No. 6 Arizona beats Washington State 63-58 to split series

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Pelle Larsson with the swift slam

Pelle Larsson with the swift slam

Jan 27, 2023, 07:23 am

PULLMAN, Wash. -- — Azuolas Tubelis had 18 points and 12 rebounds and No. 6 Arizona beat Washington State 63-58 on Thursday night.

Kerr Kriisa added 15 points to help Wildcats (18-3, 7-3 Pac-12) split the season series with the Cougars (9-13. 4-7).

“They were a handful, so getting a road victory here is really meaningful,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “There’s games like this that come down to matchups. So, I was really proud of our guys for getting off to a good start and then just kind of hanging with it.”

With 9:22 left and Arizona ahead by a basket, the Wildcats broke out of a scoring slump by scoring on five straight possessions to open a double-digit lead.

Washington State beat a Top 5 team on the road for the first time when it upset the Wildcats 74-61 in Tucson this month. The Cougars ended Arizona’s 28-game home winning streak with the biggest victory of Kyle Smith’s coaching tenure.

Powell and Mouhamed Gueye each scored 15 points for Washington State. The Cougars shot 19 of 58 and made just four 3-pointers.

“Disappointed that we didn’t play better, we gave ourselves a chance but just turned it over too much,” Smith said. “But our guys competed hard, and that’s really good.”

UP NEXT

Arizona: At Washington on Saturday.

Washington State: Hosts Arizona State on Saturday.

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