Illawarra coach Brian Goorjian has been left searching for answers after the Hawks were forced to pay for another third quarter fadeout in Perth on Friday night.
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The in-form Wildcats overcame a cold-shooting Bryce Cotton with a convincing 83-69 victory in front of 11,485 fans at RAC Arena to power to the top of the NBL ladder.
Cotton, who is the hot favourite to win his second straight MVP, tallied just 18 points with 6-21 from the field, but Perth were relentless on defence to continue the Hawks' horror record in the west. Cotton eventually broke the shackles with 17 second-half points as the Wildcats wore down the Hawks.
Former Hawk Todd Blanchfield led the way with 18 points, while John Mooney continued his strong form with 17 points and 15 boards. Sam Froling led Illawarra's scoring with 15 points, while Tyler Harvey scored 14.
It had been a promising start for the Hawks, who clawed their way to a 43-42 advantage at half time on Friday night. However, the Wildcats outscored their opponents by 18-9 in the third quarter to take a 60-52 lead going into the final term, where they were able to round out the convincing win.
"Through the whole night, we didn't get any easy baskets. Nothing off the offensive glass, nothing in transition when the game mattered. At three-quarter time, we hadn't got to the free throw line, so no easy baskets," Goorjian said after the game.
"And like Adelaide, when I went to the bench late in the third quarter and started moving bodies, and resting bodies. And I said that was going to be a really important aspect to tonight's game because they're deep, and they're just going to wear you out and work at Tyler, and work at Justinian (Jessup), and I had to work deep into the bench. I think late in the third quarter, it was a one-point game. Like Adelaide, I went in there and we ended up eight down.
"We had Bryce pretty much under control, but the fourth quarter's always difficult here. And to finishing that quarter eight down when we were right in with it three minutes to go, I think the last three minutes of that third quarter were really key."
The Wildcats (17-5) equalled the record of Melbourne United and have won 11 of their last 12 games, while the Hawks (12-12) are clinging to a top four spot.
Illawarra had played four games in the space of 10 days, but Goorjian didn't believe fatigue was a factor on Friday night.
"I don't think fatigue or the schedule had anything to do with tonight," the coach said.
"I've been away for a while and you see what you've got to do to win here. And there's a lot of obstacles. And we're just not where you need to be to win on this court. And we had an opportunity... but you've got to finish plays. A really important aspect I look at, both ways, is when you're playing here, you've got to get some easy baskets. You've got to get to the foul line, you've got to get some lay ups in transition, you've got to get some offensive rebounds. And we're just a zero out of 10 there.
"It's part of our evolution, it's part of our growth. But the number of losses here in a row and all of that, this is a new team and we're marching to a different beat. We're trying to build something and this is the team. This is the crowd, this is the place. And tonight, no excuses. We were ready, they had a tougher schedule coming into this, less rest. I just think there were some key factors which is part of of building these things. We lick our wounds and we've got another tough one coming up."
- With Australian Associated Press
