Wagstaff winds back the clock in bounce-back win

Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff has wound back the clock and led his team to a 83-70 bounce-back win over the Brisbane Bullets.

The 35-year-old had his highest scoring outing since February 2018, adding 19 points along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Head coach Scott Morrison praised the 492-gamer’s performance.

“He’s been great – on the stat sheet and off it,” he said.

“One of the things I knew coming here is that I was going to have a nice little core of guys who had won before and know what it takes to win, who are great leaders, and who make my job that much easier.

“What I didn’t expect as much, was his contribution on the court has been second to none. He’s always leading the team in plus-minus, and that’s not a fluke. He rebounds for us, passes the ball, stretches the floor with his shooting.

“I didn’t know he was known for driving close-outs and getting to the rim but we’ve seen that a few times as well.”

Wagstaff had plenty of support on Friday night, particularly from Bryce Cotton who had a game-high 29 points, whlle Vic Law and Todd Blanchfield had nine.

Luke Travers led the team in rebounding again with 10 while Law eight.

Rebounding was a focus of the Wildcats leading into the game.

“I thought we did a better job with our ball pressure at times… our intent was better. The other thing was the effort on the glass. They decided to match our size when we went small, and maybe that was helpful for us in terms of rebounding," he said.

“I like to think our guys put more emphasis on making contact and trying to keep their big guys off the glass. They still got 12 offensive rebounding, but it’s a far cry from the 24 they got last week.”

With the win over Brisbane, Perth take their season record to 3-1.

The Wildcats take on the Tasmania JackJumpers at home on Sunday, in what will be their final home game until the WA border opens in February.

Tickets are available here.

Perth Wildcats 83 (Cotton 29, Wagstaff 19, Law 9)
Brisbane Bullets 70 (Franks 28, Patterson 17, Sobey 7)