PALO ALTO, Calif. โ Parker Jackson-Cartwright returned to practice today after experiencing no unusual soreness or setbacks following his 20-minute effort at Cal on Friday.
UA coach Sean Miller told the Star before the Wildcats went to a late afternoon practice at Maples Pavilion today that Jackson-Cartwright would practice normally and possibly play several minutes more than he did against the Bears.
But Miller said he would probably keep the same starting lineup, meaning Jackson-Cartwright could again come off the bench instead of returning Kobi Simmons to that role.
โWe just want to make sure we donโt ramp him up too much, and itโs not as much (about hurting) his ankle as conditioning,โ Miller said. โIf you donโt play in four weeks, itโs tough to go from that to being in a Pac-12 game from start to finish.โ
Miller said he had been aiming to play Jackson-Cartwright about 20 minutes on Friday, and he did exactly that. Jackson-Cartwright had two points, four assists, three rebounds and no turnovers.
โHe really helped us last night,โ Miller said. โI donโt know if we would have won the game without him. It says a lot about him. Itโs a testament to how hard he worked over Christmas break when he was home, and the four weeks he invested with Justin (Kokoskie, UA athletic trainer) and doing the right things that put him in a position to return to the team earlier than expected. It was a good lift to have him out there.โ
In a subtle way, the Wildcats will actually celebrate New Yearโs Eve tonight.
While they normally eat only in their hotel the night before games, the Wildcats were scheduled to go out to a local restaurant for a team dinner following their late afternoon practice.
Then they can stay up until midnight โ if they pretend to be still on Arizona time. Miller said the players will have a curfew time of about 11-11:30 p.m. Pacific time tonight, allowing them plenty of rest before the usual pregame routine of meals, game video and a shootaround scheduled for Sunday.
Both Arizona and Stanford have posted their game notes.
Stanford coach Jerod Haase says he's looking for a sense of urgency against Arizona, after the Cardinal lost to ASU despite a breakout performance from Marcus Sheffield.
