Tomahawked in Tucson
Ryan Anderson swatted Josh Hawkinson's layup attempt off the glass. Parker Jackson-Cartwright raced the other way and lobbed a pass to Mark Tollefsen for a thunderous dunk and eventual three-point play.
The 7-second sequence late in the first half showcased No. 18 Arizona's depth and sparked the decisive run to secure the Wildcats' 49th straight home victory, 90-66 over Washington State on Saturday night.
Anderson had 15 points and eight rebounds, Parker Jackson-Cartwright added 13 points and seven assists, and Arizona continued its dominance of Washington State.
Jackson-Cartwright starred in the key sequence late in the first half turned a fast-paced, close game into a rout and allowed Arizona to extend the nation's longest home winning streak.
Trailing 32-26, Washington State (9-8, 1-4) went inside to Hawkinson, but Anderson rejected the shot. Jackson-Cartwright then immediately planned an alley-oop.
Anderson turned to the crowd and yelled. After a timeout, Tollefsen hit the free throw, beginning a 14-5 that put Arizona ahead 46-31 at halftime.
"If I'm looking at the tape, I thought that was the best Arizona has played in a while," Kent said.
The Wildcats poured it on early in the second half, with Gabe York's breakaway one-handed jam making it 56-33 with 17:33.
Washington State was outscored by Arizona, 26-9, over a 6:05 span bridging the first and second halves. The surge turned a six-point Wildcats lead (32-26) into the 23-point advantage (56-33).
Arizona hit four 3-pointers during the stretch (three in the final 2:53 of the first half) as WSU’s perimeter defense faltered badly.
“We got away from our game plan,” Kent said. “I felt we stopped playing as tough mentally and physically as we needed to play. More so mentally because we gave them some threes they should not have had. We started giving up some shots defensively we should not have given up.
“We had some mental slippage. But in a game of this magnitude, you have to stay mentally and physically tough possession by possession throughout the 40 minutes. Especially on the road and against a team of this caliber. When you don’t, they gobble you up.”
The Cougars never got closer than 19 points the rest of the way.
Anderson delivered another powerful dunk that brought the crowd to its feet on a night Arizona hit 9 of 16 3-pointers and surpassed 80 points for the 10th straight game.
Another key statistic: Arizona outscored the Cougars, 40-18, in the pant. Kent acknowledged WSU, which tallied just two blocks, is suffering defending the paint in the absence of the injured Valentine Izundu.
“Our defense without Val is really starting to struggle,” Kent said. “I can’t quite put my finger on that one. We’re going to have to get back to some basics and get back to some boot camp this week. We have to play people tougher defensively.
“We don’t have Val right now and we tried to protect the basket tonight. But then they started knocking down threes. We went back outside and then our bigs started getting dominated inside. Something has to give there. We have to play tougher on the defense end of the floor.”
Ike Iroegbu scored 13 points and Josh Hawkinson added 12 points and eight rebounds for Washington State, snapping his double-double streak at 11 straight games. Freshman Robert Franks made two of WSU’s three 3-pointers.
“It was a good experience for him (Franks) to see this environment,” Kent said. “It was a good experience for all of our new guys to see this team (Arizona) and this environment down here. I’m proud of the way some of them responded. At the same time, they can see where we need to get to in terms of crowd support and our energy and our productivity and our toughness.”
WSU trailed by as many has 28 points in the second half. The Cougars have dropped nine straight to Arizona and are 16-60 overall against the Wildcats.
Charles Callison scored 12 points for the Cougars.
"I think they learned how hard they have to play on the road," Kent said. "It is a mental fortitude that you need on the road, and for the new guys coming into the program, they don't quite understand that. They have to go through it to understand."
TIP-INS:
-- Washington State seven-foot center Connor Clifford made his fourth start and first since Dec. 18 as Kent matched up with Arizona's big front line.
-- The Cougars have dropped 11 straight road games to ranked teams.
-- Iroegbu was to attempt a free throw with 13:12 left in the first half when he heard a whistle, stopped his motion and stepped over the line. The whistle, though, came from the stands. Iroegbu was still called for a violation. The officials then told the public address announcer to warn fans about bad sportsmanship.
UP NEXT: Washington State hosts Utah Thursday at 8 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum.
PAC-12 SCORES/SCHEDULE (Sat. Jan. 16-Sun. Jan. 17)
Arizona 90, Washington State 66 (Sat.)
Washington 89, Arizona State 85 (Sat.)
Oregon at Colorado, 4 p.m. (Sun)
Oregon State at Utah, 5:30 p.m. (Sun.)
(All Times Pacific)
(WazzuWatch publisher Scott Hood contributed to this story)
