Stanford, CA – In their 97th meeting the Arizona Wildcats looked to extend their 19-game winning streak over the Stanford Cardinal in front of the 4,839 fans. Arizona played strong the entire game as they led for over 39 minutes. 6-11 NBA draft prospect Zeke Nnaji led the Wildcats to the 69-60 victory by scoring 14 of his 21 points and grabbing eight of his 11 rebounds in the first half.
The game only produced one tie at 9-9 after 6-3 freshman guard Tyrell Terry made his only basket of the game on a three-pointer. Terry did not play particularly well in this game as he had two turnovers to only one assist and shot only 1-of-5. Arizona dominated the offensive rebounding department (11-2) and in second chance points (10-2) in the first half largely due to Stanford’s 6-9 forward Oscar da Silva only playing 6:46 minutes after picking up two early fouls. Da Silva would finish the game strong, shooting well from the free throw line (9-10) to finish with 15 points.
Nnaji picked up his third personal foul of the game with 18:06 remaining and went to the bench. Stanford would then close the gap to 32-29 after a da Silva made free throw. That would be the closest the Cardinal would get for the remainder of the game. 6-6 sophomore guard Bryce Wills led all scorers for the game by scoring 20 of his career high of 25 points (10-13 FG, 5-7 FT) in the second half. He began to take over with his athletic slashing drives and finishes at the basket to keep the Cardinal within striking distance.
Arizona had an answer for that as 6-6 guard Josh Green started putting his stamp on the game by attacking the basket consistently to draw fouls. Green contributed 15 points (3-6 FG, 1-3 3 FG, 8-8 FT), six rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals. Dylan Smith made his presence felt scoring nine of his 11 points in the second half to seal the victory. Stanford got within nine points (67-58) after Isaac White made a three pointer for his only basket of the game with 1:16 remaining. The Cardinal was then forced to foul for the remainder of the game as Arizona closed out the nine-point win.
Key Game Stats
Rebounds: Arizona 39 – Stanford 25
Second Chance Points: Arizona 10 – Stanford 5
Steals: Arizona 9 – Stanford 4
Stanford (16-9, 5-7) travels to Seattle to play Washington (12-14, 2-11) on Thursday. Arizona (18-7, 8-4) hosts Oregon State (15-10, 5-8) also on Thursday.
This article was written by Lorenzo Leaks, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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