UA men’s basketball suffers worst deficit of season
By: Lance Madden – DailyWildcat.com
LAS VEGAS – It’s easy for some to stay in Las Vegas and not sleep a wink.
On Saturday afternoon in Thomas & Mack Center, the Arizona men’s basketball team (7-3) couldn’t afford to sleep on Wink.
Rebel guard Wink Adams led a formidable offense, scoring a game-high 25 points while sinking a scorching 7-of-12 shots from beyond the arc.
Media Credit: Alan Walsh
UNLV guard Wink Adams (1) drives to the basket in a 79-64 Rebel win in Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday afternoon. Adams led all scorers with 25 points, as he sank seven shots from beyond the arc.
Adams hit a wide-open triple from the left side, giving the Rebels (10-2) a 61-48 lead. Adams ran down the court screaming, grabbing the front of his jersey with both hands. It was one of 14 long balls for the Rebels in the contest.
After a Chase Budinger tip-in, sophomore Tre’Von Willis hit a pair of 3s, ballooning the score to 67-48.
Two possessions later, Adams dropped a layup to change the score to 71-48.
Down the stretch Arizona trailed by as much as 23, marking the Wildcats’ worst deficit of the season, despite playing before a crowd composed of many Arizona fans in town for the football team’s bowl game later today.
The “U of A” chants, however, didn’t seem to bother UNLV.
The Rebels shot 42.9 percent (27-for-63) from the field, as Arizona shot just 39.7 percent (23-for-58).
A little more than 3 minutes into the second half, UA freshman Kyle Fogg botched a dunk on a fast break. UNLV got the ball back and Adams hit a long 3-pointer to put his team up 43-36.
UNLV continued its scoring binge, going on a 15-0 run to extend the lead to 55-36.
The Wildcats went into halftime trailing 32-27 after shooting 31 percent (9-for-29) from the field, while UNLV shot 7-for-18 from 3-point land.
Guard Tre’Von Willis sank a 3-pointer from the left corner, putting Arizona in a 24-15 hole with 6:43 to go in the first half. It was the largest lead of the half, but was cut to 29-27 with a layup by UA forward Jordan Hill with 33 seconds left.
The charity stripe helped keep the Wildcats close, as they hit 8-of-10 free throws. The Rebels, on the other hand, only shot 1-of-2 from the line.
Budinger led the Wildcats with 22 points, and Jordan Hill chipped in with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Read DailyWildcat.com on Sunday for a full recap and game analysis from Las Vegas.
