Sports
Wildats win two in NIT consolation bracket
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| AP Photo | John Curry Arizona’s Jamelle Horne (42) scores the last basket of the game as Santa Clara’s Michael Santos (14) looks on during an NCAA basketball game at Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday in Athens, Ga. Arizona won 69-66. |
ATHENS, Ga. (AP)—Chase Budinger scored 22 points and had a hand in a key turnover as Arizona defeated Santa Clara 69-66 on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats (3-1) trailed the entire second half until a Jordan Hill slam dunk gave them a 67-66 lead with 2:09 left in the game.
Hill’s dunk was the result of one of two Santa Clara (1-4) turnovers in the game’s final minutes, which helped to rally the Wildcats at the NIT Season Tipoff.
After an entry pass by Michael Santos intended for John Bryant sailed out of bounds, Arizona took over possession. With 6.8 seconds remaining, Jamelle Horne scored a dunk to ice the win. Budinger was guarding Bryant on the inbounds pass, and after the game told Santa Clara Coach Kerry Keating he lightly tipped the ball before it went out of bounds.
“I had a good vantage point on it,” Keating said. “Michael made the wrong pass, but that was the play we wanted. But that is not why we lost the game. We had a seven-point lead and made three straight turnovers and turned it into a two-point game, a different kind of game.”
Hill had 20 points for Arizona on 8-of-11 shooting.
Santa Clara was led by 24 points from Bryant, and 21 by Kevin Foster.
“This was a learning experience for us,” Bryant said. “We’ve got two freshmen point guards. We need to realize that at this level everybody is bigger, faster and stronger. But after a timeout, coach reminded us that it was a matter of effort.”
The Broncos took the game inside, building an eight-point lead midway through the second half.
The Wildcats had no answer for Bryant’s power game. Over one seven minute stretch, he scored five consecutive Broncos baskets.
“Bryant wore us down,” said Arizona coach Russ Pennell. “Early on Hill was able to use his quickness, but he wore down. From a sheer size standpoint, Bryant is a tough player to handle.”
The Wildcats showed their athleticism early in the game, jumping out to a 12-0 lead. That athleticism was there at the end when Arizona made their winning push.
“At the end of the game we used our athleticism to play aggressive defense and cause just enough problems to get some breaks,” he said.
Budinger, Hill lead Arizona past MVSU
ATHENS, Ga. (AP)—Garland Judkins said the plan from Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell was simple: Let defense set the tone for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats followed the script, holding Mississippi Valley State scoreless for the first 7 minutes while rolling to an 86-52 win in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday.
“He said to just play our defense and let our defense carry us to the offensive end,” Judkins said.
Arizona’s 1-1-3 trapping zone helped set the pace for a lopsided first half.
Arizona scored the first 12 points and led 29-8 after another 13-0 run.
Chase Budinger scored 24 points while making 10 of 11 shots from the field for Arizona (2-1). Jordan Hill added 19 points with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Judkins had 12 points.
Mississippi Valley State (0-6) missed its first 13 shots before Shannon Behling’s jumper with 13:03 left in the first half.
“Tonight was a good measurement on a neutral court against a team that has already played a couple of top 10 teams,” Pennell said.
“I was proud of how my players played tonight because I saw things that we had been practicing. We’ve been working on the 2-3 zone and the 1-1-3 zone, and tonight both of those were effective.”
Arizona led 44-21 at halftime. Mississippi Valley State made only 7 of 32 shots (21.9 percent) in the opening half.
Budinger said the Wildcats opened the second half “kind of sloppy” before he and Hill “started playing a two-man game.”
Budinger scored 10 straight points for Arizona early in the second half, but he and Hill sat out the final 10 minutes after the Wildcats’ lead reached 30 points.
Pennell had 10 players log 12 or more minutes.
Mississippi Valley State missed its first 14 3-pointers before Tashan Newsome ended the drought with 8:55 left to play.
Michael Clark led Mississippi Valley State with 11 points.
The Delta Devils were playing their fourth Pac-10 opponent in their last seven games. The stretch began with their 70-29 loss to UCLA in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament and continued with losses to Arizona State and Washington State this season.
Mississippi State has played each of its first six games away from home.
“We are just extremely road weary right now,” said Mississippi Valley State coach Sean Woods. “The road has taken a toll on us, but this is the first time that we’ve come out on the road with no energy.”
The stretch continues with more road games against Iowa State, Creighton, Kentucky, Houston and Arkansas State before Woods’ team finally plays a home game on Dec. 20 against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“We just need to keep plugging away,” Woods said. “We’ve had a very tough road stretch up to this point, and it doesn’t get much easier after Thanksgiving.”
© 2008 The Associated Press
The Wildcats (3-1) trailed the entire second half until a Jordan Hill slam dunk gave them a 67-66 lead with 2:09 left in the game.
Hill’s dunk was the result of one of two Santa Clara (1-4) turnovers in the game’s final minutes, which helped to rally the Wildcats at the NIT Season Tipoff.
After an entry pass by Michael Santos intended for John Bryant sailed out of bounds, Arizona took over possession. With 6.8 seconds remaining, Jamelle Horne scored a dunk to ice the win. Budinger was guarding Bryant on the inbounds pass, and after the game told Santa Clara Coach Kerry Keating he lightly tipped the ball before it went out of bounds.
“I had a good vantage point on it,” Keating said. “Michael made the wrong pass, but that was the play we wanted. But that is not why we lost the game. We had a seven-point lead and made three straight turnovers and turned it into a two-point game, a different kind of game.”
Hill had 20 points for Arizona on 8-of-11 shooting.
Santa Clara was led by 24 points from Bryant, and 21 by Kevin Foster.
“This was a learning experience for us,” Bryant said. “We’ve got two freshmen point guards. We need to realize that at this level everybody is bigger, faster and stronger. But after a timeout, coach reminded us that it was a matter of effort.”
The Broncos took the game inside, building an eight-point lead midway through the second half.
The Wildcats had no answer for Bryant’s power game. Over one seven minute stretch, he scored five consecutive Broncos baskets.
“Bryant wore us down,” said Arizona coach Russ Pennell. “Early on Hill was able to use his quickness, but he wore down. From a sheer size standpoint, Bryant is a tough player to handle.”
The Wildcats showed their athleticism early in the game, jumping out to a 12-0 lead. That athleticism was there at the end when Arizona made their winning push.
“At the end of the game we used our athleticism to play aggressive defense and cause just enough problems to get some breaks,” he said.
Budinger, Hill lead Arizona past MVSU
ATHENS, Ga. (AP)—Garland Judkins said the plan from Arizona interim coach Russ Pennell was simple: Let defense set the tone for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats followed the script, holding Mississippi Valley State scoreless for the first 7 minutes while rolling to an 86-52 win in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Monday.
“He said to just play our defense and let our defense carry us to the offensive end,” Judkins said.
Arizona’s 1-1-3 trapping zone helped set the pace for a lopsided first half.
Arizona scored the first 12 points and led 29-8 after another 13-0 run.
Chase Budinger scored 24 points while making 10 of 11 shots from the field for Arizona (2-1). Jordan Hill added 19 points with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Judkins had 12 points.
Mississippi Valley State (0-6) missed its first 13 shots before Shannon Behling’s jumper with 13:03 left in the first half.
“Tonight was a good measurement on a neutral court against a team that has already played a couple of top 10 teams,” Pennell said.
“I was proud of how my players played tonight because I saw things that we had been practicing. We’ve been working on the 2-3 zone and the 1-1-3 zone, and tonight both of those were effective.”
Arizona led 44-21 at halftime. Mississippi Valley State made only 7 of 32 shots (21.9 percent) in the opening half.
Budinger said the Wildcats opened the second half “kind of sloppy” before he and Hill “started playing a two-man game.”
Budinger scored 10 straight points for Arizona early in the second half, but he and Hill sat out the final 10 minutes after the Wildcats’ lead reached 30 points.
Pennell had 10 players log 12 or more minutes.
Mississippi Valley State missed its first 14 3-pointers before Tashan Newsome ended the drought with 8:55 left to play.
Michael Clark led Mississippi Valley State with 11 points.
The Delta Devils were playing their fourth Pac-10 opponent in their last seven games. The stretch began with their 70-29 loss to UCLA in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament and continued with losses to Arizona State and Washington State this season.
Mississippi State has played each of its first six games away from home.
“We are just extremely road weary right now,” said Mississippi Valley State coach Sean Woods. “The road has taken a toll on us, but this is the first time that we’ve come out on the road with no energy.”
The stretch continues with more road games against Iowa State, Creighton, Kentucky, Houston and Arkansas State before Woods’ team finally plays a home game on Dec. 20 against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“We just need to keep plugging away,” Woods said. “We’ve had a very tough road stretch up to this point, and it doesn’t get much easier after Thanksgiving.”
© 2008 The Associated Press
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