Wildcats’ skid now longest in 35 years
The Arizona Wildcats have lost five straight games for the first time since Lute Olson’s first year with the Wildcats in 1983-84, losing 69-55 to Washington State at McKale Center on Saturday.
Arizona shot just 31.7 percent from the field while WSU’s Robert Franks hit 8 of 11 3-pointers and tied his career high in scoring with 34 to lead the Cougars.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 14-10 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-12 while Washington State improved to 10-14 and 3-8, with its first win at McKale Center since Klay Thompson was a Cougar sophomore in 2009-10.
Combined with WSU's win over ASU on Thursday, it was the Cougars' first Pac-12 road sweep since 2009.
Down by 12 points at halftime, Arizona cut it to nine with nine minutes left on two free throws from Ryan Luther, but trailed by double digits most of the second half. Devonaire Doutrive made a layup with 2:13 to go to cut WSU’s lead to 6353 but Franks hit his final 3 with 1:11 left to give the Cougars a 69-53 lead.
In the first half, Arizona shot just 27.3 percent while trailing Washington State 33-21.
The Wildcats struggled to shoot all over the court at the beginning of the game. Before halftime, Chase Jeter was 0 for 5 inside for Arizona while Brandon Randolph was 1 for 5.
Franks had 20 points in the first half while hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers to lead the Cougars. Franks had 34 points and 13 rebounds in WSU’s 21-point upset of ASU on Thursday.
Arizona missed its first five shots against WSU’s zone defense, one from each starter, while falling behind 7-0 at the first media timeout.
The Wildcats were 0-7 from the field before Ryan Luther hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to break the drought, and a layup from Justin Coleman pulled UA within 7-5.
However, Franks hit a pair of 3-pointers to put WSU ahead 13-7 at the second media timeout, with 11:20 left in the half. Franks, a 6-foot-9 shooter who tested the NBA Draft last spring, later made it 28-14 WSU when he hit his fifth 3-pointer of the half.