Arizona Wildcats struggle at times in 87-70 first-round NCAA Tournament win over Wright State

SAN DIEGO — For the first few minutes of Arizona’s 87-70 first-round NCAA Tournament win over Wright State on Friday, the biggest question wasn’t on the court but in the stands.

Would UA fans, many of whom were forced to wait outside Viejas Arena due to the late finish of early session tournament games, be able to see the game before it was decided?

Arizona scored the first basket of the game, never trailed and was up by 13 after less than six minutes while Christian Koloko began dominating all over the court. Koloko finished with a stat line never seen before in NCAA Tournament play with 17 points, 13 rebounds, six rebounds and five blocked shots.

The game looked, initially, like one of those 1-vs-16 seed romps in the making, while fans gradually spilled in throughout the first half.

But the Wildcats, playing without starting point guard Kerr Kriisa for the third straight game because of a sprained ankle, made it interesting in part by turning the ball over more times (19) than they had in their 12 previous games.

While advancing to a second-round game Sunday against ninth-seeded TCU, a 69-42 winner over Seton Hall on Friday, Arizona led by nine at halftime and just seven with 16:38 left. The Wildcats took leads of up to 21 points but never really getting comfortable the way they did against so many low- and mid-major opponents earlier this season.

One reason, maybe, was that there simply weren't that many people rooting for them -- or against them -- at the beginning of the game, because fans were held outside while cleaning crews and security cleared the arena after the first two tournament games at Viejas Arena on Friday.

"When you start a big game like this and the arena is 33 percent full, it's weird," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "I just never understood why can't we have that thing full. I guess obviously it's a TV issue or something along those lines."

031922-tuc-spt-uabk-p2 — Arizona guard Bennedict Mathurin, left, and guard Pelle Larsson tangle with one another and lose a rebound to Wright State during the second half.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Another problem for the Wildcats was that Kriisa stayed on the bench throughout the game, despite making it clear he wanted to play. Arizona managed to beat Colorado and UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament last week without Kriisa but probably could have used his confidence and ballhandling during the tenser moments of Friday's game.

Lloyd said he didn't feel Kriisa was "quite ready to play," but said he was closer to playing than not playing, suggesting Kriisa might get on the floor Sunday against TCU.

Kriisa was injured on March 10 against Stanford in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, meaning Friday was the eighth day of rehabilitation with an injury that can sideline players for 2-3 weeks.

"Kerr has been our point guard all year, and he's helped us run our offense, getting in our flow, help us in our transition, with decision-making," Lloyd said. "(I) was hoping that we could get through this game without needing him, and fortunately we were. Now we'll kind of roll up our sleeves and see what tomorrow brings, keep attacking the thing."

Without Kerr, Lloyd started senior Justin Kier for the third straight game, but Kier had three turnovers to match his three assists in the first half before dishing three assists without a turnover in the second half.

Lloyd said he told Kier to settle down a little bit early in the game.

"He's done that couple times early in these games where he's come out and just kind of got tunnel vision and locked in on a pass, and kind of forced something instead of making reads," Lloyd said. "I'll give him credit, though. Seems like every time he's done that, his second half he's calmed down and made better decisions."

Overall, Arizona shot 55% from the field and held Wright State to 34.8% shooting but the Wildcats' 19 turnovers led to eight Wright State points. The Raiders took nine more field goals overall, while also gaining the support of just about everyone not wearing red inside Viejas Arena.

“We just got to tighten it up,” Lloyd said. “I don’t want them to play conservative but the turnovers kill your efficiency.”

The crowd backed Wright State loudly in the second half, when Arizona couldn't expand its 42-31 halftime lead through the first four minutes.

Wright State center Grant Basile pulled the Raiders within 47-39 on a 3-pointer with 17:47 left while later converting a three-point play to make it 49-42 a minute later when he made a layup and picked up a foul from Terry.

But after Basile and Koloko traded jumpshots to leave UA with an eight-point edge, the Wildcats went on a 12-0 run to take a 20-point lead, 64-44, with 11:37 left in the game.

Terry began the run with a 3-pointer, while Koloko threw in a dunk and Mathurin hit a 3-pointer and a two-point jumpers. The Wildcats led by no fewer than 13 points the rest of the way thanks to a defense that held the Raiders under 40% shooting for both halves.

Overall, Wright State turned the ball over six times but shot just 34.8% from the field.

Koloko had a lot to do with it, as he did so many times during the Pac-12 season en route to becoming the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Oumar Ballo also blocked another three shots off the bench while Terry blocked another.

"I got my shot tipped twice, I think," Wright State guard Tim Finke said. "The length, that's something we don't see to that extent in our league. It was something that I had to adjust to and figure out."

031922-tuc-spt-uabk-p3 — Arizona guard Pelle Larsson squirms around Wright State forward Grant Basile to get off a leaner.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

The Wildcats also basically handcuffed Raider wing Tanner Holden, who had just 12 points on 3-for-11 shooting after scoring 37 against Bryant in a First Four game on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.

"They have a lot of length, definitely helps their advantage. They can rake in the gaps and they're kind of everywhere," Holden said. "That's a Horizon League school going against one of the top teams in this tournament, picked to win in a lot of brackets. I felt like we did a great job. Six turnovers is going to win you a lot of games. We just didn't hit our shots tonight."

The win moved top-seeded Arizona to 32-3 and into a second-round game Sunday against TCU. The Horned Frogs routed Seton Hall 69-42 Friday night.

Wright State, winners of the Horizon League Tournament, finished its season at 22-14.

In the first half, Arizona shot 58.1% but coughed up 10 turnovers while taking a 42-31 halftime lead. The Wildcats hit 6 of 19 3-pointers in the first half and outrebounded Wright State 24-13.

“We felt pretty good at the beginning of the game,” Koloko said. “Like Coach told us, we knew they were going to come out in the second half ready to play.”

While Koloko dominated the game statistically, Bennedict Mathurin had 18 points.

Kier, meanwhile, finished with eight points, four rebounds and six assists while guard Dalen Terry had four assists with two turnovers to go along with his 16 points.

They both were willing ballhandlers, filling in the gaps until whenever Kriisa returns.

"I don't tell either one to be the point guard," Lloyd said. "My idea is whichever one wants it should be it. And I was happy with that. We're 3-0 without our starting point guard. It's a great time of year to be 3-0."