Wildcats defeat UW's Terrell Brown, who's playing a bigger role than he had at Arizona last season

When former Wildcat guard Terrell Brown finally had the chance to play before fans for the first time in 17 games at McKale Center on Monday, a few jeers were directed his way.

That was probably inevitable. After all, he plays for Washington now.

But while efforts to reach Brown before and after the No. 8-ranked Wildcats’ 95-79 win over the Huskies were unsuccessful, statistical evidence would suggest that neither he nor the Wildcats are complaining about his transfer from Arizona to Washington last spring.

After averaging 7.3 points per game while taking an average of 6.1 shots per game as a part-time starter for the Wildcats last season, Brown took 22 shots on Monday and went to the free-throw line 10 times. He scored a game-high 28 points and continues to lead the Pac-12 in scoring.

“Terrell Brown was spectacular,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.

On the other end of the floor, meanwhile, three Wildcats scored more than 20 points Monday for the first time since UA’s “Big Three” of Jordan Hill, Chase Budinger and Nic Wise did so in a game against Stanford in 2008-09. Bennedict Mathurin had 27, Christian Koloko had 22 and Kerr Kriisa had 21, leading Arizona to a 16-point win.

In addition, wing Dalen Terry recorded his first-ever double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds — plus a career-high eight assists.

How would Brown fit into that mix, if he were still alongside his improving former teammates this season?

Chances are, his role would be a slightly different one.

“We know Terrell is a really good player,” Koloko said. “I think he had a bigger opportunity to be the man (at Washington) and take whatever shots he wants. I think he did a really good job getting inside and doing his job.”

Kriisa called Brown a “hell of a player,” but cautioned that their old teammate wasn’t the only one the Wildcats were trying to defend.

“Obviously, we all know that he was here with us last year, but we didn’t really want to put extra (emphasis on it) — we were about playing Washington, not Terrell,” Kriisa said. “But obviously Terrell is huge part of their team. He’s the heart of the team. Basically when Terrell plays good, they have a chance. That’s what they showed.”

Brown’s offense — and a Washington zone defense that forced 21 Arizona turnovers — kept the Huskies in Monday’s game much longer than most McKale Center opponents have been this season. UA led 49-41 at halftime and just 72-67 with 7:48 left, then cruised down the stretch.

Even though Brown was not available for comment after Thursday’s game, it was clear that he, too, had some extra emotion behind his effort.

“He took a lot of pride in the year that he was there” at Arizona, Washington coach Mike Hopkins said. He had “a lot of friends, a lot of great memories. He came on to play for us, which is great, but having a chance to come back here, he was as competitive and as good as we know he is.

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“He made big play after big play. He competes. He was a great leader tonight. Not only on the court but in the locker room and in timeouts. He’s got a competitive genius that’s pretty high level.”

Noting that Brown also had eight rebounds and six assists with just one turnover, Lloyd said he had to “tip his hat to him.” But Lloyd also tipped his hat to his own players for figuring out a way to overcome Brown and win by 16.

“I told our guys, ‘Listen, he’s a really good player. He’s got a ton of freedom and he’s got a ton of experience. He might win a few of the battles, but our ultimate goal is to win the war as a team,’” Lloyd said. “Luckily, we were able to do that.”

Opponents needed

With Saturday’s at ASU postponed because of the Sun Devils’ COVID-19 protocols, the Wildcats have been searching for another opponent so they can fill the void before a tentative game at No. 5 UCLA on Jan. 11 and a scheduled game against Colorado on Jan. 13.

Theoretically, the Wildcats could even face UCLA on Thursday, since the Bruins had games against Stanford and ASU postponed this week, and maybe even No. 7 USC on Saturday if Stanford’s pause also winds up postponing a scheduled date with the Trojans that day (a Stanford spokesman said that game remains uncertain).

But that would force all teams involved to prepare for big games on short notice, while also requiring the Wildcats to make quick travel plans. Television coverage has been an issue in rescheduling games, too.

When asked Tuesday on a Zoom media conference about possibly facing Arizona this week, UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he’s already contacted the Pac-12 about needing games, and that the conference controls the rescheduling of conference games. Cronin said he was looking at a nonconference game, possibly even against a Division II team, and was on the phone for four hours on Monday night in an effort to make it happen.

“All we can do is voice the fact that we want another game Wednesday or Thursday,” Cronin said, “and I’ll be honest: I know it would be a loss, but I’ll take the Lakers at this point.”

Mathurin buzzsaw continues

Between the Wildcats’ two Pac-12 games and big nonconference games at Illinois and Tennessee, wing Bennedict Mathurin is averaging 28.5 points per game while shooting 60.9% from the field.

On Monday, he had 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting despite being what Lloyd called “out of sorts” early in the second half because of frustrations with Washington’s zone.

“We subbed (Mathurin out) and I told ‘Murph’ (associate head coach Jack Murphy) to go talk to him and maybe find a couple of different pockets in that zone,” Lloyd said. “He did a great job of listening and you saw him down on that baseline in there and attack the center. He’s athletic and strong enough to do it.

“I’m not surprised because he’s doing it every night. He’s really consistent. I’m really happy for him. He and I have had some great talks and we’re both just locked into winning for Arizona basketball right now.”