After three rough games, Arizona Wildcats run over Oregon State 86-74 in Corvallis

CORVALLIS, Ore. — If their efficient offense and stubborn defense Thursday weren’t enough to show the Arizona Wildcats were back at a Top 10 level, maybe the final chant from the Oregon State band was.

“You have sales tax!” the band chanted at Arizona players.

The Beavers had nothing else on the Wildcats at that point. Sure, Oregon has no sales tax, but Arizona took care of the basketball Thursday, leading Oregon State by up to 24 points and ultimately beating the Beavers 86-74 before 4,126 fans at Gill Coliseum.

Arizona shot 52.5% and held OSU to just 38.3%, looking more like the team that raced through November unbeaten than the team that struggled in its previous three games.

After relatively uninspiring wins over Montana State and Morgan State before Christmas, the Wildcats began the bulk of Pac-12 play with struggles at Arizona State and against Washington at home before they lost 74-61 to Washington State at McKale Center last Saturday.

They made it known right away Thursday things were headed in a different direction.

Guard Kerr Kriisa hit a 3-pointer on the Wildcats’ first possession, and Arizona went on to take a 17-7 lead less than seven minutes into the game. They led by up to 21 later in the first half and 44-26 at halftime.

“We just came out really aggressive,” Kriisa said. “Last game (against WSU), we all know what happened, how it went. I feel like the week was too long for us. We were really excited to play again and fix our mistakes. We really needed that game.”

While Azuolas Tubelis (25 points, 10 rebounds) and Oumar Ballo (15 points, 14 rebounds) had their almost customary double-doubles to lead the Wildcats, no UA player probably fixed himself more than guard Courtney Ramey.

After shooting 2 for 13 combined against Washington and WSU last weekend, and going a combined 1 for 9 from 3, Ramey had 11 points while hitting 3 of 8 3-pointers.

While Ramey wasn’t among the players UA made available for comment, Kriisa took care of explaining that.

“Courtney has big balls. He’s a hooper,” Kriisa said. “When you’re a hooper you respond to mistakes you made, and Courtney was great today.”

UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he was disappointed that the Wildcats didn’t keep accelerating, allowing OSU to cut their lead to 10 points with five minutes to go and again in the final minute, but he indicated he received the sort of response he was looking for.

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Leading up to the game, Lloyd said he was looking for a better response and more aggressiveness, while particularly challenging his guards to “grow up.” So Kriisa had 13 points and 11 assists to five turnovers, while Ramey collected his 11 points along with seven assists and three steals.

“I just wanted them to be more aggressive and play more free-flowing,” Lloyd said. “First half, they were great. Second half, I thought we had some turnovers we’re going to regret. But we’ve got to learn from them. We’re a team that’s better when we’re aggressive and we’re trying to make plays.”

Ramey demonstrated emotion after hitting his second 3-pointer, pumping his hand down as he raced back up court. And when he hit his final 3 with 1:57 left in the game, that gave Arizona an 83-68 lead that sewed it up despite the Beavers’ second-half improvement.

Although Arizona led by 18 points at halftime and continued shooting at a 50% pace through the first 10 minutes of the second half, OSU prompted Lloyd to call a timeout with 6:31 left.

At that point, OSU had cut the Wildcats’ lead to just 68-56 by scoring seven straight points, including a 3-pointer from Glenn Taylor and a layup from point guard Jordan Pope after he stole the ball from Kriisa.

But Kriisa soon returned to pick up a foul and hit both free throws, then hit a 3-pointer to give UA a 75-62 lead with 4:45 left. Kriisa also assisted Tubelis on an driving layup that made it 77-63, and the Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead from there.

Tubelis finished with 11 for 15 shooting, even hitting the one 3-pointer he threw up, while scoring his 25 points. Ballo was 5 for 8 and just 5 for 10 from the free-throw line, but his 14 rebounds were a career high, surpassing the 13 he grabbed against Creighton in the Maui Invitational final.

If it looked like just another night for what might be college basketball’s best post duo, Ballo pointed to the backcourt.

“All the credit is for the guards,” Ballo said. “As a big, you only have good days if the guards are passing you the ball. Our guards looked for us and put us in the best position to succeed.”

That’s one way to look at it. The other way is to note that Ballo and Tubelis were a combined 16 for 23 from the field, so efficient that it helped Kriisa and Ramey get credit for a combined 18 assists. (And also taking the heat off of freshman Henri Veesaar, who played just a minute Thursday because Lloyd said he simply needs to play better).

“I’m not conditioned to it, but they’re definitely capable of it every night,,” Lloyd said. “We need those guys to perform at that level to win games, whether it’s home or away.”

Photos: No. 9 Arizona Wildcats at Oregon State, Pac-12 basketball