No Kerr Kriisa, no problem. Missing their starting point guard due to a pregame injury, the Arizona Wildcats came alive in the second half to rout Utah 82-64 on Saturday night.
The win marks Arizona’s best start to a season (14-1) since 2014-15.
Here’s the stats that tell the story of Arizona’s latest victory.
14 — Azuolas Tubelis’ career-high 32-point effort is the headliner in the win and he did so in an efficient manner. His 14 baskets on 24 shots are the most field goals by an Arizona player since Deandre Ayton’s 14-of-20 shooting performance in the 2018 Pac-12 Championship game. Tubelis was involved in a number of high-effort plays around the rim, including several thunderous dunks that brought McKale to its feet. After scoring under 10 points against Tennessee and Washington, the Lithuanian forward is shooting 20 for 35 (57%) over Arizona’s last two games.
21 — With UA up just 46-45 at 12:24 in the second half, the Wildcats went full throttle and rattled off 21 straight points over a seven-minute stretch. Arizona’s bigs consisting of Tubelis, Christian Koloko and Oumar Ballo combined for 13 of the 21 points as the Wildcats eventually climbed to a 67-45 lead with 5:18 to play.
8 — Justin Kier started in place of Kriisa and the fifth-year guard delivered a season-high eight assists while only turning the ball over once.
56-28 — Arizona outscored Utah 56-28 in the paint, primarily due to the dominance of UA’s bigs. Tubelis, Koloko and Ballo combined for 53 of the team’s points, shooting 22 for 34 (65%). Koloko made all seven of his shots from the field to go for 16 points. The junior center has shot 50% or better in each of his last six games.
24 — The Wildcats assisted on 24 of their 33 baskets. They came into the game already leading the nation in assists per game (21.7).
6 — Utah kept things much closer than expected in the first half, leading by as many as six points before Arizona found its groove. The Cats ended the half on a 9-3 run to go into the break with a 34-31 lead.
