Arizona Wildcats Win 2014 Maui Invitational

In one of the best west coast rivalries in college basketball, the Arizona Wildcats have once again defeated the San Diego State Aztecs by a final score of 61-59, claiming the Maui Invitational title. With this win, Arizona has now won the last four games against SDSU in three years. Arizona also extends their non-conference win streak to 33 games, the longest in the nation. And it’s an impressive 33 games, including San Diego State x3, Duke, Michigan and Florida. Arizona will truly get tested the next two weekends, hosting Gonzaga on December 6th and Michigan on December 13th.

Nov 26, 2014; Lahaina, Maui, HI, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) wins the most valuable player award after defeating the San Diego State Aztecs 61-59 to win the 2014 EA Sports Maui Invitational championship game at the Lahaina Civic Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Stanley Johnson came alive for this game, living up to his hype. Due to his performance this week, Stanley Johnson was named Maui Invitational MVP. Johnson finished with a career-high 18 points, marking his 6th game scoring in double digits. Although he went 4-14 from their field, Stanley made 9-10 free throws and was just one rebound away from his second career double-double.

Arizona got into heavy foul trouble early with Gabe York, TJ McConnell and Kaleb Tarczewski all picking up three fouls early. This gave freshman Parker Jackson-Cartwright a big leadership role and he was quite impressive. As a true freshman, he ran the offense efficiently, slashing through the defense and finding open teammates. For being 5-9, he gave us a glimpse of the future, weaving through the paint for two big points in the first half, finishing with 3 rebounds and two assists in nine minutes. Elliot Pitts had to play some minutes but didn’t do a whole lot in replacing Gabe York as the two are almost identical in defense and streakiness. Whenever Pitts or York goes off, you know it’s going to be a good time.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson certainly carried the team in the first half and shifted the momentum to Arizona’s side whenever he had the ball in the paint, finishing with 14 and six. TJ McConnell had a pretty quiet 11 points, meanwhile Brandon Ashley ended his double digit scoring streak, finishing with six points, five boards and two blocks, making plays when it counted.

For San Diego State, it was all freshman guard Trey Kell and Winston Shepard, as expected. To start the game, the two combined for 15 of SDSU’s first 20 points. Senior forward Dwanye Poleee II also joined the fun, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds. And there’s Angel Chol. A fan favorite at Arizona, despite his minimal minutes. He transferred to SDSU due to a lack of play and most Arizona fans agreed, he probably should have had more minutes, but just got drowned out in the 5-star recruits. Rarlier this week, Angelo Chol talked about wanting Arizona to “see the mistakes they made by not letting me play”. Well, he’s still not starting, getting minimal minutes on a team that has lost three times to Arizona since he’s transferred. Hope all is well, Angelo.

Arizona and SDSU are two of the top defensive teams in the country, forcing double teams and bad shots. This game had all the feelings of a Final Four matchup, both teams slugging at each other back and forth. Fast forward to March and SDSU looks like a team that will end up as a three of four seed in the tournament, with Arizona hopefully locked in at the one.

Arizona needs to get ready for Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, followed by a showdown against Gonzaga at home.