LAHAINA, Hawaii – Arizona was given easily its biggest test of the early season today, and it survived.
Barely.
Stanley Johnson hit 3 of 4 free throws and made a steal in the final 22 seconds, allowing Arizona to hang on to a 72-68 win over Kansas State in the Maui Invitational semifinals today.
Johnson made free throws with 22.5 seconds left to give UA a 68-64 lead and later stole the ball off an inbounds play. But later, a three-pointer from Marcus Foster cut it to two points with 11.7 seconds left to keep the game a one-possession affair until the end.
And, after Johnson hit 1 of 2 free throws with 10.1 seconds left, Foster drove down the left side of the floor looking to tie it up with another three. But Rondae Hollis-Jefferson promptly fouled him, and when Foster missed the second of two ensuing free throws, Hollis-Jefferson grabbed the rebound.
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Hollis-Jefferson made both of his free throws for the final four-point margin, while a futile last-second three-point attempt from Foster fell short.
The win moved Arizona (5-0) into the Maui Invitational final Wednesday at 8 p.m. against the winner of tonight’s late San Diego State-Pittsburgh game. Kansas State dropped to 3-2.
Kaleb Tarczewski led UA in scoring with 18 points while Gabe York had 15 and Johnson had 14. Arizona shot 53.3 percent overall, though the Wildcats allowed Kansas State to shoot 44.9 percent and Foster to hit 6 of 9 three-pointers.
The Wildcats played much of the second half without Johnson, who was nearly on pace for a double-double with nine points and six rebounds in the first half before running into foul trouble. He picked up two fouls in the first 90 seconds of the second half to total four and sat out most of the half.
But the Wildcats figured it out without him, going on a 10-0 run in the middle of the second half to take a 52-43 lead with 10:38 remaining. Gabe York and T.J. McConnell both hit three-pointers during the run.
From there, Kansas State pulled back into a one-possession game through the final minutes, even as Johnson re-entered the game with 7:15 left.
Marcus Foster hit a three-pointer for Kansas State to cut UA’s lead to 66-64 with 2:35 left. At that point, Foster had made 5 of 7 three-pointers. It was only 66-64 entering the final minute and T.J. McConnell missed the front end of a one-and-one with 59.6 seconds before Nino Williams missed a jumper for Kansas State and Johnson was fouled to set up his free throiws.
 In the first half, the Wildcats survived a frenetic, physical start and seven-point deficit to take a 31-30 lead over the other Wildcats.
Johnson led Arizona in first-half scoring with nine points Kaleb Tarczewski led Arizona in first-half scoring with 10 points while Marcus Foster had 11 for K-State.
After a slow start defensively, Arizona managed to hold Kansas State to just 37.5-percent three point shooting, though K-State hit 4 of 7 three-pointers -- three of them by Foster.
Arizona shot 46.2 percent from the field but made just 1 of 5 three pointers. Arizona is shooting just 31.9 percent from three-point range on the season so far.
Down 17-10 less than eight minutes into the fast-paced game, Arizona’s defense finally heated up in the middle of the first half. Kansas State went 0-for-4 and committed three turnovers during a stretch of nearly four minutes, allowing UA to close within 17-16.
The game stayed close the rest of the half. With UA up 31-28 in the final seconds, Foster tried to send the game into a tie at halftime, but his pullback three bounced off the rim, and teamate Stephen Hurt rebounded it in to cut Arizona's lead to a point.
The Wildcats’ defense struggled in the fast-paced early moments of the game, when Kansas State jumped out to a 13-8 lead by making 5 of their first 7 field goals and only turning the ball over once.
K-State received two three-pointers from Foster, perhaps the top point of emphasis for the Wildcats entering the game, while both teams shot 50 percent from the field through the first eight minutes.
The Wildcats of Manhattan, Kan., then took their seven-point lead before Arizona came back to make it a one-basket game later in the half.Â
