Cats survive upset scare in home win
With three freshmen leading the way and eight newcomers overall, the Arizona Wildcats were bound to run into a little adversity at some point early this season.
Like maybe on Nov. 10 against Illinois. Or in the Wooden Legacy over Thanksgiving week. Or, almost certainly, in December against either Baylor and Gonzaga, or both.
But South Dakota State, at home on a random weekday night at McKale Center?
It happened Thursday, in a 71-64 Arizona win. With leading scorer Zeke Nnaji effectively neutralized early, the Wildcats trailed the Jackrabbits of the Summit League by up to 10 points in the first half – the biggest deficit it has faced all season – and UA never could expand its lead past 11 points.
South Dakota State shot 46.8 percent overall while poking holes in the Wildcats on both ends of the floor. Offensively, they drove inside effectively against what had been UA’s Top 10 interior defense, and defensively, they forced 15 UA turnovers and dared the Wildcats to shoot 3-pointers they hit at only a 17.6% rate (3 of 17).
But it was perhaps the job it did on Nnaji that hurt the Wildcats the most. The “northern” SDSU doubled and harassed Nnaji early, drawing two fouls from him in the first half while keeping him without a single shot – after Nnaji entered the game on a streak of 17 straight field goals and 13 straight free throws.
Hounded by the Jackrabbits in the first half and kept without a shot, Nnaji broke his field-goal streak with 15:31 left in the game when he grabbed a rebound and put up an off-balance putback attempt that didn’t come close to hitting the net.
But while the Jackrabbits kept Nnaji down, the Wildcats took care of things without him in the second half. They went on a 12-0 run over the middle of the half to take a 46-39 lead with 11:33 left.
Nnaji tipped in a missed shot from Max Hazzard to give UA a 48-43 lead then hit a jumper from the top of the key and put back an offensive rebound to give UA a 52-47 lead with eight minutes to go.
But SDSU later received a 3-pointer from David Wingett that cut UA’s lead to 55-51. The Wildcats expanded their lead slightly over the final minutes, with Nico Mannion punching through the Jackrabbit defense for an emphatic dunk that gave the Wildcats a 65-56 lead with 1:04 left, but a 3 from Brandon Key with 14.7 seconds left pulled the Jackrabbits again within seven points.
SDSU tried to press UA on its final possession but the Wildcats broke it and time ran out.
Nnaji finished with 12 points on 4of-5 shooting while making 4 of 6 from the line, while Green had 15 points on 4 for 13 shooting despite missing all four 3-pointers he took. Mannion had 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Douglas Wilson led South Dakota State with 15 points.