Kerr Kriisa scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, to lead six Arizona players in double figures as the No. 5 Wildcats pulled away late to beat Montana State 85-64 on Tuesday night in Tucson, Ariz.
Kriisa was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc, and Cedric Henderson Jr. came off the bench to add 16 points for Arizona (11-1), which won its 26th consecutive game at McKale Center. Oumar Ballo had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Montana State (7-6) was down only seven points about midway through the second half but didn’t have enough shooting from the outside to keep pace the rest of the way. The Bobcats finished 3 of 24 from 3-point range, missing all 10 attempts after halftime.
Jubrile Belo led Montana State with 18 points, while RaeQuan Battle scored 17.
The Bobcats did a reasonably good job controlling Arizona post players Ballo and Azuolas Tubelis, who entered the game combining to average 38 points. Tubelis had 14 points to go with nine rebounds.
Kriisa’s fifth 3-pointer of the game sparked a 9-0 run early in the second half for a 53-39 lead, but the Bobcats fought back to 59-52 after scoring four points in 12 seconds when Battle threw down an alley-oop dunk and Darius Brown II converted a layup after stealing the inbounds pass.
That was Montana State’s final run, however. Arizona responded with a 12-2 spurt, capped by another Kriisa 3-pointer for a 71-54 edge with 7:34 to go.
Other double-figure scorers for Arizona were Pelle Larsson (12 points) and Courtney Ramey (10).
Arizona took the lead for good at 12-11 with 14:18 left in the first half and went up 39-26 when Ramey drilled a 3-pointer with 3:56 to go before halftime. But the Bobcats rallied with a 10-1 run and twice cut their deficit to four points.
Kriisa ended the half with his fourth 3-pointer with three seconds left for a 44-37 lead.
–Field Level Media