Mon, Jul 06, 2009
 UA forward Jordan Hill dunks for two of his 21 points against California at McKale Center. The Wildcats took control in the second half en route to a 10-point victory that snapped a two-game losing streak. James S. Wood / arizona daily star
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Cats bounce backArizona steps up in second half, shakes off Cal
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.15.2008
To the naked eye, the similarities were striking.
During their 83-73 victory over Cal at McKale Center on Thursday, the Arizona Wildcats built a double-digit first-half lead and nearly lost it all by halftime, just as they had in a 59-54 loss to ASU on Sunday.
They also trailed early in the second half and had trouble getting offense from anyone not named Jerryd Bayless.
The fact that this was a game they needed to keep in position for an NCAA tournament berth, coming after two straight losses and with No. 7 Stanford coming to Tucson on Saturday, only made the pressure appear worse.
"We were in desperation mode," UA interim head coach Kevin O'Neill said.
Except Bayless, who scored 33 points to top the 30-point barrier for the second straight game, said he was not worried a bit. He had seen the way the Wildcats were fired up before the game. He believed they were together, a concern of his after the ASU loss.
So he knew, eventually, they would join him. Bayless had 18 of the Wildcats' 31 first-half points, but by the end of the game Jordan Hill had his sixth double-double of the season, and Chase Budinger had scored 18.
"I had total faith in my teammates," Bayless said. "We came in the locker room, had a chat, and everybody got on the same page. We just have to continue to do what we did tonight.
"Everybody was part of this team. It's not one man or two men. It's a five-man team."
Actually, for a change, it was even more than that. O'Neill, known this season for his extremely short rotations, praised the contributions from reserves Daniel Dillon, Fendi Onobun and Kirk Walters, plus the season-high 35 minutes Jamelle Horne logged as the starting power forward.
"We got great bench production," O'Neill said. "Kirk affected a couple of shots and got some rebounds. Daniel was solid. Fendi gave us good minutes when he came in. That's what your bench needs to do."
But the bottom line was, again, that the Wildcats' big three scorers all came through. Bayless collected 33 points, after dropping 39 on ASU, making 9 of 18 from the field, 5 of 9 three-point attempts and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
"He's done a great job of being aggressive," guard Jawann McClellan said. "He's getting to the free-throw line a lot. He's playing like he's supposed to."
Budinger, who scored just four points on 1-for-12 shooting Sunday against ASU, was only 4 of 11 from the field this time but he made it to the free-throw line 12 times, making nine foul shots, to collect 18 points.
Then there was Hill, who struggled with foul trouble against ASU. On Thursday, Hill not only stayed out of foul trouble but, with 21 points and 11 rebounds, had his first double-double since Jan. 26 against Washington.
"I just kind of had to take every game as my last," Hill said. "In the last couple of practices I was going hard and I just had to bring it to the game."
It helped, O'Neill said, that his beloved man-to-man defense actually incorporated some zone principles in this one — particularly when it came to Hill.
Instead of running a full zone, O'Neill had Hill playing more of a zone inside, staying clearer of the ball screens that have attracted his fouls, and had the perimeter player who guarded the worst shooter to zone more at the top of the key.
Referring to the constant criticism from fans that he hasn't played a zone, O'Neill said: "So please write that so everybody's happy," O'Neill said.
Overall, the Wildcat defense managed to hold the Bears to just 42 percent field-goal shooting, the first time in five games that they have kept anyone under 50 percent.
The win moved Arizona to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in Pac-10 play, entering the home game Saturday against No. 7 Stanford. Cal dropped to 14-9, 5-7, having lost at McKale Center for the 14th straight time.
Arizona pulled out to a 41-35 lead after the first four minutes of the second half, thanks to three-pointers by Budinger and Bayless. The Bears tied it at 41 on an alley oop slam by Patrick Christopher but the UA went back ahead 48-41 and stayed on top of Cal the rest of the way.
In the first half, Arizona kicked away most of an early 10-point lead for the second straight game, hanging on to a 31-30 halftime lead.
The Wildcats, who lost to ASU on Sunday after building a 22-6 first-half lead, this time went up 18-8 and 23-13 before the Bears crept back within a basket.
Both teams shot poorly in the first half, with Arizona making 36 percent of its field goals and just 2 of 10 three-pointers. The Wildcats also had just three points from Budinger, who had only four during all of Sunday's game.
However, Bayless had 18 points with two assists. Bayless scored 26 of his 39 points in the first half Sunday against ASU.
Bayless had 14 points through the first 12 minutes, helping the UA take a 23-13 lead with 8:42 left in the first half.
But Cal immediately began cutting that double-digit lead by working the inside. Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin both made layups, and Hardin converted his into a three-point play to make it 23-18.
Anderson also scored six of his 11 first-half points over the final four minutes, allowing the Bears to creep within 31-30 before the halftime buzzer.
O'Neill started Horne in the power forward spot, after Horne missed Sunday's game against ASU with a sore knee. Horne also started the Jan. 17 game at Cal.
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