AUBURN, Ala. — The Arizona Wildcats (3-1) beat the Auburn Tigers (2-1) 80-69 Friday night at Neville Arena, the Wildcats’ first road win over an SEC opponent in 12 years, snapping one of the longest non-conference home winning streaks in the country.
The game got close. Auburn cut it to 70-65 with 3:46 left, before Arizona pulled away to win by 11.
Caleb Holt led the Wildcats with 24 points, nine rebounds and five steals, going 4-of-6 from three-point range. Ivan Kharchenkov added 19 points and eight rebounds, and Motiejus Krivas had 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
Arizona led 36-32 at halftime. Auburn cut it to 33-30 on a Tahaad Pettiford three-pointer with 1:01 left in the half, but Holt answered with a 24-foot three at :46 to make it 36-30, and Kolby King scored the last basket of the half for 36-32.
In the second half, Kharchenkov’s 26-foot three-pointer with 5:22 left made it 68-61. Adam Olsen answered with a three to cut it to 68-64, and Kharchenkov’s layup made it 70-64. Thomas Dowd’s free throw cut it to 70-65 with 3:46 left, and that was as close as Auburn got. JJ Mandaquit hit two free throws, George Kimble III answered with two of his own, then Kharchenkov’s jumper made it 76-67, Krivas hit two free throws for 78-67, and Bukky Oboye’s alley-oop dunk made it 78-69 before Arizona closed it out.
Arizona shot 44.4 percent from the field to Auburn’s 34.8 percent, 42.9 percent from three to 35.5 percent, and 81.8 percent from the line to 60.0 percent, and won the rebounding 40-32 — even though Auburn blocked 13 shots to Arizona’s three, and had more assists, 13-8, and more steals, 12-9.
Derek Dixon scored 11 for Arizona, and Mandaquit added six, all from the line. Thomas Dowd led Auburn with 15 points and nine rebounds, Pettiford had nine points and three assists, and Olsen scored 12 off the bench. Narcisse Ngoy had one point, eight rebounds and six blocks for the Tigers.
© Old Town News Scottsdale — oldtownnews.us
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