WSU upsets Arizona for Pac-12 lead
Jaylen Wells made one of the biggest shots in recent Washington State history to lead the program to a thrilling road victory. His only regret is he didn’t get to see it. Wells had a crucial 4-point play in the final minute and scored 27 points to help No. 21 Washington State beat No. 4 Arizona 7774 on Thursday night in Tucson.
In winning its eighth game in a row, Washington State (21-6, 12-4 Pac-12) leapfrogged the Wildcats (20-6, 11-4) for first place in the conference race. It was the first game for the Cougars while being ranked in the AP Top 25 since the 2007-08 season.
“This is big,” Wells said. “There’s a lot of moments we could have folded. But we stayed poised, kept fighting back. I think it’s a big win for us, just because people thought we were the underdogs. People saying ‘Oh, you’ve got to play Arizona.’
“No, they’ve got to play us.”
The game was tight the entire night — neither team led by more than seven points. And the final minute was a thriller.
Arizona’s Caleb Love drove for a layup and got fouled with 51.2 seconds left, hitting the free throw to complete the 3-point play for a 74-71 lead. Wells responded on the next possession with a corner 3 — also while being fouled — and made the free throw for a 4-point play and a 75-74 lead with 24.6 seconds left.
Women
NO. 14 INDIANA 86, NO. 4 IOWA 69 >> Indiana made Caitlin Clark fight for every point as the 14th-ranked Hoosiers’ relentlessly physical defense derailed the top women’s basketball scorer in NCAA Division I history.
A frustrated Clark endured a rare offnight while Sara Scalia scored 25 points and All-American center Mackenzie Holmes added 24 points and nine rebounds to lead the Hoosiers past the Hawkeyes on Thursday night before a sellout crowd of 17,222 at Assembly Hall.
“I think we made everything very difficult for Caitlin Clark tonight and that’s hard to do. She’s a phenomenal player,” Indiana coach Teri Moren said.
Playing for the first time since she broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, Clark finished with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds but struggled from the field. She was 8 of 26 overall and 3 of 16 on 3-pointers while scoring just four points in the second half.
Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder detected frustration from her star, who at one point was talking to the Indiana bench. Clark acknowledged how difficult it was to contend with the Hoosiers and their rotating defenders.
“I think being physical, face-guarding me, throwing a lot of different people at me, yeah, just very physical,” Clark said. “They kind of pushed me off my spots, got me out a little deeper than I wanted to be.”
Inland D-I Men
UC SAN DIEGO 77, UCR 65 >> Aniwaniwa TaitJones had 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Tritons (18-9, 12-3 Big West Conference) won in Riverside. Kaleb Smith had 18 points and six rebounds for UCR (12-16, 7-9), and Barrington Hargress added 15 points and six assists. The Highlanders play at Cal Poly tonight at 7.
ABILENE CHRISTIAN 71, CBU 65 >> Airion Simmons had 15 points as the Wildcats (11-15, 6-9 Western Athletic Conference) won at home. Scotty Washington had 15 points for CBU (14-12, 7-8), which plays at Tarleton State today at 2 p.m.
Inland D-I Women
CBU 70, ABILENE CHRISTIAN 58 >> Chloe Webb had 22 points and seven rebounds as the Lancers improved to 12-0 at the Fowler Events Center. Nae Nae Calhoun had 15 points, nine assists, and five steals for CBU (21-3, 13-2 WAC), which plays host to Tarleton State today at 1 p.m.
UCR 63, UCSD 48 >> Jordan Webster had 23 points, six steals and four rebounds to lead the Highlanders at home. UCR (15-11, 10-6) plays host to Cal Poly today at 6.