The Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule has limited Arizona to only one crack at Colorado over each of the past two regular seasons, but the Buffs are always fresh in Sean Miller’s memory.
Thanks to the Pac-12 Tournament, that is.
There was Colorado, during its first season in the conference in 2012, knocking off Arizona 53-51 in the Pac-12 Tournament final to capture the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth and send the Wildcats to their first-ever NIT.
There was Colorado standing in the Wildcats’ way in a quarterfinal game the next season and in the semifinals in 2014. Then there was Colorado last season, taking Arizona down to the wire in the Wildcats’ four-point quarterfinal win.
And, this year, guess what? Arizona will open Pac-12 Tournament play on Thursday against either 10th-seeded Washington State … or seventh-seeded Colorado.
“Could be Washington State,” Miller said after the UA beat ASU, 73-60, on Saturday. “If it’s Colorado, I think we play them every year. It’s five years in a row, right?”
Four of five, actually. But the good news for Arizona is that the Wildcats are 3-1 against the Buffs in Pac-12 Tournament play, having beaten them in the 2013 quarterfinals, the 2014 semifinals and the 2016 quarterfinals.
Surprisingly, the Wildcats have never played Washington State in a Pac-10 or Pac-12 Tournament since the event was restarted in 2002, but history is clearly in Arizona’s favor if WSU does it this time.
The Wildcats have beaten WSU 10 times in a row, not losing to the Cougs since Klay Thompson was a WSU sophomore back in 2009-10.
Pac-12 awards coming
While no UA player is expected to win any of the major Pac-12 postseason awards that will be announced Monday, Miller is a candidate to win the conference’s Coach of the Year award, along with Oregon’s Dana Altman and UCLA’s Steve Alford.
Oregon’s Dillon Brooks appears to be the frontrunner for the conference’s Player of the Year award — after losing out last season to Utah’s Jakob Poeltl — thanks to his clutch play, overall production and the Ducks’ tie for the conference title.
Miller said there are a lot of candidates, but that it’s hard to argue with picking Brooks.
“The only thing he’s done is become better this year,” Miller said. “You talk about making big plays. And it’s not just hitting buzzer shots or big plays at the end of games, which he’s done, but he’s had some big games in general statistically in some of those key moments in Oregon’s season.”
Miller indicated that another Duck, shot-swatting center Jordan Bell, is a good pick for defensive player of the year, too.
“No. 1, I think it’s what team do they play on?” Miller said of the defensive award. “Usually great individual defenders are playing on a winning team or are part of a team defense that’s very, very good. Jordan Bell stands out for me as somebody who does everything. He can defend his man the way Oregon chooses to play defense — they switch a lot and there aren’t many centers who can switch on to guards, but he can. He’s a great shot-blocker, he’ll get steals and he rebounds. He’s a very unique player.”
Miller said he also considers the UA’s Kadeem Allen one of the league’s best defenders, though he won’t be able to vote for him. (Coaches decide the Pac-12 awards, but cannot vote for their own players.)
Allen has a chance to make the Pac-12’s five-man all-defensive team, while leading scorers Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier could make the 10-man all-league team — if coaches deem Trier’s 12 games played after his suspension were enough.
The most hotly contested race may be for the Pac-12’s five-man all-freshman team: If Markkanen, Washington’s Markelle Fultz, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf make it as expected, that means UA’s Rawle Alkins and Kobi Simmons, plus USC’s De’Anthony Melton, Oregon’s Payton Pritchard and WSU’s Malachi Flynn could be competing for the final spot.
Bonuses coming
If Miller wins the Pac-12 Coach of the Year award, that will net him another $20,000 bonus on top of $120,000 in bonuses he is already likely to receive.
Miller has already earned $40,000 for winning 25 games and will earn another $30,000 if the UA finishes in the Top 10 of the national rankings. (The final Associated Press poll is released before the NCAA Tournament, and UA is currently ranked No. 7.)
Miller is also contracted to receive $50,000 for winning the Pac-12 regular-season title, though it is not stipulated exactly what happens if the Wildcats tie for it as they did this season.
Miller can also earn another $50,000 if the UA wins the Pac-12 Tournament this week. He has a guaranteed base compensation package of $2.6 million this season, including $1.1 million in peripheral duties and Nike/IMG pay.
Simmons slumping
UA guard Kobi Simmons has averaged just three points and 11 minutes in the Wildcats’ last three games, playing five minutes and taking no shots on Saturday at ASU, in part because he had three fouls.
Miller played leading scorer Allonzo Trier and senior leader Kadeem Allen 35 minutes each at ASU, while also giving Keanu Pinder his Pac-12-high 25 minutes as Miller tried to match the Sun Devils’ smaller lineup. Wing Rawle Alkins played 26 while posting a double-double.
“It wasn’t his day today,” Miller said of Simmons after the ASU game. “We can’t play everybody as much as we would like. Kobi’s a really talented young player. We certainly wouldn’t have won the Pac-12 championship if he wasn’t on our team. He didn’t play as much today, but Rawle had 15 rebounds and Allonzo was really key down the stretch while Kadeem and Parker (Jackson-Cartwright) both played well.”
Simmons had 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting in the UA’s win at UCLA on Jan. 21 and was averaging 12.1 points per game at that point, but has scored in double figures only twice since then — when he had 13 each in home games against Washington and Cal.
“He’s that guy that comes in a game and makes a lot of plays for the team,” Alkins said of Simmons. “Kobi’s a great player and we need him to win.”
