5th-ranked Arizona improves to 2-1 in Pac-12 with 69-60 win over ASU

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was down right ugly for the first ten minutes of the second half as Arizona blew a 17-point lead but still found a way to beat ASU in Tempe today, 69-60.

The fifth-ranked Wildcats did everything right in the first twenty minutes and built a 45-28 lead over the Sun Devils but scored just 24 points the rest of the way. Fortunately, they could count on Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo to right the ship.

Tubelis scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Ballo, despite early foul trouble, finished with a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Arizona shot just 37.7 percent from the field (20 of 53), but Arizona State couldn't sizzle the nets on its homecourt either, hitting just 25 of 69 from the field for 36.2 percent. Arizona made 24 of 28 free throws, while the Sun Devils were 7 of 10 from the charity stripe.

The Wildcats improved to 13-1 and 2-1 in the Pac-12 Conference, while the Sun Devils dropped to 11-3 on the season and 2-1 in the conference.

Ballo, Tubelis almost perfect from the field in 93-68 win over Morgan State

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Oumar Ballo (21) and Azuolas Tubelis (26) combined for 47 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists to lead Arizona to a 93-68 win over Morgan State at McKale tonight. The two big men combined for 17 of 18 field goal attempts as the 5th-ranked Wildcats head into the Christmas break with a 12-1 record.

Courtney Ramey finished in double figures with 13 points, seven assists and three rebounds as Arizona shot 57.6 from the field (34 of 59) and made eight of 25 from long range while out rebounding Morgan State, 45-21.

Up next: Pac 12 foe Arizona State in Tempe on New Year's Eve.

 

5th-ranked Wildcats use Kriisa's 3-pointers to beat Montana State, 85-64

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona  85  Montana State 64

The 5th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, behind six 3-pointers from point guard Kerr Kriisa, improved to 11-1 with an 85-64 win over Montana State at McKale tonight. 

Montana State borrowed from Utah's playbook in this one. And why not? Arizona's only loss this season came at the hands of the Utes as they packed the paint and forced the Wildcats to shoot from the outside back on December 1 in Salt Lake City.

Arizona had an off night against Utah, but not tonight, as Kriisa took care of matters with 18 points on six of 10 field goal attempts, while five of his teammates also hit double figures. 

Cedric Henderson Jr. made sure the Wildcats added some bench points tonight with 16 points, Azuolas Tubelis collected 14, Pelle Larsson 12, Courtney Ramey 10, and Oumar Ballo provided a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Photo: Kriisa

Arizona edges 6th-ranked Volunteers, 75-70

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The Wildcats were ready for prime time tonight...

Arizona 75 Tennessee 70

The 9th-ranked Arizona Wildcats battled 6th-ranked Tennessee from the tipoff to the final buzzer at McKale tonight and came away with a 75-70 win to improve to 10-1.

All 75 points came from the Wildcats' starting five.

Azuolas Tubelis played 35 minutes, scored 19 points, and grabbed nine rebounds.

Oumar Ballo played 30 minutes, scored 18 points, and hauled in eight rebounds.

Pelle Larsson played 36 of the 40 minutes, netted 17 points, grabbed eight boards, and dished out four assists.

Courtney Ramey played 31 minutes and canned four 3-pointers and a free throw for 13 points.

Kerr Kriisa ran the show for 32 minutes and finished the night with eight points and five assists.

Arizona out rebounded Tennessee 38-30 and shot 42.6 percent from the field (23 of 54) but struggled from long range, canning five of 24 attempts.

Tennessee falls to 9-2.

Way to go, Wildcats! 

9th-ranked Arizona gets 51 bench points in rout over Islanders

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The 9th-ranked Arizona Wildcats won 99-61 at McKale tonight over Texas A&M --Corpus Christi and received 51 points off the bench thanks in part to a career-high 16 points from freshman Henri Veesaar (photo left) to improve to 9-1 on the season.

Arizona cleared the bench early in this one and shot 56.7 percent from the field (34 of 60), including 15 3-pointers. Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo did their thing early and then found a spot on the bench. Tubelis scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, while Ballo contributed 13 points and eight rebounds.

Cedric Henderson. Jr. played just 19 minutes and also finished in double figures with 11. Pelle Larsson chipped in nine points, and Kyle Boswell, subbing for a sickly Kerr Kriisa, scored eight points, grabbed seven boards, and dished out eight assists.

Up next:  #6 Tennessee (9-1) on Saturday at McKale.

10th-ranked Arizona takes down No. 14 Indiana, 89-75

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Las Vegas, Nevada

Arizona  89  Indiana 75

Azuolas Tubelis scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Oumar Ballo collected a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as 10th-ranked Arizona took down 14th-ranked Indiana 89-75 in Las Vegas tonight.

Arizona shot 49.2 percent from the field (31 of 63) and made 10 of 25 from long range to dispose of a talented Indiana team. The Wildcats led 46-36 at the end of the first half and received double-figure scoring from Pelle Larsson with 16 points, while point-guard Kerr Kriisa scored 14 points and dished out seven assists.

Adama Bal contributed off the bench with three 3-pointers.

Arizona improved to 8-1 on the season, while Indiana dropped to 8-2.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Arizona takes down winless Cal, 81-68

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Azuolas Tubelis scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Oumar Ballo chipped in 17 points and blocked four shots as the Arizona Wildcats knocked off winless California 81-68 at McKale Center today for its first Pac-12 Conference win of the season.

Arizona (7-1, 1-1) didn't exactly roll over the Golden Bears (0-9, 0-2). The Wildcats led at the half, 42-33, and outscored California 39-35 in the final 20 minutes.

For the second game in a row, the 4th-ranked Wildcats were without their shooting touch from beyond the arc as they went 4 for 20. However, Arizona took care of the ball in this one, committing just five turnovers.

Up next: a non-conference game with 10th-ranked Indiana in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Photo: Tubelis

Palmer top dog at the plate, on the mound for the TOTS in November

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

It's a young man's game over at Udall Park. Well, kinda. It's all relative.

Reed Palmer, 66, hit his 105th career home run for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers in November. But that wasn't all he did. In fact, Palmer led the TOTS in batting with 24 hits in 35 at-bats for a hefty .686 batting average while leading the club in doubles (6) and in RBI (20).

John Cooke, 65, finished second in hits (21) and went 21 for 42, for a .500 batting average, while scoring the most runs in November with 24.

John Mathews, 66, who played in just seven of the 12 games, made the most of his at-bats, knocking in 17 runs while collecting 15 hits in 28 official trips to the plate.

All in all, the players ranged in age from 61-year-old JB Bulawin, who, due to injuries, played in just six games and went 4 for 18 (.222), while two winter visitors -- 81-year-old Dick Ducklow and 81-year-old Arnie White -- saw limited action. Ducklow, the Madison, Wisconsin native, went 3 for 25, a .120 average, while White, from Red Lodge, Montana, played in four games in November and went 3 for 12, a .250 average.

Other top hitters for the month included Mark Rupert (17 for 45 in 12 games), Mike Dawson (14 for 35 in 11 games), Sam Dean (12 for 20 in six games), Tim Tolson (12 for 29 in eight games), Gary Cuttler (12 for 20 in six games) and Joe Opocensky (11 for 23 in seven games).

Two players, Brack Whitaker and Carl Schwanbeck, also finished the month with 10 hits apiece. Whitaker went 10 for 36 in 12 games, while Schwanbeck played in just five games but collected his 10 hits in just 21 at-bats.

Forty-one players saw action in November, and 10 pitchers took the mound. Once again, it was Palmer leading the way with a 3-2 record. Dawson pitched the most innings (35), and Palmer logged 34 innings. In addition, Palmer was the strike-out king for the month with 14.

The TOTS, an amateur baseball organization, will complete its 54th season on Friday, December 30.

Way to go, TOTS!

Reed Palmer (photo) led the TOTS in hitting and pitching during the month of November with a 3-2 record on the mound and at the plate went 24 for 35 with six doubles, one home run and 20 RBI.

Way to go, Reed!

 

Arizona not ready for Utah

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

The Arizona Wildcats (6-1, 0-1) left their game on the beaches somewhere in Honolulu.

And on a cold night in Salt Lake City, the Utah Utes (6-2, 1-0) followed their coach's game plan and took down the fourth-ranked Wildcats tonight, 81-66.

Arizona scored just 25 points in the first half and shot an awful 35.2 percent (25 of 71) from the field on the night, and was simply out of rhythm for all 40 minutes.

Utah coach Craig Smith looked more like the Pac-12 Coach of the Year as his unranked Utes upset the Wildcats. Oumar Ballo led Arizona with 22 points and Azuolas Tubelis, despite foul trouble, finished with 20.

Buffalo Bills kick off Week 13 at New England Thursday night

 National Football League

Week 13

The Buffalo Bills (8-3) kickoff Week 13 in the NFL tonight at New England (6-5).

All the teams are still chasing the Philadelphia Eagles (10-1). After their first loss of the season in Week 10 to Washington, the Eagles rebounded with wins in Week 11 over the Indianapolis Colts, 17-16, and Week 12 over Green Bay, 40-33.

Coming out on top in Week 12 were the Bills over Detroit, 28-25, Dallas beat the New York Giants, 28-20, Minnesota over the Patriots, 33-26, and Miami over Houston, 30-15. Cincinnati edged Tennessee, 20-16, Carolina knocked off Denver, 23-10, while the New York Jets blew by Chicago, 31-10, and Washington got by Atlanta, 19-13.

Cleveland took down Tampa Bay, 23-17, Jacksonville edged Baltimore, 28-27, Las Vegas edged Seattle, 40-34, and the LA Chargers beat Arizona, 25-24. The defensive-minded San Francisco 49ers shut out New Orleans 13-0, Kansas City over the LA Rams 26-10, and Pittsburgh closed out the week with a 24-17 win over Indianapolis.