York hits 6 3s, No. 18 Arizona pulls away from Oregon State
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Sean Miller's stern lesson to his players was well-learned.
Two nights after the coach publicly chastised his Arizona team following its first home loss in 50 games, the No. 18 Wildcats bounced back with an 80-63 victory over Oregon State.
Gabe York made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, both career highs, and Ryan Anderson added 13 points and 12 rebounds Saturday for the Wildcats (17-5, 5-4 Pac-12), who were coming off an 83-75 loss to No. 23 Oregon on Thursday night that snapped Arizona's 49-game home winning streak.
"Coach challenged all of us," York said. "I'm not speaking for everybody, but for me I took that to heart. I took it upon myself that I need to be a better captain, a better leader and tonight my teammates found me."
Miller made no apologizes for being so demanding.
"I'm myself," he said. "I'm the coach and I'm going to push our team to be the best we can be. I'm going to push each of our players to be the best they can be. I'm going to love them. Once in a while they're not going to like things that you do. It's like a parent."
Anderson, a senior transfer from Boston College, said Miller "really challenged us after the last game to live up to the standards that they've held the last couple of years here at Arizona. `'
York had a great night against the Oregon State zone defense.
"For me," he said, "when a team plays 30 to 35 minutes in a 2-3 zone, that's like giving candy to a baby. It's shots that I'm going to knock down more times than not."
Tres Tinkle scored 16 for the Beavers (12-8, 3-6), who stayed with the Wildcats until the final 10 minutes. Olaf Schaftenaar added 14 points and matched his career high with four 3s. Gary Payton III had nine points, seven rebounds and six assists for Oregon State.
"We couldn't find York," Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said. "Man or zone, we kept saying we can't help off of him. We got out of character there in the second half. We broke down plays, which is what got us in trouble at the start of the Arizona State game."
Tinkle said his players did a good job of hanging tough most of the night.
"They watch Arizona and we knew after the loss the other night that they were really going to come out and try to knock us out, in a basketball sense," he said. "I was really proud of our guys' effort."
The win was No. 300 for Miller in his career, first at Xavier and now at Arizona.
Blown out at Arizona State 86-68 on Thursday night, Oregon State trailed Arizona 51-49 after Langston Morris-Walker's layup with 10:44 to play.
York responded with a 3-pointer and the Wildcats were off on a 10-0 run. Parker Jackson-Cartwright's 3 made it 61-49 with 8:18 to play.
Schaftenaar's 3 cut the lead to 63-55 with 7:28 to go, but York hit another from behind the arc to start a 7-0 spurt and the Beavers never threatened seriously again.
After falling behind by eight in the early minutes, the Beavers outscored Arizona 12-1 to take an 18-15 lead on Tinkle's 10-foot floater midway through the first half.
Oregon State: York's previous career high was 23 points against Boise State last Nov. 19. His previous best for 3s was five against Ohio State last March. ... Jarmal Reid, suspended for tripping an official, sat out his fourth game. He could return next week against Utah. ... The Beavers are 3-1 at home in the Pac-12, but 0-3 on the road. ... Oregon State has won once in Tucson since 1983 (in 2010).
Arizona: Freshman G Allonzo Trier, who has missed six games with a broken bone in his hand, took warmups and could be back next week. ... Kobi Simmons of Alpharetta, Georgia, a five-star recruit who committed to Arizona two weeks ago, attended the game. ... The Wildcats haven't lost two in a row at home, or three straight overall, since February 2010 -- Miller's first season.
Oregon State hosts Utah on Thursday.
Arizona plays at Washington State on Wednesday.
