Azuolas Tubelis helps Arizona Wildcats hold off Eastern Washington in 70-67 win at McKale

Lithuanian freshman Azuolas Tubelis had 13 points and nine rebounds to help Arizona hold off 3-point-happy Eastern Washington in a 70-67 win at McKale Center on Saturday.

Taking 56% of their shots from 3-point range, the Eagles hit their final seven 3s of the first half and took leads of up to eight points in the second half. But Arizona held them to just 2 of 15 from 3 in the second half to make the difference.

The Wildcats improved to 2-0 heading into a scheduled game Monday against NAU, while the Eagles dropped to 0-2, losing at both Washington State and UA by just three points each.

Saturday's game was tied at 62 with 3:18 left, but Tubelis hit 1 of 2 free throws and later came back to hit a 12-foot jumper along the baseline to make it 67-62 with 1:37 left. EWU’s Tanner Groves scored along the other baseline with 41 seconds left and hit an ensuing free throw after he was fouled, tightening the game to 67-65.

But Tubelis was fouled on an attempted rebound basket with 13 seconds left, then hit the second of two free throws to seal UA’s win.

While Tubelis finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, James Akinjo led the Wildcats in scoring with 15 points. Ira Lee had seven points and eight rebounds in his first game of the season after suffering a concussion.

Earlier in the second half, Jemarl Baker helped erase EWU's 43-38 halftime lead. Over the first five minutes of the second half, Baker hit a 3 and scored on a fast-break layup while Jordan Brown and Tubelis also scored.

But EWU went ahead 56-51 midway through the second half after getting a corner 3 from Tyler Robertson, then three free throws from Kim Aiken after he was fouled beyond the arc by Akinjo, and finally a 3 from Rouse.

At that point, six different EWU players had hit 3-pointers, with Rouse hitting 3 of 5, and the Eagles led by up to eight points.

In the first half, the Eagles hit 8 of 17 from beyond the arc, attempting all but 12 of their field goals from 3-point range.

Arizona shot 48.5% overall before halftime but made just 3 of 8 3-pointers.

Akinjo led Arizona with 10 points in the half on 4-for-8 shooting with two assists, while Tubelis had seven points on 3-for-4 shooting. Jacob and Tanner Groves each had 10 points to lead EWU.

The Wildcats took leads of 16-6 and 22-14 early while keeping Eastern Washington’s outside shooting from hitting. The Eagles made just 1 of 5 early 3s, but gradually warmed up as the half went on.

Eight straight points from Jacob Groves, on two 3s and a two-point jumper, tied the game at 28 with 5:34 to go in the half before Lee pulled the Wildcats back ahead with a three-point play that gave UA a 31-28 lead. Bennedict Mathurin then hit a 3-pointer to make it 34-28 before EWU came back again.

A 3 from EWU’s Kim Aiken cutting it to just 34-33 entering the final media timeout at 2:38 and the game remained within a possession the rest of the half until Jacob Davison hit a layup with four seconds left to give the Eagles a five-point halftime lead.

The excitement Lee may have had while playing in his first game after suffering a concussion at least a month ago was evident: Lee collected eight rebounds but was called for an offensive charging foul shortly after entering the game and received a technical foul in the second half, apparently for what he said while defending the Eagles inside.

The Wildcats had all 11 active players warming up before the game Saturday, though freshman guard Kerr Kriisa was not present, likely because of COVID protocols after returning from Estonia on Thursday.

While UA coach Sean Miller declined to detail when Kriisa would be available for practices, UA players had to isolate for a week upon reporting to campus in August. Kriisa is not eligible to play anyway, with his case still in the NCAA clearinghouse.

As he did on Nov. 27 against Grambling State, Miller played nine players in the first half while reserve wings Tautvilas Tubelis and Tibet Gorener stayed on the bench.

Saturday's game was only Arizona's second of the season, after games with NAU, UTEP, Colorado and Northern Colorado were postponed or canceled. Eastern Washington has also played only two, with games against Oregon and Montana Tech canceled.

While Arizona has three more games scheduled over the next week, its Dec. 12 game against New Mexico State already appears in question: The Aggies announced Saturday they have paused basketball activities after a positive COVID test.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, New Mexico State AD Mario Moccia said it was too early to speculate about the UA-NMSU game but that “certainly even the lay person in me says 'Hey, that game could be at risk.'”

However, new CDC protocols allowing for just a seven day quarantine for negative-testing, asymptomatic individuals sidelined by contact-tracing could help the Aggies. Typically, a 14-day quarantine has been followed in that case.