LAS VEGAS – Just in time for the postseason, Josh Green and the Arizona Wildcats behaved more like they were expected to this season.
That is, their athletically gifted freshman wing led the way with 19 points while a balanced Arizona offense put away 12th-seeded Washington 77-70 in a first-round Pac-12 Tournament game, avenging Arizona’s 69-63 loss just four days earlier at McKale Center.
Dylan Smith added 14 points and six assists for Arizona, making four late free throws to help close the game out, though he was just 3 of 13 from the field after making six threes with a broken nose on Saturday against the Huskies.
Nico Mannion added 14 points and two assists, while Zeke Nnaji had 11 points and nine rebounds.
The win moved Arizona to 21-11 and into a Pac-12 quarterfinal game Thursday against fourth-seeded USC (22-9) on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. It also likely took the Wildcats off any possibility of sitting on the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
Taking advantage of spots in the Washington zone, and finding a level of confidence not often seen lately, the Wildcats had four players hit at least two 3-pointers for the first time all season. Green was 3 for 4, Mannion and Jemarl Baker were 2 for 5 and Smith was 2 for 8 after going 6 for 10 from long range against the Huskies last Saturday.
Arizona had shot 33.5% overall from 3 in conference play, but made 9 for 24 (37.5%) on Wednesday. The Wildcats also held Washington to just 3 of 23 shooting from 3-point range, while the Huskies shot 39.7% overall.
Up 35-30 at halftime, Arizona scored the first six points of the second half while Washington went 0 for 3 with three turnovers over the first four minutes after halftime.
Arizona then carried a double-digit lead for most of the second half until Washington cut it closer in the final minutes. It was 65-58 after a three-point play from Marcus Tsohonis with 4:12 left and Tsohonis cut it all the way to five, 71-66, when he hit the second of two free throws with 58 seconds left.
However, Smith hit four free throws and Mannion hit another two over the final 58 seconds to close out the Wildcats’ win, only their second in the past five games.
Green’s scoring output was his most since the Wildcats edged Pepperdine on Thanksgiving, when he was 4 for 5 from 3 and scored a season-high 24 points. On Wednesday, he was 5 for 10 overall and hit 3 of 4 3s, plus all six free throws he attempted.
In the first half, Green had 12 points to lead Arizona to a 35-30 halftime lead.
Arizona held leads of up to seven points but skidded into halftime without making a field goal over the final 6:30, going 0 for 6 in that period. That dropped their first half percentage to just 40.7% percent from the field but UA hit 5 of 14 3-pointers.
On the other end of the floor, the Wildcats held Washington to 39.3% shooting and just 1 of 11 3-pointers. It was a noted improvement on the Wildcats’ first half against Washington on Saturday, when they shot just 20% and had 10 turnovers before halftime.
The Wildcats had 10 turnovers in the first half this time but Washington had even more, a total of 12, and neither team was able to capitalize much on them: The Huskies had just a 6-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Arizona held leads of up to seven points but late jumpers from Washington’s Tsohonis and Naz Carter cut their lead to one possession before Nnaji hit two free throws with 29.4 seconds left to give UA a 35-30 advantage.
Green had 10 points over the first 10 minutes of the game to help the Wildcats take early leads of 15-9 and 20-13, the last on a 3-pointer he hit from the left corner that rattled around and in the basket. Green took advantage of open space along the baseline in the Huskies’ 2-3 zone, something the Wildcats weren’t able to do often in their 69-63 loss to Washington last Saturday at McKale Center.
After a period of less than four minutes midway through the half when both teams turned the ball over four times, the Huskies received seven points from Stewart to take a 24-23 lead with 6:45 left.
But the Wildcats took the lead back 28-24 after a five-point play in which Christian Koloko dunked, drew a foul, missed the ensuing and-one – but Green picked up the rebound and quickly dished to Mannion, who hit a 3-pointer.
Arizona wound up taking a 31-26 lead into the final four minutes after Zeke Nnaji hit a pair of free throws.
UA coach Sean Miller played senior center Chase Jeter early in Wednesday’s game after Jeter was suspended for the Wildcats’ final two regular-season games for unspecified reasons. Jeter, playing in his hometown, picked up two fouls within his first 62 seconds on the floor but finished the half with two rebounds in five minutes. He did not play in the second half.
Arizona’s Max Hazzard, who is indefinitely out with what UA is calling a “personal” issue, was not on the bench with the Wildcats. A team spokesman said before the game that he made the trip but that nothing had changed with his situation. Hazzard has missed three of the Wildcats’ past four games.
