Arizona scouting report

Matchup: No. 18 Purdue (4-2) vs. No. 2 Arizona (3-1) Battle 4 Atlantis seventh-place game 

Where: Imperial Ballroom, Paradise Island, Bahamas

When: 7:30 p.m.

Watch: ESPN3 (streaming only)

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Probable starters: Arizona

Probable starters: Purdue

How they match up

The series: Arizona is 5-6 all-time against Purdue, but has never played the Boilermakers in the Sean Miller era. In fact, the last time they met turned out to be Lute Olson’s final game as the Wildcats’ head coach: A 69-65 Purdue win in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament in New Orleans.

Purdue overview:  Like the Wildcats, the Boilermakers aren’t having a good time in the Bahamas. They lost 78-75 to Tennessee in overtime in the quarterfinals, then were upset by Western Kentucky 77-73 in a consolation bracket game on Thursday. Purdue allowed the Hilltoppers to shoot 50.9 percent from the field and, offensively, hit only 8 of 27 3-pointers. Even after they lost Caleb “Biggie” Swanigan to the NBA Draft last spring, the Boilermakers have still been considered a contender to win the Big Ten because they return four solid starters. They run a midlevel tempo and, in what could be good news for Arizona, have a bigger lineup featuring 7-2 Isaac Haas at center and 6-8 Vincent Edwards at power forward. Their offense is balanced, with all five starters averaging in double figures, and they have mostly been an efficient offensive team. Purdue has hit 43.1 percent of its 3-pointers on the season and 51.2 percent overall.

Key player: Carsen Edwards

A member of USA Basketball’s U19 team last summer, the aggressive Boilermaker guard lost control too often against Western Kentucky and it was costly. The combo guard had six turnovers to just two assists while going 4 for 10 from the field on Thursday.

Key player: Parker Jackson-Cartwright

The Wildcats have often looked their best when their senior guard is playing well but he had three turnovers to just three assists against SMU on Thursday. It probably doesn’t help that he’s getting little backup help and has played 34 minutes in each of the first two Atlantis games.

Miller considering zone

UA coach Sean Miller said Thursday that he’s considering a zone, but not just because the Wildcats struggled defensively in their first Battle 4 Atlantis loss to North Carolina State.

Rather, Miller said he’s considering it for times when Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic are in the game together and having to face a small-ball team such as SMU. Miller played Ristic only 11 minutes against SMU and wasn’t happy he felt compelled to do so.

“It was just a really tough matchup for him and I feel bad because Dusan is playing the best I think he’s ever played,” Miller said. “Even tonight in 11 minutes, he was 3 for 4 and had four defensive rebounds. But when SMU can spread you out, it’s just a difficult matchup, and at the beginning of the second half, No. 5 (SMU big man Ethan Chargois) knocked a couple of 3s and that really kind of changed the momentum.

“As a coach you have to figure out how to put your best players on the court, and there are times with Deandre and him together we may have to look at some zone. I know that’s something we haven’t done a whole lot in my time but in our current situation, just big picture, Dusan is such a force in the low post and he’s such a good scorer that it’s difficult to rationalize that he’s not able to play him because they went small.”

Expectations flattened?

When asked about how he’s handling the Wildcats’ two losses in the Bahamas considering all the expectations they carried into the season, Arizona coach Sean Miller talked about what is also still on the line against Purdue, a team that also lost twice.

Then Miller said Thursday’s effort by the Wildcats was an improvement on their loss to N.C. State on Wednesday.

“We’re gonna have to build on what we did,” Miller said. “Our effort level was maybe as bad as any team we’ve had against N.C. State. We couldn’t function. Couldn’t get back in transition. But yet we were right there. We addressed that. We played with much better effort, had much better communication against SMU, and hopefully we can built on it and go from there.”

Said forward Ira Lee: “Our confidence isn’t affected at all. We just gotta see these two games as learning experiences and move on. It’s early in the season and we have a lot of tough games left.”

Small forward issues

Miller said he’s started sophomore Dylan Smith at small forward for the first two Atlantis games because “we are really going on practice as much as anything and Dylan has performed the best of that group in practice.” So he benched Emmanuel Akot and played him only four minutes against N.C. State.

“I talked to Emmanuel about that,” Miller added. “But as time marches on you learn more and more about team chemistry and who fits well. With rebounding, I thought Emmanuel did a good job” with three in 22 minutes.

Of course, the guy Miller would really like out there at small forward still is not back from a broken foot. Rawle Alkins posted a “clock” icon on Twitter after the game, possibly suggesting he’s coming back soon, but he isn’t playing this week.

“Part of why people think so highly of our group is because people think highly of Allonzo and Rawle, and Rawle was an excellent freshman,” Miller said. “He was going to return back for his sophomore year bigger and better. You put him out there and it’s probably a different story but he’s not out there right now. I think that some of those other guys are getting a better opportunity and hopefully down the line when we get Rawle back we can be at our best.”

Numbers game

4

Arizona losses in eight games played in the Eastern Time Zone since Sean Miller took over the Wildcats for the 2009-10 season.

5

Times Allonzo Trier has hit the 20-point mark in five games this season, becoming the first UA player to start with five 20-point or more games since Chase Budinger did it in 2008-09.

6

Years since Arizona lost consecutive nonconference games. The Wildcats lost to Mississippi State in New York and to San Diego State at McKale Center during their NIT season of 2011-12.