Story by Daniel Berk
Assistant Director of Communication Services
Seniors Gabe York, Ryan Anderson and Kaleb Tarczewski all scored in double figures as the Arizona Wildcats beat Chico State 90-54 Sunday night in the team's lone exhibition game this season.
Freshman Allonzo Trier also reached double figures, scoring 13 points and adding six rebounds and three assists in his Arizona debut. The guard from Seattle played a game-high 25 minutes. While Anderson, who sat out last season after transferring from Boston College, led Arizona with 19 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. He also added a game-high three blocks.
“Ryan is a workhorse for us,” Tarczewski said. “He's always around the ball. He's always in the right position at the right time. The past couple of years, we've been a big team and have some good 4's. We have had a lot of good guys. But I'd say Ryan is just as good if not better than all of them. He's going to be a huge part of our team this year.”
Gabe York, who started alongside Anderson, Tarczewski, Mark Tollefsen and Kadeem Allen, had 13 points in 23 minutes without committing a turnover. Tarczewski had 12 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Wildcats, replacing four starters from a season ago, opened the game on a 12-0 run to seize control right away. Allen, a junior college transfer who redshirted last season, scored the first bucket of the game off a lob pass from York. After a jumper from York, Tarczewski scored the next six points to give Arizona a 10-point lead less than four minutes into the game. Anderson capped the early run with a bucket off a pass from Allen.
“I've been waiting a long time to play,” Anderson said. “As a team, I think we played really hard. It was just great to play in front of a crowd like that. Coach (Sean) Miller and Coach (Joe) Pasternack told me to play hard. That's what I do. My teammates found me in good spots and we got out in transition a couple of times.”
Anderson and the rest of his Wildcat teammates played in front of an official crowd of 14,268, a near sellout for the team's only exhibition.
“I think we had an outstanding crowd on a Sunday evening here in November during football season,” said head coach Sean Miller. “It is a good reminder here for our team to see how fortunate of a program we are to walk out here to a crowd like that. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone out here again on Friday for our season opener."
It was the first basket of his Arizona career for the senior from Lakewood, California, who went on to go 8 of 9 from the field in the win and 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Anderson added five offensive rebounds to go with five defensive, showing off his versatility in front of fans at McKale Center.
Chico State cut into Arizona's lead and made it 17-13 with 10:34 left in the first half when Isaiah Ellis hit a jumper. But the Wildcats finished the half on a 20-11 run to take a 37-24 lead at halftime. Anderson had seven of the final nine points of the half, including a layup with 18 seconds left in the frame.
The Wildcats continued to add to their lead in the second half. Tarczewski, York and Anderson scored the first eight points of the half, continuing the strong play from the trio of seniors. Leading 47-37 with 14:27 to play, Arizona went on a 36-13 run to put the game away. Trier capped it when he hit one of two free throws to make it 83-50 Arizona.
Arizona did most of its damage down low, scoring 32 points in the paint in the second half. The Wildcats had nine dunks and eight layups in the second half, while committing just two turnovers.
After the seniors dominated the first half and early part of the second, Miller saw some of his newcomers take the game over late. Arizona freshmen scored 15 of the last 17 points in the win. The only exception was a jump shot by sophomore Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
“This is a different team than we've had in the past,” Tarczewski said. “We're really young. Even the older guys we have haven't played together much. I have no doubt in my mind based on the guys here and their work ethic that it will all come together.”
Now that Tarczewski and the Wildcats are through their exhibition game, the team will officially open the season Friday at home against Pacific. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., on Pac-12 Networks.
