York's 23 points lead No. 12 Arizona past Boise State 88-76
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Sean Miller says one thing is obvious about this Arizona team. Its defense is not as good as his teams of the recent past.
So the No. 12 Wildcats have to make up for it elsewhere.
That's what they did in an 88-76 victory over Boise State on Thursday night.
Gabe York led the way with a career-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead four Arizona players in double figures.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright added 14 points, also a career best.
''I really believe that this was Parker's best game at Arizona,'' Miller said. ''In Parker's minutes, we were really, really clicking and I think that's a great sign for both him and us.''
Freshman Allonzo Trier scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half for the Wildcats (3-0) in their 41st consecutive home-court victory, the longest active streak in the country. Kadeem Allen had 10 for Arizona.
Ryan Anderson, a transfer from Boston College, grabbed 15 rebounds, all defensive.
''The strength of our team is the depth and versatility,'' Miller said. ''There's not a lot of dropoff from our third-best player, whoever that is, and our ninth-best.''
James Webb scored a career-best 27 points for the Broncos (1-2). It was the first time the schools have ever met in basketball.
The lead changed hands 12 times in the first half and Arizona led only 44-42 at the break. Boise State tied it twice early in the second half before the Wildcats began to put the game away.
''There's teams on our schedule who are going to be able to stick with us for a half,'' York said, ''but a full game, you talk about how hard Arizona plays, the tenacity we have as a team, there's not many teams that can keep up with that for a full 40 minutes.''
There were 12 lead changes in the first half but the Broncos were ahead only once in the second. That came when Webb's 3-pointer put them up 47-46 1:22 into the half. Allen followed with a 3 to put Arizona ahead again.
Boise State tied it one more time, 49-49, on Webb's two free throws with 18:09 to play. York's three-point play gave Arizona the lead for good, but never by much.
A 3-pointer by Elliott Pitts boosted the lead to 68-61, but Webb made another 3 to cut it to 68-64 with 10:24 remaining. The Wildcats finally got the lead to double digits when York made his final 3 to make it 84-74 with 3:33 left.
''Anytime we made a mistake, they would make us work to try to catch up,'' Boise State coach Leon Rice said. ''These are all signs of a great team, a well-coached team. You pick your poison and then they make you pay for whatever poison you picked.''
Arizona scored the final six points of the first half - the last four by Jackson-Cartwright - to lead 44-42 at the break.
Duncan's fourth 3-pointer of the game - in six attempts - put the Broncos up 42-38 with 1:45 to go in the half.
York sank a 10-foot floater in the lane to cut it to 42-40 and Jackson-Cartwright tied it with another floater. After an Arizona stop, Jackson-Cartwright's spin move at the free-throw line for a layup put Arizona up by two with 36 seconds left in the half.
''I thought we did really good offensively in the first half,'' Rice said. ''We kept the ball moving and we kept their bodies moving. When we went on our scoring drought, I thought we just looked tired.''
Jackson-Cartwright was 5-for-5 shooting in the first half, two of them 3s, for 12 points. York scored 15 on 5-for-7 shooting, 3 of 5 3-pointers, in the first 20 minutes.
TIP-INS
Boise State: Duncan scored 16 first-half points, including 4 of 6 3s but made only 1 of 5 in the second half. ... Webb's previous career high was 23 at New Mexico Jan. 18, 2015. He made seven 3-pointers in that game.
Arizona: The Wildcats attempted 15 3-pointers in the first half, six in the second. ... York's previous career best was 20 against Farleigh-Dickinson Nov. 18, 2013. ... Anderson fell four rebounds shy of the career best he set while at Boston College.
UP NEXT
Boise State: hosts Concordia, Oregon, next Thursday.
Arizona: hosts Northwestern State on Sunday.
