Arizona Wildcats Basketball
An Editorial
Butler withstood a furious comeback in the second half by the Arizona Wildcats and held on for a 69-65 win to capture the Continental Tire Invitational championship in Las Vegas tonight.
Lauri Markkanen fouled out with three minutes remaining in the game. To say he might have been targeted by the officials may be an understatement. Instead of letting the game be decided by two very good basketball teams on the court at Orleans Arena, the whistle blew one too many times against the Wildcats' 7-foot freshman center.
Markkanen left the game with 15 points and five rebounds and watched from the bench as Kobi Simmons tossed in 14 points -- all in the second half, to lead the Wildcats back from a nine-point deficit. A 15-2 run by the Wildcats and a couple of ESPN highlight dunks from Simmons had the Arizona fans in attendance cheering. But the cheers turned to boos when Markkanen was hit with a charging call -- his fifth foul.
To be honest, it was two first half fouls on Markkanen, then a third, and a fourth midway through the second half that got my goat. Markkanen should have been on the court in the final three minutes to have a chance to decide the outcome of the game, right along with his teammates and right along with the Butler players as well.
I'll get over it. Enough ranting from a diehard Wildcat fan.
Arizona falls to 5-1, while Butler improves to 6-0. The Wildcats will take a hit in the rankings. Don't get me started with the East Coast bias thing.
I'm taking a deep breath and turning the channel on my Vizio. I understand there's an upset in the making at Arizona Stadium.
Go, Wildcats! The Territorial Cup score: Arizona 56 Arizona State 35!
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