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No. 11 Arizona stays undefeated with 83-79 win at Illinois

No. 11 Arizona used tough defense to outlast Illinois 83-79 on Saturday and stay undefeated.

 

Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats with 30 points. Trailing the Illini by one with 2:22 to play, Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis capitalized on an offensive rebound by putting in a layup. On the next possession, Christian Koloko forced an Illinois turnover, and Mathurin scored an easy layup to make it 79-76 with 1:55 to go.

 

Mathurin opened the game by making 3 of 4 attempts from 3-point range, and finished 10 of 16 from the field and five made 3s for Arizona (9-0). Sophomore guard Kerr Kriisa added 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Tubelis had 16 points and eight rebounds.

 

Arizona outscored Illinois 42-16 in the paint, limiting center Kofi Cockburn to a season-worst 5 of 15 shooting mark. Mathurin credited the Wildcats’ defensive performance, especially Tubelis and Koloko, who scored four points and had seven rebounds.

 

For Illinois (7-3), guard Trent Frazier led his team with 27 points on 9 of 15 shooting, going 6 of 11 from deep. Alfonso Plummer followed closely behind, adding 25 points, and Cockburn had a game-high 12 rebounds.

 

Frazier scored 11 straight points in the first half during a 19-0 Illini run, which was capped by a steal and a coast-to-coast layup for a 37-24 lead at the seven-minute mark. But Arizona closed the first half on a 14-5 run, trailing 42-38 at the break after a Mathurin layup with 23 seconds left.

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