LAHAINA, Hawaii — At this point, it’s a rule: If Arizona and San Diego State are in an early season college basketball tournament in Hawaii, they will find a way through the bracket to each other.
The No. 14 Wildcats made the semifinal matchup complete to cap Day 1 of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, topping Cincinnati 101-93 in a high-octane first-round contest on Monday.
Arizona and No. 17 SDSU will meet at 5:30 p.m. (7:30 Pacific) on Tuesday for a spot in Wednesday’s championship. It’s a dream pair of pairings for the tournament’s organizers, as No. 9 Arkansas and No. 10 Creighton will meet on the other side of the bracket.
“(Brian) Dutcher, he’s got it going down there,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said of his SDSU counterpart. “They have a distinct style of play that they are recruiting to and they’re developing. They do a really good job of getting veteran players and bought in to play a hard hat-type system. So we know it’s going to be a physical battle.”
Arizona beat SDSU for the 2012 Diamond Head Classic championship on Christmas Day at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center. They met up again on the islands in 2014, with the Wildcats pulling out another squeaker of a finish for the Maui championship.
The head coaches were different. But in both of those instances, as now, they meet with rankings affixed to their names.
On Monday, Arizona (4-0) won the “Battle of the Cats” with Cincinnati (3-2) in front of two well-represented fan bases, as UA shot 62.3% from the field, including 53.3% on 3-pointers, to outpace 17 made 3-pointers on 50% long-range shooting by the Bearcats.
The Wildcats beat the Bearcats’ fullcourt press repeatedly by lofting passes over the top to streaking receivers. That helped them compile a massive 52-26 paint points advantage.
Forward Azoulas Tubelis put in 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting with 11 rebounds, and center Oumar Ballo had a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Cincinnati guard Landers Nolley II, who was a member of the 2019 Maui Invitational all-tournament team with Virginia Tech, clearly was comfortable in his return to the event with a new team. He scored the nets for 33 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including 9-for-14 on 3s, coming one make short of tying the tournament record.
“To be able to have this opportunity to play this quality of competition, I mean, it’s just truly an honor,” Nolley said. “I’m happy to be here.”
The Bearcats, in their last season with the American Athletic Conference before they are slated to join the Big 12, scored the game’s last 10 points in garbage time to make the final margin deceiving. They will face in-state rival Ohio State at noon (5 p.m. Eastern) in a consolation semifinal.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.
