HOUSTON — After Kobi Simmons fired an alley-oop pass to Chance Comanche for a second-half dunk, igniting a substantial Arizona crowd at Toyota Center, nap time was in order for the Wildcats.
Before they had to hang on for dear life in a 67-63 win over Texas A&M on Saturday, the Wildcats went ahead by 19 on Comanche’s dunk. They led by 22 not long after that.
They were taking care of the ball. Keeping the Aggies to around 30 percent shooting. And taking advantage of 24 trips to the free-throw line, with just four misses.
It wasn’t supposed to be that easy, was it?
“If you could tell us we’d win by 25 points against Texas A&M in Houston, Texas,” freshman guard Rawle Alkins said, “I’d be like, ‘Wow.’”
Oh, and by the time UA built their first 20-point lead, it was barely past 11 a.m. on their body clocks.
So why not take it easy?
Of course, they can’t. Ever.
This is a team with only seven active scholarship players, going for the 12th game without ineligible guard Allonzo Trier, including just three perimeter players.
That truth was woven throughout a final four minutes that were scarier than the Wildcats had ever seen before in any of their 10 wins this season. Nineteenth-ranked Arizona (10-2) turned the ball over four times in the last four minutes, while the traps and other elements of their defense decayed to the point where Texas A&M’s poor overall shooting didn’t even matter — because they mostly just made layups.
In all, the Aggies rattled off 18 straight points and cut it to just 65-63, before Alkins hit both ends of a one-and-one to stop the bleeding just before it was too late.
“We wear down,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “We have seven scholarship players and around the 10-, eight-minute mark, we have a couple of guys where all of sudden you miss shots and defense is not as easy as it was. That’s why depth is so critical.
“Playing against a team like Texas A&M, they probably didn’t play as well as they’re capable of, and when they sensed that we were running out of gas, they put it into overdrive. We were fortunate to hold on, but I also think we deserved to win.”
Over the first 36 minutes, at least, there was no doubt that Arizona deserved to win. The Wildcats squeezed hard on their European Connection early, getting the usual inside-out production from Lauri Markkanen along with eight points from Dusan Ristic inside in just the first five minutes.
“He’s the best I’ve ever seen around the basket,” Markkanen said of Ristic, “so we played through him.”
Ristic wound up tying his season-high with 18 points while Markkanen added 17 points and seven rebounds. Markkanen also hit 3 of 5 three-pointers, the only long range shots Arizona hit during the game despite taking 15 total.
Arizona led 41-28 at halftime, when Ristic and Markkanen had already combined for 26 points, then continued on the same pace for much of the second half. But Arizona, getting little from Comanche (12 minutes) and Keanu Pinder (15) off the bench, played Markkanen, Alkins, Simmons and Kadeem Allen all 36 minutes or more.
That made a big difference. Miller said Allen, who missed a free throw and committed a turnover that led to a Texas A&M layup over the final four minutes, was hit particularly hard.
“I think more than anyone, Kadeem really ran out of gas,” Miller said. “You can tell he exerts so much energy defensively that near the end he was just on fumes.”
So, as has often been the case this season, it came down to freshman heroics for the Wildcats.
Tyler Davis, who led Texas A&M in scoring with 23 points, made a layup off Allen’s turnover to cut it to 65-60 with 36 seconds left. A jump ball situation resulted in another Texas A&M possession and, while Davis missed two free throws on it, the Aggies rebounded his second miss and fed it to D.J. Hogg for a 3-pointer that brought Texas A&M within 65-63.
After Hogg’s three, the Aggies tried to trap Markkanen, but the skilled Finnish big man managed to eke out a pass to Alkins, who raced downcourt and was fouled as he neared the three-point line.
Alkins said he wasn’t particularly nervous at the line for a game-clinching one-and-one, but his first free throw looked shaky. It bounced around and fell in, before he smoothly sank the second one, giving UA the final 67-63 edge.
“After the first one, I got comfortable and I knew the next one was good,” Alkins said. “Coach trusted me and Lauri to make the play and I’m just happy I got it done.”
No doubt Miller was, too.
He had been itching to call timeouts down the stretch, saying the Wildcats might have avoided a turnover or two if there weren’t the second-year rule against coaches calling timeouts during live-ball situations. And he didn’t have a timeout to call anyway as the Aggies set their final trap.
But it turned out that Miller didn’t need a timeout at all this time.
He just needed some of his freshmen to keep pushing, and close the door.
“Lauri handled himself really well on a great pass to Rawle,” Miller said. “As a freshman in that situation, with so many things going wrong, and (for Alkins to hit) the one-and-one? Those are two big free throws he made to seal the win.
“So, again, we’re so much about some of those young players doing a great job. They certainly did here today.”
