Arizona men’s basketball rediscovers offense in win at Oregon State

Consider the offensive rut over, at least for one night.

Ninth-ranked Arizona scored its most points in a Pac-12 game this season, shooting over 50 percent for the first time since before Christmas and hitting 11 3-pointers in an 86-74 win at Oregon State on Thursday night.

Azuolas Tubelis had 25 points (on 11-of-15 shooting) with 10 rebounds, Oumar Ballo had 15 points and a career-high 14 boards and Kerr Kriisa had 13 points and 11 assists as he and Courtney Ramey each drained three 3s. Ramey, who had scored only 10 points combined the previous three games, had 11 points and a UA-best 7 assists.

The Wildcats (15-2, 4-2 Pac-12) were 11 of 29 from outside, with seven different players hitting outside, shooting 52.5 percent overall after hitting fewer than 40 percent of their shots in three straight games. The UA had scored only 200 points in its last three contests, the fewest in a 3-game stretch under Tommy Lloyd.

Arizona assisted on 26 of 32 field goals, one game after recording a season-low nine assists in the 74-61 home loss to Washington State.

The UA led 44-26 at the half, recording one fewer steal (6) than the Beavers had field goals (7). Oregon State cut the deficit to 13 a minute in, but Arizona responded with an 11-0 run and kept the lead at 16 or more until a 14-4 run got OSU within 68-56 with 6:31 left.

A steal-and-score by Jayden Stevens got the Beavers within 10 with 5:04 to go, but Kriisa drained a 3 on the other end. That triggered a 7-1 UA run, with Ballo’s dunk in transition (off a Kriisa dish) making it 79-63 with 3:41 left.

Arizona scored the game’s first 7 points and got the lead into double digits on a 3-pointer by Kylan Boswell with 13:21 left in the first half. Ramey’s triple made it 27-14 with 8:53 left, the fifth different Wildcat to hit a 3 in the opening 11-plus minutes.

OSU, at that point, only had four made baskets.

Ramey’s second 3 capped a 10-0 run to put Arizona up 37-17 with 4:45 left before halftime, and Adama Bal became the sixth Wildcat to hit a triple in the first half with 1:46 to go.

Arizona is back in action Saturday afternoon at Oregon, which lose 90-73 at home to ASU. The Wildcats have not won in Eugene since 2015.