Wildcats end monster road trip with win in Tasmania

Details
Perth Wildcats 89 defeated Tasmania JackJumpers 78
MyState Bank Arena
Box Score
28 February 2022

Summary
After again falling behind by double digits in the first quarter, the Perth Wildcats controlled the game for the majority of the night. The visitors held the JackJumpers to a 17-point second quarter and then a 12-point third quarter while opening up a sizeable advantage. The rebounding differential tilted favourably towards the Wildcats and, despite a late scare, they were able to hold on for a much needed victory.
The Wildcats were without point guard Mitch Norton (head knock protocols) while Vic Law passed a pre-game fitness test and arguably went on to be the game’s best player.
The result snaps a three-game slump for the Wildcats.

Reaction
Scott Morrison initial reaction
“I’m just happy we won, we needed to win, it’s a tough place to win, tough team to play against. I thought the guys gave one of their better efforts over the last couple of weeks, especially in the last 35 minutes like you said. A few little mental errors here and there, but overall I thought we competed pretty well.”

Scott Morrison on team effort
“It’s nice to have a couple of guys who people consider the top players in the league. That helps obviously, but that’s not enough to get it done in this league. You have to have a deep team, a number of guys contributing and on any given night somebody has to step up, so it’s good to see LT bounce back from a rough game, good to see Hodgy put two good games together, I thought Majok played well off the bench, Kevin White stepped up in Mitch Norton’s absence. I could keep going on, it was a good team win to finish off this two-month odyssey.” 

Player focus
Vic Law finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Bryce Cotton has 20 points and five assists. Matt Hodgson had a season-high 15 points, while Luke Travers had 16 points off the bench.

Key stats and facts
The Wildcats had a solid shooting tonight, going at 49% including nine makes from 22 attempts from long range. They dominated the glass with 48 rebounds to 30.
Both teams saw big contributions from their bench, with the Wildcats reserves adding 38 points.

Next game
The Perth Wildcats take on Adelaide at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday.