Cotton sets up demolition of JackJumpers

Not only did Bryce Cotton produce another 32 points to firm his grip on a fifth MVP trophy but the Perth Wildcats were so emphatic in their 105-73 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers that they are putting themselves in the title hunt too.

Cotton had 15 points in the first six minutes at MyState Bank Arena to set the tone for ensuring there would be no repeat of the JackJumpers heroics from Friday where they beat Adelaide in overtime without Sean Macdonald and Will Magnay.

Cotton ended up going for 26 points and six assists in the first half, finishing with 32 and nine including 7/14 three-point shooting.

The Wildcats put up 64 first half points, led the game by as much as 39 and went on to win by 32.

It makes it five of six wins on the road now for the Wildcats who have one away match to go before returning home for five of their last six and do so currently sitting at 13-9 and knocking on second spot.

Dylan Windler also produced 15 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and two steals with Keanu Pinder adding 10 points and two rebounds, and Ben Henshall 10 points, six boards and five assists.

Hyrum Harris provided 12 points, five rebounds and two assists, and the returning Kristian Doolittle four points and three boards.

In the big picture, the JackJumpers will be relatively happy to split this weekend given the short turnaround and against two in-form opponents, but it was the nature of the loss that would have frustrated coach Scott Roth.

Tasmania ended up shooting just 34 per cent on 7/26 from three while losing the rebound battle by 10 despite pulling down 15 offensive boards.

Jordon Crawford finished with 16 points and three assists, Milton Doyle 15 points and four assists, Anthony Drmic 14 points and two rebounds, and Gorjok Gak eight points, six boards and two steals.

The Wildcats were fresh having not played since beating New Zealand last Sunday while Tasmania were coming off the high of the remarkable overtime win but it was only just over 36 hours ago as they backed it up.

The Wildcats shot out of the blocks and already took 10 three-point attempts in the first four minutes and Bryce Cotton knocked down four of them for 15 quick points, and the 'Cats went into quarter-time leading 29-22.

By the time Cotton made his fifth three of the game early in the second term the lead was out to 14 and it was soon 19 when the four-time MVP made a sixth triple of the game already.

Cotton added a seventh before half-time on his way to 26 points to go with six assists. The Wildcats had piled on 64 points to be leading the JackJumpers by 22 on the back of shooting 58 per cent from the floor to 42 from the reigning champs.

Perth weren’t about to let up and scored the first 11 points of the third quarter with Cotton adding four of those as did David Okwera and Dylan Windler knocked down a triple as the lead ballooned to 33.

The JackJumpers were able to respond with an 11-2 run and coach Scott Roth searched for answers by putting Brody Nunn and Walter Brown out there, but the 'Cats remained in control leading by 32 at three quarter-time.

Perth again scored the first four points of the last quarter and both teams ended up emptying their bench. The Wildcats maintained their advantage to end up winning by 32 despite only putting up 13 points for the last 10 minutes with seven turnovers.

The Wildcats now play their seventh and final road game of this stretch to close 2024 and open 2025 by playing a wounded Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday while the JackJumpers head to Spark Arena to play the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 73 (Crawford 16, Doyle 15, Drmic 14)

PERTH WILDCATS 105 (Cotton 32, Windler 15, H Harris 12)

BOX SCORE