Cotton explodes for 31 as Wildcats crush Taipans

If It was Vic Law’s RAC Arena on Friday, it was Bryce Cotton’s on Sunday.

The reigning NBL MVP amassed 31 points before three quarter time, leading the Wildcats to a convincing 90-67 win over the Cairns Taipans.

The result makes it a perfect start to the season for Perth, who are 2-0 after one round of NBL basketball

Coach Scott Morrison was proud of the way his team performed while missing key players Michael Frazier II, Matt Hodgson, Todd Blanchfield and Mitch Norton.

“Similar to Friday, we had everyone contribute, right down to Ollie (Hayes-Brown), who didn’t play on Friday and went out there and played big minutes. We were a little short-handed and a little undersized, and we out-rebounded a bigger team,” he said.

“That showed a lot of grit, and it was a good time of the things we did that got us over the hump.”

Cotton, ended the game with five rebounds, four assists and three steals to go with his 31 points.

He said the on-court chemistry between he and Law is growing.

“It’s only the second regular season game so hoepfull ywe can improvie on it. We’re gelling pretty well but we have a hell of a ways to go,” said Cotton.

“It’s Basketball 101, you take what the defence gives you, and the one thing with Vic as well is even though he can score a high-volume of points, he’s an unselfish player and as you saw tonight they did a good job of doubling him and not letting him breathe, he made great passes and picked his spots and found the right times to be aggressive.”

Law had 14 points and six rebounds after his 37 two days ago.

Luke Travers had a career-high 14 rebounds to go with six points, while fellow young gun Kyle Zunic impressed with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in just his second game.

After struggling to score early, Perth were able to pull away from the Taipans in the third quarter, and again in the fourth.

The Wildcats only made one three from their first 14 attempts, but finished the game with 14 from 41 attempts.

41 three-point attempts is the third most in Wildcats history, and the most in a 40-minute game.

Cairns finished the game with 20 turnovers, with ball pressure being a staple of the Perth Wildcats pre and regular season to date.

The Wildcats had eight steals.

Sunday’s game also saw the debuts of Ollie Hayes-Brown and Mitch Clarke.

Hayes-Brown had six points and seven rebounds in just 13 minutes.

The Wildcats are next in action on Sunday, facing the Brisbane Bullets at RAC Arena.

Perth Wildcats 90 (Cotton 31, Law 14, Zunic 13)
Cairns Taipans 67 (Noi 17, McCall 16, Zimmerman 14)