Adlai blog

Williams, Wildcats hold off WSU 79-70

TUCSON, Ariz. – Derrick Williams had 26 points and eight rebounds, and No. 12 Arizona withstood a big night from Klay Thompson to hold off Washington State 79-70 Thursday night.

Williams had been relatively quiet the previous two games, scoring a combined 23 points as he tried to fight through collapsing defenses and the bulky bandage on his sore right pinky. The defense nor the still-bandaged pinky didn't bother him this night.

Williams got to the rim and the line, hitting 7 of 10 shots and all 12 of his free throws. He also got some help from Solomon Hill, who scored all of his 12 points in the second half to give Arizona (22-4, 11-2 Pac-10) its 14th straight home win.

Thompson, the Pac-10's leading scorer, tried to carry Washington State (17-9, 7-7) with 30 points, but a shaky start to the second half put the Cougars in too big of a deficit.

DeAngelo Casto added 14 points for Washington State.

Neither of the Pac-10's two leading scorers shot particularly well in the teams' first meeting, a 65-63 win by Arizona in Pullman. Arizona hounded Thompson all over the floor, holding him to nine points on 4-of-16 shooting in that first matchup. Williams was just 4 for 13 from the floor, but finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds.

Casto was a big reason for Williams' off-shooting night and the Cougars got good news when he was able to play after spraining his ankle against Cal last week.

The 6-foot-8 junior made it hard on Williams early, even blocking one of his shots in the front row.

Thing is, it hasn't mattered if teams have been able to keep Williams quiet lately. The rest of the Wildcats have picked up the slack.

Against California, it was Lamont Jones and Kevin Parrom each hitting career highs while combining for 52 points.

Kyle Fogg took his turn against rival Arizona State in Arizona's previous game, hitting six 3-pointers to match his career high with 26 points.

Arizona needed everyone against Washington State.

The supporting cast carried the Wildcats while Williams was quiet early, then he scored 10 of his 12 first-half points in the final 7:14 to put Arizona up 41-33.

Hill took his turn at carrying the Wildcats to start the second half, scoring the first seven points, and Williams added an alley-oop off an inbound pass to put Arizona up 50-33.

The Cougars needed 4 1/2 minutes to get their first field goal of the second half, then rallied behind Thompson.

The lanky junior, who had 12 in the first half, scored 10 quick points midway through the second and added a layup that made it 64-59 with 6 1/2 minutes left as the game got chaotic and physical.

Turned out to be their last chance.

Casto got hung up on the rim to miss a dunk, Thompson threw a pass to the Cougars' bench for a turnover on the next possession and the Wildcats pulled away for their seventh straight win.