No. 9 Arizona Pulls Away from A&M-Corpus Christi in Second Half

TUCSON, Ariz. – It was back-and-forth early, but a hot-shooting No. 9 Arizona squad was able to create separation in the second half and top the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's basketball program 99-61 Tuesday at the McKale Center.
 
The game featured eight ties and four lead changes. A&M-Corpus Christi (5-5) led No. 9 Arizona (9-1) as late as 7:28 in the first half after a jumper by graduate Ross Williams.
 
Though, the Wildcats were on fire and shot .567 from the field and a 15-of-27 (.556) from three-point range. Eight different Arizona student-athletes hit a three.
 
Senior Simeon Fryer netted a team-high 12 points for A&M-Corpus Christi and drilled a trio of threes. Senior Isaac Mushila ended with nine points and seven rebounds.
 
The Islanders finished with a positive turnover margin as they forced 15 and only lost the ball 12 times. They outscored Arizona 17-13 in points off turnovers.
 
Azoulas Tubelis finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats. Henri Veesaar scored 16 points off the bench.
 
The Islanders led early 7-4 after a three by Mushila. A jumper by senior De'Lazarus Keys kept them in front 13-11 at the 15:05 mark.  After Arizona went up 24-20, A&M-Corpus Christi responded with a three by Fryer and a field goal by Williams to get back ahead 25-24 with 7:28 left.
 
The Wildcats responded with a big 15-3 spurt to grab a 39-28 advantage with 4:28 to go. A long-range shot by freshman Jourdyn Grandberry cut it to 41-34, but Arizona ended the half with back-to-back threes to lead 47-34.
 
Arizona opened the second half on a 7-2 run to make it a 54-36 game. After the Wildcats went up 59-39, senior Jalen Jackson and Fryer hit consecutive threes to trim it down to 59-45 with 13:39 remaining.
 
Though, the Wildcats used a pair of late runs to balloon the lead down the stretch.
 
The Islanders will return home Friday for an early 11 a.m. game in the Dugan Wellness Center against Schreiner on Education Day.
 
NOTES
- It was the first-ever meeting against Arizona.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi played its fifth game away from home in the last six contests.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi is now 1-2 all-time against the PAC-12 with a 67-43 win over Oregon State on Nov. 13, 2009.
 
- The Islanders are 7-3 in the month of December under Lutz in two seasons. Their only losses are against Power Five schools Minnesota, Notre Dame and Arizona.
 
- A&M-Corpus Christi entered the game ranked top-15 in the nation in steals per game (10.2) and were right on par with 10. Senior Terrion Murdix grabbed a team-high three steals.
 
- Fryer tallied his 23rd career double-figure scoring game and third in a row.
 
- Freshman Owen Dease made his first career appearance after redshirting last year and missing the first nine games this season due to injury. He recorded five points and two rebounds.
 
- Islanders head coach Steve Lutz and Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd were the only two coaches in the nation last year to take their teams to the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a first-year head coach at a new institution.
 
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