Headband back on, Kerr Kriisa posts triple-double as No. 17 Arizona blasts Southern, 95-78

Believe it or not, Kerr Kriisa says he was fine without the headband.

Until some Arizona Wildcat fans apparently convinced him otherwise, that is.

So, with his signature headband strapped back on after a one-game absence, Arizona’s demonstrative guard from Estonia posted his second career triple-double to lead the Wildcats to a 95-78 win over Southern on Friday at McKale Center.

Kriisa collected 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting (3 for 6 from 3) and had 11 rebounds and 12 assists with only three turnovers against the Jaguars. He posted his first triple-double at Utah last season, when he had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Over the summer, there were signs Kriisa was going to have nights like he did Friday. He put on 10 pounds and played well with the Estonian national team in the offseason but then struggled from 3-point range earlier this fall: He shot 1 for 6 in the Red-Blue Game and missed both 3s he took in a Nov. 1 exhibition against Western Oregon.

Quietly, Kriisa took the headband off behind the scenes and felt good about it. Then he kept it off Monday in UA’s 117-75 win over Nicholls, when he had nine points, seven assists and only one turnover.

“The reason I didn’t really wear a headband in the last game was I felt like I’d been practicing pretty good without it,” Kriisa said. “But I got really bad comments and bad messages. Then I was like, `Oh, damn, like I’m still trying to live.’ So I guess I had to pull my headband back out.

Asked where, exactly, he was getting all those messages from, Kriisa declined to say.

“All right, let’s not dig too deep,” Kriisa said, drawing laughter in UA’s media room. “There were some guys who said `You should wear it.” I didn’t know it was that deep. I guess it is. I have to wear it now.”

While Kriisa played a starring role Friday in weaving the Wildcats’ offense past Southern’s aggressive, oft-pressing defense, three fellow starters all chipped in 17 points — Pelle Larsson, Oumar Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis — while Arizona shot 54.5% overall from the field.

The Jaguars shot only 36.2% and had only 33 rebounds to UA’s 51. The Wildcats also dominated the smaller Jaguars in the paint, 48-26.

Up 49-31 at halftime, Arizona went ahead by 26 when Kriisa hit a 3-pointer with 17:30 left to make it 60-34 and the Wildcats led by 20 until Southern cut it to 90-72 with 2:12 left against a lineup of all Arizona substitutes.

The Jaguars then cut the lead to 15 points with 1:50 left but UA coach Tommy Lloyd stuck with the reserves, saying he was considering the length of the season and the possibility of a starter getting hurt if they were re-inserted.

“I thought for stretches of the game we played really well, and in other stretches we didn’t,” Lloyd said. “That’s what happens in the early season. But I take my hat off to Southern – they played their tails off and they were relentless. It was kind of an eye-opener for some of our guys.”

It was also physical and chippy. Both teams combined for 54 fouls and 76 free throws, with technical fouls assessed to Southern’s T.J. Byrd, Arizona’s Cedric Henderson and Larsson.

In the first half, Larsson had 15 points while Kriisa had eight points and eight assists to help the Wildcats take a 49-31 halftime lead.

Ballo added 10 points for the Wildcats, who shot 57.7% overall from the field and held Southern to 28.1% before halftime. Arizona raced to a 10-0 start, breaking away from the Jaguars for easy layups while Southern missed its first six shots.

However, Southern’s defense proved more physical and disruptive to UA in the first half than Nicholls’ defense was on Monday. Larsson and Byrd were even called for offsetting technicals after a brief confrontation along the sideline midway through the half.

“In competitive moments, emotions are going to rise,” Lloyd said. “You can’t be afraid of it but you’ve got to be able to temper it a little bit.”

The Wildcats and Jaguars will tangle again under what could be a much rowdier environment when they meet on Nov. 12 on Southern’s campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series.

“The cool thing for them is next year they get us back there in the second game of the year,” Lloyd said, when asked about the significance of the series with the SWAC’s HBCU schools. “I think it’ll probably have a little more meaning and impact when we get back there and have that full experience. We’re looking forward to it.”