Bench comes alive for Arizona Wildcats in rout of Georgia Southern

Here’s something you didn’t see from the Arizona Wildcats last week in Maui:

Late in Arizona’s 100-70 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday, Devonaire Doutrive broke free to the basket, then tossed the ball behind his back to Alex Barcello, who made a layup en route to a career-high 16 points.

That’s right: Two guys who barely played over three games in Maui combining for a highlight to polish off the Eagles, while helping the UA bench score 47 total points after the reserves managed just 19 over three games last week.

Also: It was an assist, one of a season-high 22 the Wildcats made after recording just 22 over all three games in Maui.

“It wasn’t a surprise to me because I know he can play,” Barcello said of Doutrive’s flashy assist. “He’s a great player and he reads situations really well. He’s just going to continue to improve.”

Asked if Doutrive’s pass might have even been, well, like something Sean Miller might have done, Miller smiled.

“I don’t know what it was like, but it was a great play, that’s for sure,” Miller said. “He took what the defense gave and it was a clever play. But that’s part of what Devonaire brings to the table. He’s no dummy out there. He knows what he’s doing.”

Miller had vowed before the game to get Doutrive more involved, after playing him for just a minute in Maui, and Doutrive responded with eight points on 4-for-6 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists.

But guys like Doutrive and Barcello were hardly the only ones going home happy Thursday. Chase Jeter set his career high of 18 points by making 10 of 12 free throws and hitting all four shots he took, while also recording his third double-double of the season by grabbing 10 rebounds.

In addition, Brandon Randolph and Brandon Williams each had 14 points while Dylan Smith had 10 points and made 2 of 7 3-pointers after he missed all seven 3-pointers he attempted in three Maui games.

And Miller also left happy, not just because of the win and the discovery that, yes, his bench has something to offer, but also because the Wildcats shared the ball.

Arizona had just 22 assists for its 65 field goals over three games at the Maui Invitational last week, and entered Thursday’s game with the 23rd lowest percentage of assists per made basket at just 40.3 percent.

The issue was most acute during UA’s 91-74 loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 20, when the Wildcats managed just three assists for their 21 field goals. They shot 41.2 percent from the field but took 13 fewer shots than the Bulldogs.

“Three assists, that’s tough, man,” Miller said after the Gonzaga game. “There’s not a lot of good basketball being played when you only have three assists.”

But on Thursday, the Wildcats had 12 assists to their 15 field goals in the first half, and finished with 22 assists on 35 made baskets.

The ball movement especially made guys like Smith happy, because they found good looks at the basket instead of having to often rush shots or drives a week ago.

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“We emphasized moving the ball more especially after Maui,” Smith said. “It was just playing together, and letting the game come to me, just playing within the offense and taking wide-open shots.”

The win moved Arizona to 5-2 heading into a Sunday game against UConn at Hartford. Georgia Southern dropped to 5-2.

Leading by 13 points at halftime, Arizona went up by 20 less than five minutes into the second half while Georgia Southern made just 2 of 8 shots to begin the second half. Barcello then had six points in less than two minutes, including a layup on the break, to give UA a 72-46 lead with 11:39 left.

At that point, Barcello already had tied his career-high of 11 points while Jeter had done the same with 16 points.

The Wildcats mowed down the Eagles in the second half, holding Georgia Southern to just 36.6-percent shooting after halftime while UA shot 57.1 percent.

In the first half, Arizona fell behind 13-8 after missing 11 of 14 shots to start the game, but managed to take a 45-32 halftime lead.

Miller changed his starting lineup for the first time this season, inserting Emmanuel Akot for Ryan Luther at power forward. Akot appeared to be a better defensive matchup against the smaller and athletic Eagles, but he didn’t take a shot over the first four minutes before Luther replaced him.

Miller said his decision to start Akot was both because of the matchup and because he was looking to give Akot a shot of confidence.

“Emman has to do the things that make him a good player,” Miller said. “He’s versatile on defense, he’s one of our team’s best passers, he has to take what the defense gives him and he’s a very young player.

“So it’s just hard to look at anyone on our team and thin, they’re a finished product.”

Similarly, Miller pointed to the improvement Thursday shown by freshman guard Brandon Williams, who had six assists to one turnover after exceeding his nine collective turnovers in Maui with 10 assists.

As a team, UA had just six turnovers to go along with its 22 assists, a result that was so appealing to Miller that he said “I don’t know what number is better.”

Of course, the competition wasn’t exactly the sort of Top 10 opponent the Wildcats ran into against Gonzaga and Duke in Maui.

But Miller said Thursday’s game showed the Wildcats learned from their mistakes in Maui, and then he put things in perspective.

“If you’re holding us to the standard of ‘I cannot believe you didn’t beat Auburn or Gonzaga,’ you’re living on planet Pluto,” Miller said. “They’re really, really good teams…. We lost our top seven or eight players.

“We’re a team that’s going to lose a few. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be a good team, and a team that’s better than everybody thinks.”