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After an ugly beginning to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, Arizona Wildcats guard Mark Lyons rebounded in a big way. A 2-for-10 shooting debut was only remedied as Lyons got better throughout the week in Virginia.
On Friday, Lyons led the team in steals for the second game in a row and got a tad more efficient. He hit 4-of-11 shots from the floor, went 1-for-4 from three-point range and had one assist to two turnovers in 29 minutes of play. Lyons' K&D Roundscaping team pulled out an 82-79 squeaker against Portsmouth Partnership, a squad that included Lyons' cryptonite -- UCLA Bruins senior Larry Drew II.
Lyons got the last laugh against the point guard who had dominated the UA point guard up until the Wildcats' two-point loss to the Bruins in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Drew II, the former Arizona recruit, played a team-high 32 minutes but tallied one point, five assists and three turnovers. He went 0-for-3 from the floor.
Only taking another step forward after exacting a minimal but important bit of revenge against Drew, Lyons scored 20 points on Saturday in the Portsmouth Tournament Championship game. K&D rolled 87-78 as the Arizona guard shot 5-for-10 from the floor, hit 3-of-5 three-pointers and also got to the foul stripe -- what have we been telling you this whole season, Mark? Lyons also had his best assists game with four dimes to three turnovers.