BERKELEY, Calif. β Because he was returning from a month-long absence, Arizona point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright was expected to need a little warm-up time Friday.
Turns out, the rest of his teammates needed some, too.
Before pulling out a 67-62 win over Cal at Haas Pavilion, the Wildcats struggled early to establish any offensive rhythm against the Bearsβ stubborn defense and gave up a 15-0 run that put them in an early 19-6 hole.
But Jackson-Cartwright was resting during most of that stretch, and when he returned, UA went on its own 9-0 run to make it a game again. Down by six at halftime, the Wildcats then sliced up the Bearsβ defense to shoot 53.3 percent in the second half to give Sean Miller his 200th win as Arizonaβs coach.
The Bears had been holding opponents to just 36.6 percent shooting entering Fridayβs game.
βWe wouldnβt have been able to win without Parker,β Miller said.
But while Jackson-Cartwright provided four assists to no turnovers, helping facilitate better ball movement and giving the Wildcatsβ other perimeter players more rest, Dusan Ristic took team-high scoring honors with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting.
Maybe that was no surprise: Jackson-Cartwright and Ristic are two of Wildcatsβ most experienced players, bailing the Wildcats out of some tough early moments.
βWe donβt have a veteran club and we looked that way in the first half,β Miller said.
In the end, though, the Wildcats had plenty of help from their talented freshman trio: Kobi Simmons added 14 points, Lauri Markkanen had 13 and 10 rebounds while Rawle Alkins had 10 points and nine rebounds.
The win moved the Wildcats to 12-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12 entering a New Yearβs Day game against Stanford on Sunday at Maples Pavilion. Cal dropped to 9-4 and 0-1.
The Wildcats entered the final four minutes leading 59-52 while both Markkanen and Ivan Rabb of Cal had four fouls. Cal made a late run, getting a three-pointer from Jabari Bird to pull within 66-62 with 17 seconds left but Alkins hit 1 of 2 free throws while UA hung on.
Trailing by six at halftime, the Wildcats tied the game at 38 and went ahead 40-38 when Simmons made three layups within 90 seconds early in the second half. Arizona led by as many as five points, 41-36, when Markkanen hit 1 of 2 free throws with 14:03 left.
Ristic later helped keep the Wildcats ahead by turning the tables on Jackson-Cartwright, dishing to the UA point guard under the basket for a layup, and then Ristic scored on UAβs next possession to make it 52-48.
βWe looked at each other and he went back door,β Ristic said, smiling, when discussing his seventh assist of the season.
By then, Cal was without Rabb on the floor after Rabb picked up his fourth foul while guarding UAβs Chance Comanche near the basket with 10:33 left.
Miller called that play a key reason why UA was able to break down the Bearsβ defense in the second half.
The Wildcats fell behind 32-26 at halftime while shooting just 36.4 percent from the field, missing all but one of the seven 3-pointers they took.
Cal shot 40 percent from the field but was even worse from 3-point territory, making just 1 of 10 long-range shots.
The game nearly spun out of control early for Arizona, when the Bearsβ defense propelled Cal to a 15-0 run. On one memorable sequence, Cal center Kingsley Okoroh blocked a driving Simmons and the Bears took the ball and set up an easy dunk by Bird.
But Simmons wasnβt scared off, scoring 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting, with many of his makes coming off athletic moves around the basket for layups.
βI wasnβt worried about it,β Simmons said of the block. βIβm relentless. I go right back after them and after the game, he gave me a lot of credit.β
Birdβs dunk made it 16-9 and Okoroh later broke free in the middle of the UA defense for an uncontested dunk to put Cal ahead 19-6.
Jackson-Cartwright returned for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain Nov. 30 against Texas Southern. He returned to practice in limited form before the Wildcats took a pre-Christmas break and continued progressing this week.
UA trainer Justin Kokoskie said before the game that Jackson-Cartwright did not have a set goal for minutes but instead would see how he feels and how well he can defend.
βItβs been a slow progression but weβre making sure weβre extremely safe,β Kokoskie said. βWe asked him to communicate with us. Youβre always a step slow when you first come back from treatment and rehabilitation.β
Still, Jackson-Cartwright wound up returning at the earliest possible date that Kokoskie and Miller expected after he was injured on Nov. 30 against Texas Southern.
He was estimated to miss 4-8 weeks and Fridayβs game was just two days after the four-week mark.
