As efficient as the Arizona Wildcats have been offensively this season, they used sheer volume to make the difference Thursday.
In a 70-61 win over Oregon State at McKale Center, the Wildcats shot just 40% from the field and only 67.6% from the free throw line β but took 24 more free throws than the Beavers did.
So even though UA made 23 of 34 free throws, that represented 17 more points scored at the line than OSU did on its 6-for-10 free throw shooting, giving them more than enough to finish out a season sweep of the Beavers after clobbering them 98-64 on Jan. 14 in Corvallis.
Arizona's free-throw attempts tied for the second-most the Wildcats have taken all season, behind only the 43 they took (hitting 32) in their 80-67 win over ASU on Jan. 25 at McKale Center. The Wildcats entered Thursday's game with the third-most free throws attempted nationally.
"We knew coming in they were a hard-playing team, so that was one of our game plans -- to just drive and create fouls," said center Christian Koloko, who hit 5 of 6 free throws. "They jump for every shot so we knew if we attacked the rim, we were going to get fouled. I think it worked out pretty well."
UA coach Sean Miller said it helped that the Wildcats were constantly getting the ball close to the basket, both via rebounding, set plays or transition.
βWeβre a physical team,β Miller said. βWe shoot more free throws than anybody in the Pac-12 and maybe more than anybody in college basketball. I think weβre doing something right there on offense but weβve got to convert, though.β
The way OSU coach Wayne Tinkle viewed it, the Beavers were doing something wrong. Tinkle said βwe thought they were climbing on us a little bit,β but mostly said his players could have been tougher.
βI thought we should have shot more (free throws) in the first half, but in the second half we were never taking anything strong to the basket,β Tinkle said. βWe were settling for spinning whirling dervish shots. β¦ we settled for a lot of jumpers and mid range shots. That does speak to a little bit of the disparity.β
Arizona also kept OSU's shooting to 37.5% and outrebounded the Beavers 47-34 while scoring 17 points off 15 offensive rebounds. The Beavers kept it close in part because they had only five turnovers, while scoring 18 points off UA's 13 turnovers.
James Akinjo and Bennedict Mathurin each had 14 points to lead UA while Azuolas Tubelis had six points and 10 rebounds, Koloko had nine points and eight rebounds, and Jordan Brown had nine points and seven rebounds.
Ethan Thompson led OSU with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist while Jerod Lucas had 13 points and three rebounds.
The win moved Arizona to 14-6 overall and 8-6 in the Pac-12 heading into their first game with Oregon at noon Saturday at McKale Center. The Beavers dropped to 10-9 and 6-7.
In what was only the third college game Kerr Kriisa had played, he also made his first start, collecting eight points on 2-for-7 shooting. That moved Terrell Brown to the bench, though he still played 22 minutes, scoring seven points with seven rebounds and six assists.
UA coach Sean Miller said he liked the look of starting Kriisa after his tough-minded play in Arizonaβs losses at Utah and Colorado last week.
βDefense is really a priority for us, trying to improve it,β Miller said. βI thought Kerr with his energy and ability to take charges and have pride in that area, I thought why not give him an opportunity here early on.β
Miller actually swapped in Brown for Kriisa less than two minutes into the game but Kriisa made more of an impact upon returning with 13:11 left in the first half. He hit 3-pointers on two straight possessions to help UA build a 22-13 lead within a minute of getting back in the game and played a role in OSU shooting just 30.4% from 3-point range.
βIt was amazing for him to have his first start at Arizona,β Mathurin said. βKerrβs a great player and he made a couple of big shots and he played hard defense.β
Leading the Beavers by only a possession or two for much of the game, the Wildcats started to break free with a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take a 57-44 lead.
Tubelis capped the run when he stole the ball from OSU point guard Gianni Hunt and took it coast-to-coast for a dunk that gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game, 55-44 with 7:57 left. Tubelis returned on UAβs next possession for a layup off an assist from Terrell Brown, who had rebounded a missed jumper by OSUβs Rodrigue Andela.
But the Beavers came back with an 8-0 run of their own, ending with a four-point play when Lucas picked up a foul from Tubelis on a 3-pointer from the right wing and then sank the ensuing free throw to make it 58-54 with 5:04 left.
Mathurin kept the Beavers from getting any closer, driving the baseline to hit an eight-footer that gave UA a 60-54 lead and returning later to hit a 3 from the right corner to make it 60-54 with 3:26 left.
The Wildcats took another double-digit lead, 65-54, when Koloko dunked with 2:24 left and hung on from there against Oregon Stateβs variety of defenses, including 1-3-1 zone.
βOregon State loves to finish games with a 1-3-1 β they use that as their comebackβ strategy, Miller said. βTheyβve had great success with it over the years. We prepared for it but maybe at the beginning, for a couple of possession there we werenβt in the right place. Itβs different and we didnβt attack it like we needed to.β
Up by eight at halftime, the Wildcats couldnβt expand their lead early in the second half. Thompson scored on two straight possessions β one after Dalen Terry lost the ball on a travel call and one when Thompson stole a pass from Kriisa -- to cut Arizonaβs lead to 41-38.
Mathurin hit a 3 to give UA a 46-30 lead with 13:13 left and Koloko hit a pair of free throws to make it 48-40 β but then the Beavers quickly pulled within a basket when Thompson hit a jumper and Gianni Hunt stole the ball from Tubelis off the inbounds play and put in a layup.
In the first half, Akinjo had 12 points, including a 19-foot jumper before the halftime buzzer, to help Arizona take a 38-30 halftime lead.
The first half was a marked contrast from UAβs Jan. 14 win in Corvallis, where the Wildcats scored the first 15 points of the game β the first seven of which came from Mathurin β and were up by 35 just four minutes into the second half.
This time, Oregon State kept within single digits of Arizona throughout the entire first half despite shooting just 30.3% overall and making just 5 of 19 3-pointers in part because the Beavers committed just three turnovers.Β
The Wildcats were playing without forward Ira Lee, who sprained his ankle in practice Wednesday and attended the game in sweats. Miller said Lee couldnβt really do much with the ankle earlier Thursday and that he wasnβt sure if Lee would be able to play Saturday if needed.
Watching the game from the bench was the latest struggle for Lee, Arizona's most veteran player. Lee suffered a concussion in late October and missed UA's first game against Grambling on Nov. 27 before returning.
Lee has averaged only 10.4 minutes off the bench in Pac-12 games and played only a minute and 16 seconds in the Wildcats' loss at Colorado on Saturday. For the season, Lee is averaging 3.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
