If the Arizona wildcats will not be rated on Monday, we riot.
The Wildcats officially announced themselves as a team to be reckoned with and rolled past # 4 Michigan 80-62 in Las Vegas on Sunday night. The win gave the UA (5-0) a signature prep season win and the championship of the Roman Main Event in the T-Mobile Arena.
“We’re here now and we’re part of it,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said during his post-game radio interview.
Christian Koloko a career high of 22 points, beating the Michigan, All-American preseason Hunter Dickinson. The junior was 8 of 13 off the field, dunking four times, but also pulling down seven rebounds and blocking four shots.
Christian Koloko points to his mother, who has traveled from Cameroon to see her son play for the first time. “This is for her,” he said of the PA.
– Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) November 22, 2021
Arizona’s forecourt dominated, with Azuolas Tubelis Adding 13 and 8 rebounds and even Oumar Ballo Chipping in five rebounds (including three of Arizona’s 10 offensive boards) as the Wildcats outnumbered the Wolverines (3-2) 54-30 in color.
Bennedict Mathurin 16 points added and Dale Terry went for 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, which made up for a tough Friday night when a foul limited him to 11 minutes in the overtime win over Wichita.
In contrast to that Wichita game in which Arizona spun 22 times and shot 40.7 percent, Michigan only gave the ball 10 times – and only three in the first half – while shooting 50 percent off the field. The Wildcats held the Wolverines 43.4 percent shooting, including 1 in 14 from the 3-point range.
Arizona led 37-29 in the half, building it to 59-42 13:18 after scoring a goal on his first 11 possession times. The Wildcats made their first eight shots and 5 of 6 free throws.
The UA also hit their first two 3-pointers in the second half, having shot 2 of 13 from under in the first half (and 5 for 27 from outside against Wichita State). For the game, the Wildcats were only 4 out of 21 out of 3, by far their biggest mistake this season.
The Wildcats went more than three minutes without a goal and more than five minutes without a field goal, a time both Koloko and Tubelis sat most of the time. But Michigan couldn’t take the lead and even Dickinson couldn’t capitalize on missing a wide open layup nine minutes from time.
Dickinson, a 7-foot-1 sophomore, had 11 points but was only 4 out of 10 off the field.
The Wildcats used a 7-0 run to take the 19-16 lead midway through the first half, but only managed one basket in the next three minutes as they settled for long jumpers instead of working inside.
Michigan took the lead with a Dickinson jumper with 7:57 remaining, but then Arizona finished half-time with an 18-9 run that scored six different players. In the middle was a personal 7-0 run by Terry, who played 11 minutes on Friday for a foul.
Arizona enforced three charges, two of, in the first half Kriisa in a 47 second span and another of Pelle Larsson, Part of 10 first half sales for Wolverines.
The UA returns at home against Sacramento State on Saturday, a game that begins at McKale Center around the time Arizona’s ASU soccer game ends in Tempe.
