LAHAINA, Hawai'i - Justin Coleman scored 18 points and Arizona rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to knock off short-handed Iowa State 71-66 in the Maui Invitational.
Arizona (4-0) was ragged through the first 30 minutes before playing better at both ends during a 12-2 run that tied it at 56-all with five minutes left. The Wildcats went ahead and stayed there, making eight straight free throws in the final 39 seconds to earn a spot in Tuesday's semifinals against No. 3 Gonzaga or Illinois.
Arizona's Chase Jeter had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The scrappy Cyclones (3-1) played without point guard Lindell Wigginton and forward Solomon Young due to injuries, and Cam Lard and Zoran Talley because of suspensions.
That left eight scholarship players for the Maui opener against Arizona, but it didn't slow them early. The Cyclones led by seven at halftime and stretched it to 10 midway through the second half before Arizona rallied.
Marial Shayok led Iowa State with 19 points.
Notes
- The Arizona Wildcats won their fourth straight game at the Maui Invitational with Monday's 71-66 win over Iowa State. Arizona won the 2014 Maui Invitational, winning three straight. Coach Sean Miller improved to 5-2 in the tournament as Arizona's head coach.
- Arizona has now won their opening game at the Maui Invitational in six of its seven appearances in Lahaina.
- Redshirt junior center Chase Jeter collected his second career double-double and second in four games this season. Jeter had 10 points and 12 rebounds Monday. The 12 rebounds established a new career high. His previous was 10 set earlier this year against Houston Baptist. Including his two years at Duke, Jeter has four career double-digit scoring games.
- Senior guard Justin Coleman scored 18 points to establish a new high as a Wildcat. Coleman scored nine straight points in the second half with Arizona trailing 56-54 with 5:11 to play. Coleman added three assists to one turnover in 34 minutes. He has two total turnovers in his last three games dating back to Cal Poly.
- Freshman guard Brandon Williams had 11 points, six assists and two turnovers Monday. The two turnovers were the first of the season for Williams. He now has 22 assists to two turnovers on the season.
- All five Arizona starters scored in double figures Monday. The Wildcats last did that last season at the Pac-12 Tournament in an 83-67 win over Colorado.
- Arizona didn't allow a bench point by Iowa State on Monday. It's the first time the opposing team didn't score a bench point since Feb. 21, 2015 versus UCLA. Arizona won 57-47 and outscored UCLA 27-0 in bench points. Arizona outscored Iowa State 6-0 Monday.
Quotes
"We knew what we had to do defensively, we knew what we had to do from the jump. I think we came out a little bit lax in the beginning and then kind of we got caught up in the atmosphere. But moving forward I know that our biggest goal was just to kind of get stops and take it from there and the offense will take care of itself. – Chase Jeter
"I'm just proud of our guys. I feel like today just showed how we loved each other as brothers. I'd go to war for Chase, I'd go to war for any of those guys. Down the line even the managers and the coaches. So it just shows the connection we have as a team because like you said, we got out-rebounded, we got down 10, but it showed the effort and the togetherness we had through adversity to get back and win the game." – Justin Coleman
"I believe in our heart. I think that we learned that we got a group that really cares about winning and I've mentioned that almost in every interview that I've done. It started in the spring, through the summer, and certainly this fall that we practiced very hard. We have great leadership with Chase and Justin and I think we got a really hungry group of guys that are trying to prove that maybe we're a little bit better than people have given us credit for. That remains to be seen, but I think that motivation has been really healthy." – Sean Miller