead, neither team scored for over two minutes and the Aztecs kept it within single digits until Kriisa sank a 3-pointer to give UA a 23-13 lead with eight minutes left.

Then the Wildcats saw a 16-point lead with five minutes left in the first half dwindle to just four at halftime, and their entire lead was wiped out less than three minutes into the second half.

After the Aztecs took possession via an errant pass by Azuolas Tubelis, SDSU’s Keyshad Johnson raced downcourt for a dunk and was fouled by the frustrated Tubelis, thenΒ  hit the and-one to give SDSU its 42-20 lead with 17:20 left in the game.

But with seven minutes left, the Wildcats were back ahead by 15 after they scored off two straight SDSU turnovers.

Kriisa hit a 3-pointer after SDSU’s Matt Bradley lost the ball and UA's Adama Bal, who earlier blocked a shot by the Aztecs’ Lamont Butler, stole it from Micha Parrish under the basket. That led to a 17-footer from Cedric Henderson, giving Arizona a 71-56 lead with 6:57 left.

β€œThat’s the type of thing we do every day in practice,” Bal said.

Arizona guard Courtney Ramey (0) gets around San Diego State guard Lamont Butler (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

SDSU never challenged Arizona after that point, with the Wildcats taking leads of up to 21 points the rest of the way.

β€œIt felt, honestly, like that was the possession that really put a dagger in it,” Henderson said. β€œEverybody was cheering. But we realized there was still the rest of the clock left so we kept playing hard. That’s still a good team.”

Chances are, to beat Creighton and win the Maui Invitational title, they’ll need to keep that energy level up. With barely enough time for a good night’s sleep beforehand.

Arizona fell to Washington State 31-20 Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats fall to 4-7 as they prepare to host Arizona State for the Territorial Cup.

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter: @brucepascoe