Duke transfer Chase Jeter had nine points and 14 rebounds in Arizona’s annual Red Blue Game but his Blue team lost 39-33 on Sunday at McKale Center.
Ryan Luther hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and finished with 10 points to help the Red team pull away in the final minute of a close scrimmage.
Ira Lee led the Red with 12 points, mostly scoring on dunks. Devonaire Doutrive added nine points while showing off considerable athleticism both during the pregame dunk contest and game.
Brandon Randolph and Emmanuel Akot added eight points each for the Blue team.
Of UA’s point guards, Brandon Williams had six points, two assists and three turnovers, while Justin Coleman had three points, four rebounds, one assist and one turnover.
Randolph defended his dunk contest title before the game, with his most impressive dunk a windmill off a ball that Brandon Williams bounced against the side of the backboard.
The Wildcats had seven players on each team, counting their three-walkons, with freshman forward Omar Thielemans missing the game because of personal reasons, according to UA.
Thielemans' future with the team appears to be in doubt, at least for a while. Miller said after the game that Thielemans has also missed recent practices.
"It's a longer-term thing," Miller said. "He missed today because of personal reasons and I think we'll expound on that as we move through this week."
During a pregame address, UA coach Sean Miller thanked the fans, along with UA president Robert Robbins and Dave Heeke while alluding to the off-court issues he and his program have faced.
“When certain things aren’t going as expected, it really is amazing how you learn who is in your corner and who isn’t,” Miller said.
The Wildcats also formally added Deandre Ayton and Jerryd Bayless to their Ring of Honor, a series of banners across the top of McKale Center. Ayton qualified as last season’s Pac-12 Player of the Year and first-team all-American, while Bayless made it because he has played 10 seasons in the NBA since spending the 2007-08 season with Arizona.
Bayless was on hand and received a framed jersey during a halftime ceremony, while Ayton addressed the crowd on the video board and said he planned to visit McKale Center this season. Ayton was also featured on UA’s pregame video wearing his Suns jersey.
