Arizona Is Ready for More After Win

After eighth-ranked Arizona’s 75-61 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night, Wildcat point guard Jason Terry was ready for another game.

“It would be great to play Cincinnati or UNLV,” said Terry, referring to the second game of Saturday night’s Las Vegas Shootout doubleheader in which the No. 4 Bearcats (9-0) were 86-73 winners over the Runnin’ Rebels (4-5). “Maybe we could play back-to-back games out there tomorrow.”

It wouldn’t take much more effort for Arizona (6-0), which cruised in the second half as Iowa State (6-4) made only eight of 31 shots.

“The key for us was our defense,” Wildcat Coach Lute Olson said. “We did a great job. We made it tough for them to score. Without a doubt, our highlight was our defense. Offensively, we had good balance.”

A.J. Bramlett led Arizona with 18 points, Terry and freshman Michael Wright each had 15 and Traves Wilson--also a freshman--had 12. Bramlett also had 10 rebounds.

Arizona started the second half with a 28-12 run and had its biggest lead at 64-36 with 7:50 remaining.

“Our defense just took them out of everything they wanted to do,” Terry said.

Arizona wasn’t without its problems, however. Freshmen Richard Jefferson and Ruben Douglas missed the game after Olson sent them back to Tucson earlier in the day for “childish behavior unbefitting the standards of the University of Arizona program.”

Jefferson, a starting guard, has averaged 8.6 points a game. Douglas is a reserve guard from Burbank Bellarmine-Jefferson.

Olson said the players’ status will be evaluated before Arizona’s next game against Holy Cross on Dec. 28.