Cats Again Flatten Cardinal

ARIZONA WILDCATS EDITIONE ARIZONA DAILY STAR | SUnday, FEBRUary 16, 2020 | PAGE AB1 E X T R A Editor: Ryan Finley | 520-573-4312 | [email protected] ARIZONA 69, STANFORD 60 CATS AGAIN FLATTEN CARDINAL PHOTOS BY BEN MARGOT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji falls onto Stanford’s James Keefe during the second half. Nnaji had 21 points and 11 rebounds as UA continued its long mastery of the Cardinal. UA beats Stanford for 20th straight time By Bruce Pascoe ARIZONA DAILY STAR STANFORD, Calif. — Their 3-point shot was still largely bro- ken, their point guard was in foul trouble, and they couldn’t keep guys from scoring in the paint. But the Arizona Wildcats were playing at Stanford, so there was nothing really to worry about. The Wildcats beat the Cardinal 69-60 at Maples Pavilion on Sat- urday, thanks in part to 21 points and 11 rebounds from freshman center Zeke Nnaji, collecting their 20th straight win over Stanford. Their streak dates back to 2008-09 and remains the Pac- 12’s longest between conference teams. Josh Green added 14 points and Josh Green dunks for two of his 14 four rebounds for the Wildcats, points in the Wildcats’ 69-60 win at while Dylan Smith had 10 points, Stanford on Saturday night. UA held hitting 2 of 7 3-pointers. Cal and the Cardinal to a combined They helped Arizona survived 132 points in the road sweep. UA is despite getting just five points now 18-7 overall. and two assists from point guard Nico Mannion, who played just 24 minutes because of foul trouble, PAC-12 STANDINGS and the fact that Arizona shot just Team Conf. Overall 37% overall, hitting only 3 of 21 Colorado 9-4 20-6 3-pointers. Oregon 8-4 19-6 “It’s really precisely what we’ve Arizona 8-4 18-7 talked about a lot this year,” UA Arizona State 7-4 16-8 coach Sean Miller said. “We have USC 8-5 19-7 to be able to win different ways. UCLA 8-5 15-11 We have to be able to overcome a Stanford 5-7 16-9 poor shooting night. Foul trouble, Oregon State 5-8 15-10 injuries, illness. I think the defini- Utah 5-7 14-10 tion of a really good season has a Washington State 5-8 14-12 lot of those moments in it but yet California 4-7 10-14 you still find a way and tonight Washington 2-11 12-14 was our defense and rebounding that allowed us to win a tough game.” “They have a lot of tricky stuff Free throws helped, too. UA hit that they run but we just did a 26 of 31 from the line,taking six good job defending them,” said Arizona’s Nico Mannion, right, passes the ball away from Stanford’s Oscar da Silva during the second half. The more trips than Stanford did and Baker, who had four points and Wildcats moved within a half-game of first-place in the Pac-12 with the Bay Area sweep. getting seven more points from one assist while playing 27 min- free throws. Nnaji led the way utes in part because of Mannion’s there, hitting 9 of 12. foul trouble. “We had a good week UP NEXT Nnaji’s 11 rebounds also led a of practice. We’ve been focused • Who: Oregon State (15-10, 5-8) spirited UA effort on the glass. The and locked in.” at Arizona (18-7, 8-4) Wildcats outrebounded Stanford Bryce Wills had 25 points and • When: 6 p.m. Thursday 39-25 overall, while scoring 10 five rebounds to lead Stanford • TV: Pac-12 Arizona second-chance points off 13 of- while Oscar da Silva had 13 points • Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM fensive rebounds. and four rebounds in his first game In the backcourt, Jemarl Baker back after suffering a head injury helped overcome Mannion’s foul on Feb. 8 at Colorado. time but struggled to contain trouble. The win moved Arizona to Wills inside. Mannion picked up his fourth 18-7 overall and 8-4 in the Pac- The Cardinal’s athletic forward foul with 11:42 left in the half and 12, where the Wildcats remain in took advantage of the Wildcats’ sat out for the next seven min- a loss-column tie for first place. interior defense to score 15 points utes, but made a layup with 1:30 Stanford dropped to 16-9 and 5-7, over the first 12 minutes after half- left to give UA a 67-55 lead, with having lost seven of its past eight time, cutting UA’s lead to just 46- the 1,000 or so UA fans chanting games. 42 with 10:28 remaining when he wildly in the half-full Maples Pa- “Everything is still on the ta- drove in for a layup. vilion, Stanford’s 7,233-seat are- ble, but the reality is we still need But Green stole a pass from da na. something to flip,” Stanford coach Silva and raced in for a dunk that As a team, UA held Stanford to Jerod Haase said. “Don’t be sur- made it 56-48 while Smith hit a 3 41.9% shooting and outrebound- prised if things flip at some point.” Arizona’s Jemarl Baker Jr., right, drives the ball past Stanford’s Spencer ed the Cardinal 36-24. Arizona was up by 10 at half- See WILDCATS, AB2 Jones during the second half. UA improved to 8-4 in Pac-12 play. ARIZONA WILDCATS ARIZONA DAILY STAR | SUnday, FEBRUary 16, 2020 | PAGE AB2 Editor: Ryan Finley | 520-573-4312 | [email protected] SEEN AND HEARD AT MAPLES PAVILION Birthday boy The starting point guard for last season’s Wildcats, Justin Coleman may be more behind the scenes this season as a graduate assistant. But he hasn’t been forgotten. During the Wildcats’ team dinner Friday night at a nearby Palo Alto steakhouse, as shared via video on Instagram, waiters banged utensils and teammates sang while Coleman received a special sundae with a candle in it. Coleman, who hasn’t been made available for comment this season, posted a birthday wish of sorts to himself on Twitter earlier Friday. “Dang I’m getting old lol #ValentineBaby” Cole- man tweeted. He turned 24. Da Silva returns When Stanford forward Oscar da Silva collided with Colorado’s Evan Battey on Feb. 8 in Boulder, both his short- and long-term health immediately appeared uncertain. Battey’s elbow had inadvertently pushed da Silva’s head toward the floor as they fell together; blood oozed from da Silva’s head and, according to Colo- rado’s McKinley Wright, his eyes rolled back. “I just got down on my knee and said a prayer,” said Wright, who also led a group prayer between Stanford and Colorado players before that game resumed. Maybe all that support helped. Da Silva received stitches in his forehead and had to undergo testing all week with Stanford’s sports medicine depart- ment. But he was cleared to play Saturday, exactly PHOTOS BY BEN MARGOT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS a week after the collision, the bare minimum of time Arizona’s Stone Gettings, right, looks to pass the ball away from Stanford’s Jaiden Delaire during the second half. generally needed to play after entering a concussion protocol (though Stanford never labeled it a minutes of the half, Stan- ARIZONA 69, STANFORD 60 concussion). WILDCATS ford scored 10 points in the FG FT Reb Arizona Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Da Silva didn’t practice fully all week, and his tim- Continued from Page AB1 paint but also couldn’t hit Gettings 23 2-4 0-1 0-2 0 3 4 ing may have been off — but not his aggressiveness. Nnaji 28 6-10 9-12 4-11 0 4 21 from outside, hitting just 1 Green 27 3-6 8-8 0-6 3 4 15 Wearing a headband around where his stitches from the right wing to give of 8 from 3-point range in Mannion 27 2-10 3-3 0-1 2 4 7 Smith 34 3-10 3-4 2-6 1 2 11 were, da Silva scored inside just 70 seconds into UA a 59-50 lead with 5:30 the half. Baker 28 2-6 0-0 2-3 1 3 4 the game and was called for a charge while driving left. Arizona took a 22-15 lead Hazzard 11 0-4 3-3 1-2 1 1 3 Lee 11 1-3 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 against Josh Green a minute later. In the first half, Nna- after a stretch in which Koloko 10 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 Totals 200 20-54 26-31 9-35 8 25 69 Then, just four minutes into the game, he was ji had 14 points and eight Max Hazzard was fouled Percentages: FG .370, FT .839. 3-Point Goals: called for a defensive foul against Stone Gettings, rebounds in the first half beyond the 3-point line 3-21, .143 (Smith 2-8, Green 1-3, Baker 0-1, Nnaji 0-1, Gettings 0-2, Hazzard 0-2, Mannion 0-4). and took a seat on the bench, playing just seven alone to lead Arizona to a and hit all three ensuing Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked minutes in the first half. 30-23 halftime lead.

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