TUCSON, Ariz. -- Two games in and Arizona freshman Lauri Markkanen is already drawing high praise from his coach.Lauris one of the best players in college basketball, Sean Miller said. He is. Hes a monster.The 18-year-old 7-footer from Finland scored 26 points and the 10th-ranked Wildcats held off a furious second-half rally by Cal State Bakersfield for a 78-66 victory on Tuesday night.Jaylin Airington scored 31 for the Roadrunners (1-1) and led a 17-0 run that cut Arizonas lead to four with 9:04 to play. But Markkanen sank a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and made a short jumper to lead the Wildcats out of trouble.Markkanen is accustomed to such moments.I am used to it, he said. Pretty much my whole life, in big moments, I have the ball in my hands.The already short-handed Wildcats (2-0) were without starting senior guard Kadeem Allen, who sprained a knee in Arizonas 65-63 victory over Michigan State last Friday in Honolulu.Rawle Alkins was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers and scored 15 for the Wildcats and Kobi Simmons added 13. Both also are freshmen.Dedrick Basile added 14 for BakersfieldHaving the opportunity to play a top 10 team is going to give us an opportunity to have some confidence coming out of this game, Roadrunners coach Rod Barnes said.Airington was 10 for 25 from the field, and Miller said its hard to get 25 shots in a college game. It wasnt enough.It was a good individual effort, Airington said, but I wanted to win more than anything.Arizona was up 44-26 at the half and was cruising along when a tip-in by yet another freshman, Keanu Pinder, gave the Wildcats a 53-32 lead with 14:45 to play. Arizona didnt score for the next 6:46.The McKale Center crowd fell into an uncomfortable silence when Damine Durhams basket cut the lead to 53-49 with 9:04 to play.A ruckus under the Arizona basket finally woke the Wildcats up.Chance Comanche went up for a layup and was hit hard by a pair of Bakersfield defenders. Some shoving occurred with Comanche lying on the court and officials called time out to review the incident on video.Taze Moore was called for a flagrant foul one and Comanche ended the long drought by making one of two free throws with 7:59 left. Arizona got the ball out of bounds on the play and Markkanen sank his only 3 of the night to boost the lead to 57-49.Playing small forward on Arizonas big front line, he drove hard down the lane, was fouled and converted a three-point play with 5:51 left and made a short jumper with 5:17 to go, giving the Wildcats a 64-54 lead and they held on from there.Lauris strong, Miller said. Hes not skinny, hes not thin. Hes 18 years old buy physically he can take a pounding and I think that really shows. He doesnt appear to be 7 foot because hes not a rail-thin 7-footer.His pull-ups that he made tonight, watching him go to the free throw line under pressure, hes a special, special player.Hes also a great team player and a good student.I dont think hes got a B at Arizona, Miller said. And practice-wise hes consumed with becoming a great player. Hes one of our teams hardest workers. ... Im so glad we have him.BIG PICTURECal State Bakersfield: The Roadrunners were not cowed by the atmosphere and look like WAC contenders.Arizona: After the opener against a big name school, the young Wildcats fell into a lull with a big lead. That might not have happened if Allen had been available.PLAYER SHORTAGEThe absence of Allen left Arizona with only seven scholarship players with a particular shortage at guard. It got even worse when Jackson-Cartwright got into foul trouble.UP NEXTCal State Bakersfield: returns home to face UC Santa Barbara Saturday night.Arizona: Plays the second of three straight home nonconference game against teams from lesser conferences, facing Sacred Heart on Friday night. Buy Adidas Shoes Australia . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Cheap Adidas Shoes Australia . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.cheapadidasaustraliashoes.com/ . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Adidas Shoes Australia Cheap . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Custom Adidas Shoes Australia . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. SPIELBERG, Austria -- Red Bull boss Christian Horner says it is unlikely Formula Ones top teams will agree to a drop in prize money when their current commercial agreements with Bernie Ecclestone expire at the end of 2020.Earlier this week, Ecclestone revealed plans to change the prize money structure in Formula One beyond 2020 to reduce the discrepancies in budgets between the top teams and smaller outfits. Under the current structure Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams receive bonuses based on either their historical position within the sport or recent championship success, with Ferrari the biggest earners overall in recent years regardless of on-track success.Ecclestone has proposed a system in which the bonuses are stripped away and all teams receive a flat rate with additional prize money for its finishing position in the constructors championship. But Horner says the top teams are unlikely to agree to a reduction in the payments they receive, arguing Ecclestone should find additional revenue from elsewhere in order to bring the payments to the smaller teams up to a similar level.Its like with all these things, youve got to be comfortable with the amount of money you are receiving, he said. If the money goes up for everybody thats less of an issue than if the money has to go down for some of the teams.So if more revenue can be brought into the sport its for the promoter to decide how the revenue is divided, but of course all the teams will have an issue if their rrevenues drop.ddddddddddddThe current agreements were cut independently between the teams and Ecclestone, with Ferrari negotiating its deal first and Red Bull following soon after. Horner expects a similar scenario as the deals post 2020 are cut.Were still some way off the end of the current agreement, but inevitably -- probably a couple of years before the end of that agreement -- talks will begin and every team will cut the best deal it can, no doubt.Its for Ecclestone to decide how he wants to split the revenues, and whether teams decide to negotiate in a pack ... that rarely works. Its going to be an interesting period.Horner said Red Bulls additional bonuses under the current agreement can be justified by its promotion of the sport outside F1.They were centered around the other aspects Red Bull brings to Formula One in terms of were probably the only company/team that goes out and actively promotes Formula One with our show-car activities, the activities we have worldwide.We were the first team to run in Baku. Maybe that was a contributing factor to them deciding to have a grand prix there. Weve run cars up mountains, cars up beaches, places where you wouldnt expect to see grand prix cars, taking it out to the mass public.Red Bull does a fantastic job of promoting Formula One, and on top of that we have two grand prix teams and a grand prix circuit. ' ' '