Scouting report: No. 14 Arizona Wildcats vs. Utah Tech Trailblazers

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 junior)

G Pelle Larsson (6-5 junior)

F Cedric Henderson (6-6 senior)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 junior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 junior)

UTAH TECH

G Cameron Gooden (5-11 senior)

G Noa Gonsalves (6-1 sophomore)

F Frank Staine (6-6 junior)

F Dancell Leter (6-8 senior)

C Tanner Christensen (6-10 sophomore)

How they match up

The series: Arizona has never faced Utah Tech, the school in St. George, Utah, that has had seven previous names, most recently Dixie State University.

Game agreement: Utah Tech is making a one-time appearance at McKale Center in exchange for an $88,000 payment from Arizona.

Utah Tech overview: In their third season at the Division I level after being a Division II and junior college program before that, the Trailblazers finished in 10th place in the 13-team WAC last season despite one of the country’s least efficient offenses (95.6 points per 100 possessions) and shooting just 29.5% from 3-point range. Then they lost big man Hunter Schofield (15.0 ppg) but added a valuable frontcourt piece in Idaho transfer Tanner Christensen, who leads the Trailblazers in rebounding (7.7) and is tied with point guard Cameron Gooden for the team lead in scoring (14.0). The Trailblazers have a number of other wing players who can score in multiple ways, with Isaiah Pope hitting 4 of 9 3-pointers so far while Gooden (4 for 15), Frank Staine (4 for 14) and Noa Gonsalves (3 of 11) have struggled from 3.

Defensively, the Trailblazers’ attack is slightly reminiscent of the “no middle” philosophy TCU deployed when taking UA to overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

After losing at Nevada 84-71 to open the season and then beating Cal State Northridge 69-63 at home, Utah Tech lost at Washington 78-67 on Monday. The Huskies hit 12 of 18 3-pointers and held the Trailblazers to just 7 of 24 beyond the arc.

He said it: “(Gooden and Christensen) are are their go-to guys, like their head and tail of the snake, and they just have a bunch of guys who know what they’re trying to do. They’re a different team than the ones we played in Southern and Nicholls. They want to execute more and exploit certain mismatches.

“They won’t mind running, but they like to run their sets, execute them and defensively, they play multiple defenses. They go back and forth between press, a man, a zone. They really want to take away the middle when they’re playing man to man. They force plays baseline, take charges, and I think it took Washington a little bit or time to adjust. They really want to take away the middle of the floor and send you baseline.”

— UA assistant coach Riccardo Fois, who scouted the Trailblazers.

Key players

Utah Tech

Cameron Gooden

The Louisiana native came out of junior college in 2020 to become a staple of the Trailblazers’ march into Division I. He’s started all 34 games he’s played in at Utah Tech, and is the Trailblazers’ leading returner in scoring (11.5 ppg) and assists (3.6), though he has more turnovers (12) than assists (eight) so far this season.

Arizona

Kylan Boswell

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Despite offseason foot surgery and a decision to skip his senior season of high school, Boswell has quickly been proving himself off the bench in the backcourt. The Utah Tech game is a final chance for an extended audition without senior combo guard Courtney Ramey, who is scheduled to return from a three-game NCAA suspension on Monday against Cincinnati.

Sidelines

Lloyd 'excited' to sign KJ Lewis

When Texas guard KJ Lewis climbed into a high four-star class of 2023 prospect last summer after committing to the Wildcats, UA coach Tommy Lloyd had already been long sold.

“From the first moments we got involved with him, I was really impressed,” Lloyd said. “Not only is he a really talented player who’s really trended up the last six months but he’s an amazing person with incredibly high character. I think you guys are gonna be blown away.

Lloyd then smiled at that thought.

“When you guys get to deal with him, he might even be, believe it or not, too nice. So we’ll see if we can rough him up a little bit.”

On the court, Lewis a “Marcus Smart” type of player who is effective on both sides of the court, Lloyd said, with character that was visible when Lloyd watched him play for El Paso Chapin High School last season (Lewis has since moved to Duncanville High School outside of Dallas).

“He might not have had the greatest game ... but his body language towards his teammates was so good,” Lewis said. “He didn’t play selfish, which a lot of kids like him would have played selfish. I just think he has all the makings of for what I’m looking for in a player. I think he’s gonna be a great asset.”

Focused

Because the Wildcats are heading to Maui on Saturday, it might be tempting for the Wildcats to look a bit past Utah Tech. But Cedric Henderson says his teammates won’t go there.

“I mean, we talk about it. We’re excited. We’re super excited,” Henderson said. “It’s Maui. Who doesn’t want to go and enjoy the beach? But at the same time, it’s business. You can’t have fun without doing the things that you have to do first.”

Henderson also has had a unique vantage point for the Wildcats’ first three home games, having been on the other side of it as a player for Campbell, going on the road to face teams such as Duke, N.C. State, Marshall and VCU.

But, similarly, Henderson said he didn’t need to warn his teammates that a highly motivated visiting team can be dangerous.

“They all know,” Henderson said. “A lot of the guys come from different parts. There are five stars. There are guys who came from being no-names. But we all know that if we want to be a great team, we have to win every game and go step by step. There’s no skipping steps.”

Spokane bond

There was one Utah Tech player that Lloyd didn’t really need to scout this week: Trailblazer forward Tanner Christensen played for University High School in Spokane Valley, Washington — just east of where Lloyd spent 22 seasons on the Gonzaga staff.

While Lloyd didn’t recruit Christensen, he did see him play in high school — because Christensen faced Lloyd’s son, Liam. While Liam Lloyd has since played for Grand Canyon and NAU, Christensen has played collegiately for Idaho and now Utah Tech.

“I didn’t realize he had transferred to Utah Tech and when I saw him playing, I go, ‘Yeah, this is the same player who beat my son’s high school team,’” Lloyd said. “He had a really good senior year there and he’s just a good player. He’s got good hands. He moves well and it looks like he has a good IQ. So it’s really cool to see a kid from Spokane doing well.”

Azoulas Tubelis named to watch list

Arizona junior forward Azuolas Tubelis was named to the 50-player watch list for the Wooden Award, one of college basketball’s major player of the year honors.

Four other Pac-12 players were also named to the watch list: Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell of UCLA, plus Stanford’s Harrison Ingram and Oregon’s Will Richardson. Tublies could also face three other players on the Wooden list in the Maui Invitational next week: Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman of Creighton and/or Matt Bradley of San Diego State.

Numbers game

7 – Straight games away from home Utah Tech has started playing, with the first game at Washington on Monday and the second at Arizona. The Trailblazers are also scheduled to play at Idaho, North Dakota, Utah State and Weber State while also facing Cal State Fullerton in an event at North Dakota.

12 – Utah Tech’s predicted finish in the 13-team Western Athletic Conference this season in polls of both coaches and media. Grand Canyon was picked to win the league, with New Mexico State in second place.

591 – Career wins atUtah Tech for coach Jon Judkins, counting games in junior college at Snow College and Dixie JC (now Utah Tech) and 14 seasons of Division II play at Utah Tech (then known as Dixie State).