I apologize for not having a game thread for tonight's game ESPECIALLY after seeing what it turned into! Haha
There were some technical difficulties and by the time I got it all figured out the game was already well on its way. I'll get you all tomorrow. HOWEVER, I wanted to make sure and drop some of my thoughts and takeaways from the game and you guys can do the same below as well.
- Obviously, Justin Coleman was huge in the second half with 15 points and he really stepped up when the team needed him to. Some of the young guys had struggles and the usual scorers (Brandon Williams and Brandon Randolph) weren't on top of their games for most of the night. Coleman did a good job of taking over and showing why he's a co-captain this year. He definitely led the charge and showed the team has some real heart to come back from those early struggles and pull this one out for a win.
- Arizona really looked overmatched for a stretch of that game, but you have to hand it to the Wildcats for finding what it took to earn the win. That was certainly a Sean Miller special as he was really able to do some coaching and the adjustments UA made in the second half helped. It was one of those games that could have gone very wrong for the Wildcats, but Iowa State's scoring droughts let Arizona stay in the game and it really only felt like a couple stops was going to change things and that is what ended up happening.
I said a few times before the game that we would learn a lot about Arizona this week and we now have our first glimpse into the type of gritty team this squad can be. It's definitely a reflection of Miller.
- The rebounding issues will get pushed to the back a bit when people look at this game, but the Wildcats again had problems on the glass. UA ended up losing the rebounding battle 40-34 and where the Cyclones continued to have success was on the offensive glass. UA simply couldn't grab important rebounds for a lot of the game and it hurt. That's something that will have to continue to improve because it could have easily cost the team this game.
- The grad transfers and veterans really stepped up in this game. I already talked about Coleman, but Ryan Luther made some big plays in the second half after looking a little shaky early on. The reason both he and Coleman are on the team is for what they provided Monday night. Luther hit a big 3-pointer to open the second half and that helped start the momentum that would eventually get the Wildcats back in the game. Chase Jeter also made some big shots down the stretch that came on tough plays. Sometimes his shots aren't exactly pretty, but they go in and there were a lot of those Monday.
- The two Brandons were interesting to watch. Williams struggled early scoring and even had a couple turnovers in this game ending his streak of games without a turnover. However, he looked different in the second half getting some shots to fall and continuing to make plays for others. He ended up finishing with 14 points and six assists but nine of those points came from the free-throw line. Randolph took the most shots but ended up with just 11 points and UA took him out late in the game. It was probably a good thing for the Wildcats to see that they can win when those two guys aren't on top of their games.
- One of the other things that was concerning about the game was the lack of scoring from the bench. The four players off the bench combined to score six points in the game and really didn't do a whole lot to help out consistently throughout the game. Jeter said after the game he sensed there were some nerves with some of UA's players early on and the bench certainly didn't do a whole lot to help in this one. The Wildcats can't have that if they want to win games the rest of this tournament.
Overall it was a really good win and one that will pay dividends moving forward for this team. It was a good one to prove to the players what it takes to win a tough game and that will be beneficial moving forward. Miller was happy with what he was able to learn about his team in Monday's win and I think at the core of that is there is certainly a lot of heart within this group. UA could have easily folded at a couple different spots and it didn't. Instead, it put the pressure on Iowa State to make plays and totally flipped the game.
There were some technical difficulties and by the time I got it all figured out the game was already well on its way. I'll get you all tomorrow. HOWEVER, I wanted to make sure and drop some of my thoughts and takeaways from the game and you guys can do the same below as well.
- Obviously, Justin Coleman was huge in the second half with 15 points and he really stepped up when the team needed him to. Some of the young guys had struggles and the usual scorers (Brandon Williams and Brandon Randolph) weren't on top of their games for most of the night. Coleman did a good job of taking over and showing why he's a co-captain this year. He definitely led the charge and showed the team has some real heart to come back from those early struggles and pull this one out for a win.
- Arizona really looked overmatched for a stretch of that game, but you have to hand it to the Wildcats for finding what it took to earn the win. That was certainly a Sean Miller special as he was really able to do some coaching and the adjustments UA made in the second half helped. It was one of those games that could have gone very wrong for the Wildcats, but Iowa State's scoring droughts let Arizona stay in the game and it really only felt like a couple stops was going to change things and that is what ended up happening.
I said a few times before the game that we would learn a lot about Arizona this week and we now have our first glimpse into the type of gritty team this squad can be. It's definitely a reflection of Miller.
- The rebounding issues will get pushed to the back a bit when people look at this game, but the Wildcats again had problems on the glass. UA ended up losing the rebounding battle 40-34 and where the Cyclones continued to have success was on the offensive glass. UA simply couldn't grab important rebounds for a lot of the game and it hurt. That's something that will have to continue to improve because it could have easily cost the team this game.
- The grad transfers and veterans really stepped up in this game. I already talked about Coleman, but Ryan Luther made some big plays in the second half after looking a little shaky early on. The reason both he and Coleman are on the team is for what they provided Monday night. Luther hit a big 3-pointer to open the second half and that helped start the momentum that would eventually get the Wildcats back in the game. Chase Jeter also made some big shots down the stretch that came on tough plays. Sometimes his shots aren't exactly pretty, but they go in and there were a lot of those Monday.
- The two Brandons were interesting to watch. Williams struggled early scoring and even had a couple turnovers in this game ending his streak of games without a turnover. However, he looked different in the second half getting some shots to fall and continuing to make plays for others. He ended up finishing with 14 points and six assists but nine of those points came from the free-throw line. Randolph took the most shots but ended up with just 11 points and UA took him out late in the game. It was probably a good thing for the Wildcats to see that they can win when those two guys aren't on top of their games.
- One of the other things that was concerning about the game was the lack of scoring from the bench. The four players off the bench combined to score six points in the game and really didn't do a whole lot to help out consistently throughout the game. Jeter said after the game he sensed there were some nerves with some of UA's players early on and the bench certainly didn't do a whole lot to help in this one. The Wildcats can't have that if they want to win games the rest of this tournament.
Overall it was a really good win and one that will pay dividends moving forward for this team. It was a good one to prove to the players what it takes to win a tough game and that will be beneficial moving forward. Miller was happy with what he was able to learn about his team in Monday's win and I think at the core of that is there is certainly a lot of heart within this group. UA could have easily folded at a couple different spots and it didn't. Instead, it put the pressure on Iowa State to make plays and totally flipped the game.
