ANAHEIM, Calif. – Turns out, Nico Mannion’s tricky game-winner on Thursday was just a warm-up act.
In Arizona’s 92-82 win over Penn in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy on Friday at Anaheim Arena, Mannion put on an offensive clinic despite appearing to tweak an ankle during the first half. He shot 11 for 14 from the field for a career-high 24 points, hitting most of his shots beyond 16 feet, a dazzling mixture of pull-up jumpers, step-backs, runners, floaters and layups.
Together with 8-of-9 shooting from center Chase Jeter and a 5-for-9 mark from Zeke Nnaji, the Wildcats shot 58.