Arizona senior center Dusan Ristic has been so improved, so confident and so efficient lately that itβs become almost a running joke to ask him in postgame interviews whether he just played his best game at Arizona.
So on Saturday, after Ristic scored a career-high 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting to help Arizona hold off Utah for a 74-73 win at McKale Center, the affable 7-foot Serbian took matters into his own hands.
βCan I just say something?β Ristic said, smiling, upon sitting down for his interview. βI think this was my best game for Arizona so far. So I just wanted to answer the question in advance for you guys.β
In helping hold off a resilient Utah team that required a key defensive stop from Emmanuel Akot with 4.3 seconds left, Ristic scored with a variety of shots that went far beyond his usual hooks and layups around the basket.
Having taken only five 3-pointers all season entering Saturday, Ristic even fired up three long-range shots β and made all of them. The last one was the biggest eye-opener, too, coming toward the end of the shot clock, with Ristic holding the ball near the top of the key while the Utes defended his teammates closely β and then deciding confidently to hoist the ball up for his third 3 of the night.
The UA led 69-68 at that point, with less than two minutes to play, so coach Sean Miller said he had called for a high-arching pass in the post to Deandre Ayton.
But he found it hard to complain when Ristic threw it in for three points instead.
Sort of hard to complain, anyway.
βI didnβt really know what to say. I was so surprised he took the 3,β Miller said. βI couldnβt believe it. And then when that thing went in, Iβm not sure how I reacted, but Iβm glad it went in for his β¦ for him. Thatβs what Iβll say.β
While Miller joked about seeing Ristic βall of a sudden become a 3-point shooter,β itβs clear he isnβt auditioning for 7-foot bombers, even as Ayton hit a 3 of his own in the first half.
Naturally, thatβs because Miller aims to maximize the efficiency of his offensively gifted bigs by keeping them close to the basket.
βWe were 4 for 4 from the 3-point line between those two guys,β Miller said. βItβll be interesting to see what they do the next game. I hope theyβre 0 for 0.β
Risticβs last 3-pointer wasnβt just a novelty, of course, in a game like this. It wound up extending the UA lead to 72-68 with 1:40 to go, while Ristic later gave the UA a 74-70 lead with a pair of free throws with 1:01 left.
The last minute remained particularly tense. Utah missed a 3-pointer and had a turnover, while the Wildcats had two turnovers, before Utah guard Justin Bibbins hit a 3-pointer with just six seconds left.
An offensive foul on Allonzo Trier gave the Utes the ball back to inbound with 4.3 seconds left, but Akot made it hard for Utahβs Donnie Tillman to get a layup off and Keanu Pinder pulled down the rebound.
βIt was just attention to detail,β UA guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright said. βI thought Emmanuel did a great job of just locking in. Donnie Tillman is really smart, really strong, but we took it away and got a big stop to win the game.β
Pinder was fouled and missed an ensuing free throw with 0.3 seconds left but Utahβs David Collette missed a desperation heave after picking up the rebound.
That meant the Wildcats had beaten Utah for the 12th time in 13 games since the Utes joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, and it was Arizonaβs 15th win overall in its last 16 games. The Wildcats improved to 18-4 overall and 8-1 in the Pac-12 while Utah dropped to 13-8 and 5-5.
After the game, Miller indicated there was more good news for Arizona ahead: He indicated forward Rawle Alkins may return Wednesday at Washington State, after Alkins sat out Saturday for the third time in the Wildcatsβ past four games, though he said Alkins may play fewer than the 34 minutes than he did on Jan. 20 at Stanford.
Miller offered more detail about Alkinsβ broken foot, saying he broke the fifth metatarsal and had a screw inserted, but that there was βnothing going on with that.β He said Alkins actually went through some drills during Saturdayβs pregame shootaround and might have played Saturday if it was a postseason game.
Moreover, without Alkins, the Wildcats were again able to start Dylan Smith in his place and give more valuable time to Akot (13 minutes) and Brandon Randolph (19).
βRawle is a big part of what we do,β Miller said. βIβm happy Rawle is able to get some rest. It also builds confidence in some guys who have a bigger opportunity.β
Actually, all of the Wildcats were able to build confidence Saturday in a game where they kicked away leads of 13 points in the first half and 13 in the second half, unable to rely on their usual edge on the free-throw line, and still pulled it out.
Utah made 18 of 21 free throws while the UA hit six in just 11 attempts, giving the Utes an extra 12 points from the line and essentially flipping over the sort of stats that have helped the UA win several recent games.
That prompted many fans at McKale to replace the usual βU of Aβ chants with βref you suckβ β in the same cadence β though Miller was diplomatic about it afterward.
βSometimes what you think in the emotion of the game and what you see when you really are in the quiet of wherever you watch it (afterward), you see that they are right,β Miller said. βSo weβll have to take a look at it. But fouling has plagued our defense, thatβs one thing I know and we have to get better at that.β
βBut it was a tough game, (so it was about) playing through that, not letting it steal your confidence and mind. That might have been our best basketball of the second half, both on offense and defense. I give our players a lot of credit for that. Sometimes when itβs not going in your direction itβs tough to change it back and we did.β
