The game that was: Arizona 85, WSU 61
COUGARS
FROM TUCSON -- It's nearing 1 a.m. here, but we've got plenty more to get to. Read on for our capsulated summart of tonight's game.
...
PLAYER OF THE GAME -- Take your pick. So long as he's wearing an Arizona uniform. Kyle Fogg led all scorers with 20 points, though he scored 18 of them in the first half when he made four 3-pointers. Solomon Hill took over in the second half, scoring 10 straight at one point. He finished with 17 points, 15 after halftime. He and Fogg combined to go 7-10 from 3-point range. Ridiculous stuff from the Wildcats on the perimeter tonight.
PLAY OF THE GAME -- In terms of the impact it may have on WSU's season, Faisal Aden's knee injury seems like an obvious choice. But in terms of the game itself, how about Arizona's possession following WSU's seven-point trip midway through the second half. The Cougars had just cut the lead from 20 to 13, and had a chance to get a stop and continue to chip away and stay in it. And they got Arizona to miss. And miss again. and miss again. But they couldn't get a rebound, and the Wildcats wound up sending Solomon Hill to the free throw line, where he made a pair. It was never close to being close after that.
(You can follow this link to a more thorough update on Aden.)
KEY STAT -- Ken Bone's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he read this off the stat sheet. Not the 3-pointers. Those were obvious. But I'm guessing most observers wouldn't have guessed that Arizona finished with 23 assists on 30 made field goals, which is pretty astounding. The Wildcats had more assists than the Cougars had made field goals (18).
QUOTABLE -- "I’m not going to talk as if he’s done. I don’t know enough about it. He sprained his knee. It’s possible he’s palying Saturday. I’ve heard of guys spraining their knees before and they bounce back. I doubt he will, but I’m not going to talk about, oh, this could be it for Faisal Aden. I have no idea." -- Ken Bone, addressing Faisal Aden's future following his knee injury
NEXT UP -- Saturday at Arizona State, 2 p.m. (Root). The Sun Devils (6-14, 2-6) lost to Washington on Thursday and have lost five of six.
Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple