11/21/2007

TUCSON (AP) Arizona wanted to get more production from its big men, and in an 88-64 victory over Adams State the Wildcats needed to as they struggled to break away from the Division II foe.

The Wildcats led by only eight points with 9:05 left before Jordan Hill and Jamelle Horne took over in the paint.

Hill scored a career-high 17 points, with 11 coming in the second half, and Horne added 15.

"They had a small group inside and we had to take advantage of that," Horne said. "Jordan is huge and I found myself down low. We had to battle down there."

Arizona (3-1) needed plenty as it couldn't break free until the late stages against scrappy Adams State (2-1) which shot 53 percent from the field.

Arizona also got 15 points from Chase Budinger and 14 from Jerryd Bayless. Rece Hampton led Adams State (2-1) with 23 points.

The Wildcats took control by going ahead 69-55 following a bank shot by Horne, a dunk by Bayless and a short jumper from Hill with 7:25 remaining after Adams State trimmed the deficit to eight.

Horne sealed the victory with a three-point play and a lay-in on back-to-back possessions to increase Arizona's lead to 18 points.

"If they have short pants and tank tops on they can beat you. Our guys need to learn that," said Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill, who is filling in for Lute Olson, who is on a leave of absence for personal reasons. "If you falter in your effort and concentration you can falter and lose."

Arizona made it a higher priority to get the ball inside to Hill, and he responded with nine points in the opening eight minutes of the second half to give the Wildcats a 60-49 lead.

Hampton continually kept the Grizzlies in striking distance with shots in the lane and a steal and lay-up in the backcourt to cut the deficit to 56-49 with 13 minutes left.

"I was thinking we were going to get this win, we are going to get it, but they pulled it out," Hampton said. "They came out on top, but we tried."

The Wildcats tried to pull away with nine straight points, going ahead 51-36 only to have Adams State cut the lead back to single digits on consecutive lay-ins by Sean Amos.

Arizona was slow to get going offensively, falling behind by five to the Division II foe before going on a 23-4 run with nine minutes remaining in the first half, sparked by a pair of three-pointers from Budinger.

The surge ended with a Horne offensive put-back that put Arizona ahead 37-23 lead with 2:19 remaining.

Adams State made 7 of its first 10 field goals in the game to take a 16-12 lead. Hampton scored 15 first-half points, with 11 coming as Adams State built a 19-14 edge.

"The hardest thing was the type of offense they ran against us. They move so much. We started standing around on the defensive end," Budinger said. "We became lazy. That turned into easy buckets for them."