The No. 2 Arizona men’s basketball team stretched its streak of consecutive victories to eight this season as it defeated Texas Tech 79-58 Tuesday evening in McKale Center.
Within the first three minutes of the second half, Arizona began to widen its gap over Texas Tech and saw junior guard Nick Johnson and sophomore forward Brandon Ashley break into double digits to accompany freshman forward Aaron Gordon, who represented the Wildcats’ lone double-digit scorer in the first half after collecting 10 points.
Gordon ended the night’s contest by adding nine points, four rebounds, and an assist to his first half totals, giving him a career-high 19 points to go along with eight rebounds.
With 9:24 left on the clock, Ashley collected just his second foul of the game after finding himself in foul trouble during six of the Wildcats’ first seven games this season. He finished with two fouls on the game.
Ashley got better as the game progressed and subsequently put up his first double-double of the season, totaling for 18 points and 10 rebounds while adding an assist.
Going into tonight’s game, Ashley had compiled a team-leading 27 personal fouls and was averaging 3.86 fouls per game.
Johnson put up nine points in the final half of the game and ended the night with a total of 18 points, a rebound, and an assist. Johnson has successfully recorded double digits in 13 of his last 15 games and fell just two points shy of scoring 20 points for the fourth time this season.
Coming into tonight’s game, Johnson was shooting a team-high 83.8 percent from the free throw line and converted 4-of-6 attempts from the stripe.
Despite recording only five points, junior guard T.J. McConnell led the team with 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals while orchestrating an offense which shot an even 50 percent from the field.
Freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had a team leading four offensive rebounds (eight overall) and scored nine points, sinking 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line.
— Follow Evan Rosenfeld @EvanRosenfeld17
