Field Level Media
Jan 3, 2021
Bennedict Mathurin came off the bench to score 24 points as Arizona sent Washington State to its first loss of the season with an 86-82 decision in double overtime on Saturday night in Pullman, Wash.
Arizona's Terrell Brown Jr. hit the key shot -- a banked 3-pointer from straightaway to break an 81-81 tie with 12.5 seconds left in the second overtime.
Arizona (9-1, 3-1 Pac-12) has won nine consecutive games on Washington State's home court. The Cougars (8-1, 1-1) had been off to their best start since winning the first 14 games of the 2007-08 season.
Mathurin, a freshman wing, hit 8 of 12 shots and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. James Akinjo added 18 points, six assists and five rebounds. Brown finished with 15 points.
Isaac Bonton poured in 25 points for Washington State. Noah Williams scored 16, and Andrej Jakimovski has 15 points and eight boards. Efe Abogidi narrowly missed his fourth consecutive double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds before fouling out 30 seconds into the first overtime.
In the second overtime, Jakimovski drilled a 3-pointer with 2:57 to go for a 79-77 lead. Akinjo tied it on a jumper in the lane at the 2:03 mark.
Akinjo and Bonton then swapped layups, tying the game at 81 with 40 seconds to go. After Brown hit his 3-pointer with the shot clock running down, Bonton made 1 of 2 free throws, Mathurin sealed the win with two free throws with nine seconds to go.
Washington State made just 1 of 6 free throws in the second overtime after missing 3 of 4 attempts in the final minute of the first overtime. The Cougars shot just 19 of 37 from the line for the game.
Arizona had the final possession of regulation, but Akinjo held the ball too long and didn't get a shot off before the buzzer after driving into the lane with the game tied at 70.
In the first overtime, Brown made a layup with 11.4 seconds to go to tie the game at 76. Bonton got a good look at an 18-footer on the other end but the shot went off the iron.
Washington State was without four players, including Volodymyr Markovetskyy, who had started the previous three games at center.
--Field Level Media