Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10), center, and guard Bennedict Mathurin (0) collide in front of UTEP guard Jamal Bieniemy (24) trying to track down a loose ball in the lane in the half of their game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., December 11, 2020.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

In a game when Arizona went without a 3-pointer for the first time in the Sean Miller era, guard James Akinjo helped make up for it at the line in record-tying fashion.

Akinjo jumped into a tie for Arizona’s free-throw percentage record by hitting 14 of 14 from the line while the otherwise poor-shooting Wildcats hung on to beat UTEP 69-61 on Saturday at McKale Center.

The Wildcats shot just 39.3% overall from the field and missed all nine 3-pointers they took but made up for it with defense, rebounding and free throws. UA made 25 of 28 free throws overall while outrebounding the Miners 46-25 and holding them to 40.7% shooting.

The Wildcats had not missed all their attempted 3s since going 0 for 8 at Stanford in 2008-09, the season before Miller was hired to take over the Wildcats.

“We’re definitely going to have games like this where we don’t make shots,” said center Christian Koloko, who was one of seven UA players to collect five or more rebounds. “I don’t know what to say about it except we got a lot of offensive rebounds.”

Except they weren't as efficient with those offensive rebounds as much as their coach would have liked. Arizona had 18 offensive rebounds off its 34 missed shots, but converted them for only 11 second-chance points while UTEP actually scored more second-chance points (13) on just six offensive rebounds.

"When you get 18 offensive rebounds, you should at worst have 18 points," Miller said. "Matter of fact, I can make the case you should get more points on 18 second shots."

But the Wildcats made enough, especially coupled with their ability to get to the line. UTEP committed seven more fouls than UA and the Wildcats took 13 more free throws, outscoring the Miners 25-12 from the free-throw line.

“That’s all we had,” Akinjo said. “Our shot wasn’t falling so we had to rebound and get in the paint, get to the line and generate some offense.”

Saying he once went 16 for 16 from the line in high school, Akinjo finished with 18 points while Bennedict Mathurin had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Jemarl Baker added 13 points. 

Akinjo was a microcosm of the Wildcats' offensive effort. He shot just 2 for 11 from the field but made all 14 free throws he took, with only Jerryd Bayless making more without a miss.

The UA record for free-throw percentage requires a minimum of 12 attempts and 14 players have reached it. Eleven players have gone 12 for 12, while Nic Wise (2008-09) and Allonzo Trier (2015-16) each had 14-for-14 games and Bayless was 16 for 16 against Stanford in his one-and-done year of 2007-08.

Just five minutes into the second half, Akinjo tied his personal best from the line, going 10-for-10 from that point after doing the same for Georgetown against Texas last season.

Akinjo hit the 12 for 12 mark with two more free throws with 5:47 left. His 12th free throw gave UA a 63-57 lead and Azuolas Tubelis expanded it to eight points on an offensive rebound basket after he collected a missed free throw from Jordan Brown.

The Wildcats later went into the final minute leading 65-61 before Akinjo hit his 13th and 14th free throws to give UA a 67-61 lead with 31 seconds left and the Wildcats hung on from there.

The win moved Arizona to 5-0 while UTEP dropped to 2-2. The Wildcats are next scheduled to host Cal Baptist on Wednesday at McKale Center before opening their Pac-12 schedule on Dec. 19 against Stanford at a site to be determined.

At halftime, Arizona had led 35-27 but UTEP scored six straight points early in the second half, prompting Miller to call a timeout after just 95 seconds.

The Wildcats later took a 49-39 lead when Mathurin converted a three-point play with 14:13 left, but the Miners kept crawling back within two or three possessions, cutting UA’s lead to just 61-57 after Souley Boum hit a 3-pointer with 6:45 left.

Boum wound up leading UTEP with 16 points while Bryson Williams had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Shooting just 37.5% from the field in the first half, Arizona still managed a 35-27 halftime lead over UTEP thanks to rebounding and perfect free-throw shooting.

The Wildcats outrebounded UTEP 25-13 in the first half -- though they converted 10 offensive rebounds into only four second-chance points -- while hitting 11 of 11 free throws.

Trailing 10-8 after the first five minutes, the Wildcats held UTEP to just 1 for 10 shooting over nearly the next seven minutes to go ahead 21-7 by the time Mathurin made a layup with 8:17 left.

The Wildcats headed into the final three minutes of the first half and later went on a 6-0 run to take a double-digit lead, 33-23, as halftime neared. 

Despite all the changes to Arizona’s schedule over the first 10 days of its season, the UTEP game was the Wildcats’ fourth in eight days. After going from Nov. 27 to Dec. 4 without a game, the Wildcats have since hosted and beaten Eastern Washington, NAU, Cal State Bakersfield and now UTEP.

“As we approach the end of the semester with so many new faces, (the games) started to wear on us a little bit,” Miller said. “I thought we did some good things and I’m thrilled we were able to win the game. It’s always great to teach and learn and make adjustments and be able to do that with a win.”

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