PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – Deandre Ayton collected another double-double while Allonzo Trier scored 22 points but it still wasn’t enough to save the Arizona Wildcats from another miserable night in paradise.
The Wildcats lost 66-60 to SMU in a Battle 4 Atlantis consolation-bracket game and will now fight to stay out of last place.
Ayton had 17 points on 6-for 11 shooting and a career high 15 rebounds, while Trier had 22 on 8-for-15 shooting but Arizona turned the ball over 20 times and hit just 5 of 18 3-pointers.
SMU scored 19 points off UA's 20 turnovers, while the Wildcats scored only 11 points off turnovers.
As a result, soon-to-not-be-second-ranked Arizona fell into the Battle 4 Atlantis seventh-place game at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Purdue, also a two-time loser in the event despite its No. 18 ranking.
SMU will face Western Kentucky in the fifth place game on Friday at 5 p.m. Both games will be streamed on the internet by ESPN3.
After holding on to a 41-40 halftime lead, the Wildcats let SMU quickly build 51-40 lead, with the Mustangs shooting 55.9 percent overall and hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers over the first 4:31 of the second half.
But Trier and Ayton made up for all of it themselves, with Arizona then going on a 13-0 run with Trier scoring seven points and Ayton the other six. The run could have been even worse had UA guard Alex Barcello not turning the ball over twice during the stretch.
The game stayed close the rest of the way, though SMU pulled away with a seven-point lead with 1:07 after Parker Jackson-Cartwright threw the ball right in the hands of the Mustangs’ Jarrey Foster.
Ayton slammed in a number of emphatic dunks while completing his fifth double-double in as many games as a collegian. He is believed to be the only UA freshman to start his career with five straight double-doubles, according UA.
After a shocking loss to North Carolina State in the Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals, Arizona shored up its defense in the first half but it wasn’t enough to make things much easier.
Arizona held a 31-30 halftime lead over the Mustangs after an early 10-point lead disappeared, with nine Wildcat turnovers turning into 12 SMU points.
Trier led UA in scoring with nine points while SMU’s Ben Emelogu had 14. Arizona’s Deandre Ayton had just five points and three rebounds after posting double-doubles in his first four college games.
Having suffered an upset loss on Wednesday to North Carolina State that dropped them into the consolation bracket, the Wildcats still came out with motivation to start the game. They held the Mustangs scoreless for the first 3:14 and held leads of up to 10 points in the first six minutes.
But SMU made it a close game thanks to the heroics of Emelogo, who scored his 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, while making 3 of 5 3-pointers.
The Wildcats shot 45.8 percent from the field but made just 3 of 10 3-pointers.
For the second straight game, UA coach Sean Miller started Dylan Smith at small forward in place of Emmanuel Akot.
