Cats make themselves at home in Illinois, deliver statement win

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By the time Kerr Kriisa and Bennedict Mathurin finally could catch a breather in a giddy State Farm Center corridor full of Arizona fans, staffers and players, there was really only one question left to ask.

Can anything bother this team?

In an 83-79 win over Illinois at State Farm Center on Saturday that will likely vault unbeaten Arizona into the Top 10 on Monday, the Wildcats managed to hold off a team that shot 3-pointers through their normally solid perimeter defense, bounce back from a 19-0 run, ignore a rabid sold-out crowd — and do it all despite a four-hour travel delay the night before thanks to dangerous Midwestern weather.

As UA coach Tommy Lloyd has said repeatedly this season, it wasn’t expected to be that way.

Except, this time, he said he did expect it. Sort of.

“I did, actually,” Lloyd said, smiling. “I expected a hardball game and I thought we’d be all right. You just never know until you get out there. And to take some haymakers from them and hang in there in the first half and in the second half we were able to do just enough to come out on top.”

The short version was that Mathurin put up a third straight starring performance with 30 points and seven rebounds, while Kriisa’s gutsiness cut through the State Farm crowd and, in many cases, the Illini itself, with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The Wildcats’ ninth win of the season was different from the previous eight. Instead of keeping the Illini to the 27.7% from 3-point range their previous eight opponents shot, the Wildcats allowed the Illini to hit 16 of 36 (44.4) from long range. That was a full nine 3-pointers less than the seven the Wildcats made on 19 attempts.

They also had only 12 assists for their 32 made baskets, an unusually low ratio for a team that has happily led the nation in assist-basket ratio, reflecting the adversity they simply worked around.

“The way they defend makes it hard,” Lloyd said. “It’s hard to connect passes. They’re not really helping off guys and they’re forcing you to shoot a bunch of tough twos. … I’ve got to give Illinois credit. They really disrupted our timing and movement.”

In the end, of course, the Wildcats disrupted a lot more than that. Illinois coach Brad Underwood said “It was a hard one because of matchups,” and it’s becoming increasingly clear that nobody can easily match up with Mathurin.

The sophomore wing from Montreal had 30 points on 10 for 17 shooting, while hitting 5 of 8 3s in what was his third straight game of at least 24 points.

“Wanna see a pro?” Underwood said. “That’s what they look like.”

Mathurin was in a zone from the beginning, no matter how much orange-and-blue buzz was around him. Helping the Wildcats jump out to a 10-3 lead, Mathurin hit two 3-pointers and blocked a shot from Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins.

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“I just feel when I make a 3 or Kerr makes a 3, it’s gonna keep us going and silence the crowd,” Mathurin said. “It’s pretty fun.”

Throughout the first 30 minutes, it was a game of runs. After UA took its 10-3 lead, Illinois went on its 19-0 run and the Wildcats came back with a 10-0 run late in the first half.

Trailing 42-38 at halftime, Arizona went on a 12-0 run early in the second half to go ahead 57-50 with 12 minutes left but the Illini then hit another four 3-ointers over the next three minutes to take a 64-61 lead. Alfonso Plummer and Jacob Grandison each hit two 3s while Frazier added another over that stretch.

The Wildcats outrebounded Illinois 16-7 and shot 55.65 over the first 12 minutes of the second half but the game remained within two possessions most of the rest of the way.

But with the game staying within two possessions for the final 12 minutes, that’s when Kriisa began to rise. Kriisa made just 2 of 8 3s but hit 7 of 16 shots overall and had eight rebounds and four assists, driving fearlessly inside down the stretch when Illinois kept threatening to pull it out.

The Wildcats led 79-76 entering the final minute and, Kriisa kept the ball in play when he saved a ball from heading out of bounds and bounced it off Illinois’ Trent Frazier. Kriisa went on to turn it over but Illinois missed a 3-pointer and, after the rebound rolled out of bounds, Plummer was called for a five-second violation in the Illini backcourt while being guarded by Mathurin.

Underwood called it an “unfortunate incident,” saying Plummer didn’t fully understand the rule, and the Wildcats pounced on the mistake.

“To get the ball back was amazing,” Mathurin said.

The call gave the ball back to Arizona with 26 seconds left and Kriisa was fouled, hitting the first of two ensuing free throws to all but seal it up for the Wildcats. Illinois missed two 3s on its next possession and, after Mathurin hit two free throws with four seconds left, Frazier hit his final 3 with 3 seconds left to cut it to 82-79 with three seconds left.

“It was a long game. It was a hard game,” Kriisa said. “We were battling every second of the game. And it came down to little turnovers, little stops and we managed to do it better.”

Essentially, they took adversity and turned it into fun.

“I think we love it, considering our personalities,” Kriisa said of Illinois’ crowd. “Of course, when you say something or do something, you’ve got to back it up.

“Last game, we had a lot of fun at home against Wyoming. I’m sure they watched the film and we’re like `Yo, there’s no chance they were gonna do that stuff in our house.’ So whatever we do, we gotta back it up. I think we have a tough enough team that we can do it.”