PULLMAN, Wash. β Without Kadeem Allen for the whole game and Dusan Ristic for half of it, the Arizona Wildcats went back to their shorthanded ways, but still managed to beat Washington State 78-59 before about 3,000 fans at Beasley Coliseum.
Allen suffered a dislocated right pinky finger in practice on Tuesday and remains questionable for Saturdayβs UA game at Washington, while Ristic suffered a left ankle sprain in the first half and did not return after halftime. It is unclear what Risticβs status for Saturday is.
Starting in place for Allen at point guard, Parker Jackson-Cartwright responded with a career-high 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting while Lauri Markkanen had 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting after three straight single-digit scoring games.
Jackson-Cartwright hit 4 of 5 3-pointers he took and while Markkanen was just 1 for 4 from long range, he did much of his scoring work around the basket as UA coach Sean Miller had said he wanted Markkanen to.
The win moved Arizona to 24-3 overall and 13-1 in the Pac-12, heading into a Saturday game at Washington, while the Cougars dropped to 11-15 and 4-10.
Arizona trailed by four points early in the game while struggling defensively without Allen but took a 40-31 lead at halftime and led by up to 24 points in the second half even as Chance Comanche started over Ristic.
The Cougars shot over 60 percent through the first 12 minutes of the half and finished at 46.4 percent. But UA outrebounded WSU 22-12, holding the Cougars to just three offensive rebounds, and gradually heated up offensively before a quiet crowd of about 3,000.
While Allonzo Trier had five points and seven rebounds in the first half, Markkanen and Jackson-Cartwright led the Wildcats offensively with 11 points each. Markkanen missed his first 3-point attempt badly, but later hit one and also scored four points off from offensive rebounds.
Having taken Allen's place in the starting lineup, Jackson-Cartwright hit 2 of 3 3-pointers, including one just before the halftime buzzer.
Allen is day-to-day with a dislocated right pinky finger so it is questionable if he will play Saturday at Washington. He injured the finger in practice on Tuesday when it was caught in Jackson-Cartwrightβs jersey, UA athletic trainer Justin Kokoskie said.
WSU took early leads of up to four points, going ahead 14-10 when Charles Callison sank an improbable turnaround 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer and later going ahead 18-14 on a 3 by Malachi Flynn.
But Markkanen put UA ahead later with two free throws and a rebound dunk that gave the Wildcats a 28-25 lead and the Wildcats moved ahead from there.
