Arizona basketball: Kobi Simmons’ offense fuels Wildcats’ victory over Santa Clara

Some big shots from the freshman in Vegas

On a night where there were multiple guys getting it done for the Arizona Wildcats on the offensive end of the floor, a freshman coming off the bench put up some really impressive stats.

And also the biggest shot of the game.

.@JordanKobi's smooth step back put Arizona up 66-61. Tough shot. http://pic.twitter.com/LHDDfU7Xp4

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) November 25, 2016

Those were Kobi Simmons’ 13th and 14th points of the night, and it also happened to be just his seventh field goal attempt.

Overall, Simmons finished the game 5-of-7 from the field, and sunk all three of his shots from beyond the arc.

I have a favorite college hoops player this year. You can probably guess who it is.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 25, 2016

This was the second game that Simmons returned to his bench role with Kadeem Allen returning to the starting lineup. With this kind of production from Kobi off the bench, Arizona should be in a good spot moving forward.

Led by Simmons, Arizona had its way in the bench points battle, taking a 23-2 edge over Santa Clara in this one. With such limited options in that area for the Wildcats, dominating a game in that way is quite the welcome sight.

Overall, this wasn’t Simmons’ best game defensively, nor was he very productive in other categories (one assist, one turnover, two fouls). His +4 was also right in the middle of the pack.

The assist was a doozy though:

Kobi Simmons threads the needle to Keanu Pinder for the dunk http://pic.twitter.com/ujWzOnohs8

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) November 25, 2016

But those big shots — and that assist — gave Arizona the momentum at the exact right moments throughout the night.

---

Arizona will play Butler at approximately 8:30 PM MT on Friday in the Las Vegas Invitational Championship Game. It will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.

Damn Kobi Simmons trying for the mamba mantle #beardown

— Chris Goldberg (@ChrisNeverlost) November 25, 2016

I'm thankful that Kobi Simmons hit that behind-the-back step-back jumper

— Karl Schneider (@karltschneider) November 25, 2016

Kobi Simmons?
Or Bryant?
Kid has heat
⬇️

— Nate (@NathanJuump) November 25, 2016

from Arizona Desert Swarm - All Posts http://ift.tt/2gb4ilC
via IFTTT