Different island, same result: Wildcats top SDSU again

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Oahu. Maui. Anaheim. San Diego. You name it.

Wherever the West’s top nonconference rivalry has played out over the last two years, the result has always been the same: A frenetic, entertaining and down-to-the-wire game… that results in another Arizona Wildcats victory.

Arizona’s 61-59 victory Wednesday in the Maui Invitational championship game -- its second Maui title in six appearances in the prestigious early season event -- was typical.

The Wildcats struggled with foul trouble nearly throughout the game, and their shooting and defense left them on occasion, too. But the Wildcats, who beat SDSU in the NCAA Sweet 16 last season and in the 2012-13 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, made up for it with rebounding, free throws and defense when it really mattered.

Arizona held SDSU to 37.9 percent shooting while making 20 of 24 free throws – and getting some help from the fact that the Aztecs only made 13 of 24 from the line.

“The respect we have for San Diego State can't be any greater,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “We have had some great, great games, important games, championship or in the NCAA tournament… But believe me, although we've won a few in a row here, each of those games could have gone to their side. Tonight was no different.”

The main difference this time might have been the presence of freshman Stanley Johnson, who committed to the Wildcats just a day after they beat the Aztecs in San Diego early last season. This time, Johnson not only led the Wildcats with 18 points and nine rebounds, but grabbed two late steals and hit four free throws in the final 34 seconds to help put the game away.

While Johnson was named the Maui Invitational MVP, teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made the all-tournament team along with Winston Shepard and Trey Kell of SDSU, Michael Young of Pittsburgh and Tyler Haws of BYU.

Hollis-Jefferson added 14 points and six rebounds and three blocks, playing critical defense down the stretch while, of course, throwing down a pair of dunks for good measure.

“San Diego State is a tough team, great defensively,” Hollis-Jefferson said. “We knew it would be a war out there tonight, and our coach told us that from the beginning. We take pride in our defense, and we all know that defense comes first, defense wins championships, and we just took our time out there and it showed.”

Patience wasn’t easy for the Wildcats on a night when Kaleb Tarczewski almost immediately ran into foul trouble and even point guard T.J. McConnell picked up three fouls in the first half, forcing Arizona to rely on freshman Parker Jackson-Cartwright until halftime.

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But that worked out well enough for Arizona. McConnell left the game with 5:37 to go in the first half and Arizona trailing by four, yet the Wildcats took a 32-31 lead into halftime. Jackson-Cartwright finished with two points, three rebounds, two assists and no turnover in nine total minutes.

To get to their halftime lead, the Wildcats received an inside score and two rebounds from Hollis-Jefferson to pull within a point, 29-28. Johnson later put UA ahead 30-29 when he charged in for a layup with 2:10 left.

Jackson-Cartwright then put UA up 32-29 with a layup in traffic and SDSU's Winston Shepard made a layup with 18 seconds left for the final score, with a late jump shot from Hollis-Jefferson failing.

Arizona made just 33.3 percent of its field goals in the first half but was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and outrebounded the Aztecs 19-15. The Wildcats also picked up 12 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.

In the second half, Arizona shot 47.1 percent over the first 16 minutes and managed to hold a 53-51 lead entering the final three minutes, but never could pull away.

Tarczewski, who managed to play 27 minutes, finally fouled out with 1:47 left, when UA led 55-51 and it kept getting scarier for Arizona. What made sure of that: SDSU's Trey Kell picked up a foul from Brandon Ashley as he made a three pointer with 17 seconds left, then converted the and-one to cut UA's lead to 57-55.

While Johnson went 4 of 4 from the line in the last 34 seconds, it took two more from T.J. McConnell with three seconds left to clinch it. That made a three-pointer from Shepard that cut it to 61-59 with 0.9 seconds left pretty much futile.

For Shepard, who has been involved in all four of UA’s wins over SDSU since that Honolulu game, it became another painful memory.

“All of them are pretty similar,” Shepard said. “I feel like we should at least have won three out of the last four, in my opinion. But like I said, they're a great team.”

They had to be great, the way Miller saw it. That’s what it takes to keep beating San Diego State, which crushed Miller’s first UA team 64-46 in 2009-10, and to take home what another Maui Invitational trophy.

“To win the championship here at the Maui Invitational, you need great players, and you need players that rise up to a challenge,” Miller said. “These two guys (Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson), they earned their all-tournament accolades by their performance. Not their reputation, but how they played in these three games in three days. So we leave here feeling very good about what we accomplished.”