Allonzo Trier passed Gilbert Arenas on Arizona’s career scoring list Thursday night, No. 42 overall, and in the next few weeks he’ll pass Jud Buechler, Craig McMillan and Luke Walton, too.
That’s Ring of Honor territory at McKale Center, and it’s not the accumulation of points, 1,127, as much as it is a necessity. Where would the Wildcats be if Trier were not averaging 20 points per game?
Here’s where they would be: In sixth place.
Arizona beat Colorado 80-71 on Thursday in a game that had blowout written all over it but was subsequently corrected to nail-biter when the Buffaloes again proved to be much better than, say, UCLA.
“People are going to pick up the paper and see the score and not understand the battle we gave those guys,” said Colorado coach Tad Boyle. “When Arizona plays well, it’s like a juggernaut.”
The reason anyone puts the words “Arizona” and “juggernaut” in the same sentence is because Trier is like a thunderstorm that just rolled in, raining points when the Wildcats desperately need them.
Get this: Arizona trailed 18-11 Thursday and Trier had not scored in the game’s first 12 minutes. But he did have two fouls. It was like driving your car when the “check engine” light illuminates and you pound your fist on the steering wheel and wonder if anything else can go wrong.
For the final 28 minutes, Trier was superb.
He scored 23 points, didn’t commit a turnover, made all five of his free throws and when the Wildcats absolutely, positively had to score to avoid something unspeakable, he would drain a 3-pointer or drive to the bucket, score and draw a foul.
“He has the ability to take and make tough shots,” said Boyle.
Arizona coach Sean Miller upped the ante. He said Thursday’s performance was “one of the best games Allonzo has played at Arizona. They trapped him on every pick and roll and he didn’t have a turnover. He was very, very efficient.
“He was an All-American type of player tonight.”
One key reason Arizona is 7-1 and in first place is because Trier is a finisher. I know, I know, that was Lauri Markkanen’s deal, right? The “Finnisher?” But Trier stays until closing time and gets his best work done before the final whistle.
Stanford should’ve beat Arizona a week ago but the Cardinal didn’t have a finisher.
Trier was ranked No. 18 in ESPN’s Top 100 in the Class of 2015 recruiting evaluation and as the Class of ’15 has scattered to all parts of the globe, Trier is now No. 2, or, if you want to debate, perhaps No. 1-A with Villanova’s superb guard Jalen Brunson.
That Class of 2015, like all college basketball recruiting classes, has been transient and fragile. Thirteen of the top 18 have already turned pro and only three — Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown — are NBA regulars.
Most of the rest are playing for teams like the South Bay Lakers, the Windy City Bulls and, like ex-Cal center Ivan Rabb, they’re riding the G League shuttle. Rabb has been called and re-called from the G League’s Memphis Hustle nine times this season.
To his credit, Trier chose to stay and try to develop at Arizona while those like No. 10 Malik Newman transferred from Mississippi State to Kansas, and No. 13, Isaiah Briscoe, wound up playing in Estonia.
“I know where Allonzo’s bar is,” said Miller, who should. He has coached Trier since he was on the Team USA 17-U team. “This is another step for him. Believe me, he needs a coach to push him and I’m willing to do it.”
That Class of ’15 recruiting group was once so promising that it appeared that Miller’s signees from that class — Trier, No. 29 Ray Smith, No. 37 Justin Simon and No. 93 Chance Comanche — would by now have Arizona ranked No. 1 and rushing toward an elusive Final Four.
Funny how things turn out, right?
Trier is the only one of that glitzy four-man class still in a Wildcat uniform. He has morphed from an offense-stopping, look-for-my-shot-first younger player to one that Miller now trusts to be his backup point guard in close games.
Trier is shooting a career-best 52 percent from the field, a critical 86 percent from the foul line and he already has more assists 66 than last year’s final total of 48.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for his game,” Colorado’s best player, George King, said Thursday.
When Colorado closed Arizona’s lead to 74-71 in the final minutes, the shot clocked whittled away to 5, 4, 3. …. McKale Center held its collective breath.
And then Trier beat the buzzer with a long 3-pointer.
Game over. The Finisher strikes again.
Three weeks earlier at Colorado, Trier and the rest of his team mailed it in. Trier was 2 for 8 from 3-point distance and only scored eight points. He didn’t even get fouled or shoot a free throw.
The Wildcats lost and Miller spoke in such dire terms that he seemed like a lost soul coaching a lost team.
But since that day in Boulder, the Wildcats have gone 5-0, Trier has averaged 21 points, made 31 of 34 free throws – most of them in clutch situations – and played his best basketball ever.
Arizona’s “check engine” light no longer shines.
