After fixing two of Sean Miller’s biggest defensive fears at ASU last week — defending the 3-pointer and not fouling excessively — Arizona has the perfect incentive to keep it going.
That is, after the Wildcats contend with an Oregon State team that is much more comfortable in Gill Coliseum on Thursday, they’ll have to revisit the site of that 85-58 loss at Oregon last season.
In that game, the Ducks hit 16 3-pointers, including 10 of their first 13 beyond the arc, to hand the UA its largest margin of defeat since the Jimmer Game of 2009-10.
“They made, I think, at one point 10, 11 three in a row, and it really felt funny,” UA center Dusan Ristic said. “We all felt powerless at one point. But hopefully this year, we’ll change that. it’s one of the toughest road trips.”
Of course, there’s no Tyler Dorsey, Dillon Brooks, Jordan Bell or Chris Boucher around on the Ducks anymore. Miller made that point while remarking on last year’s game in Eugene with wonder, too.
“There’s a lot of new faces on both teams,” Miller said. “It’s not only a brand new year but it’s toward the end of the regular season. I’ve been in a lot of games at this point and that’s one that’s not easy to forget. It was like a video game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many 3-point shots go in. They may have hit 8 or 9 in a row, maybe more.”
While the Wildcats have put up two of their best wins since a team meeting following their loss to UCLA on Feb. 10, Miller downplayed the meeting somewhat.
“I mean, sometimes team meetings can be overblown or overstated,” Miller said. “If your team’s constantly having them, that’s probably not good, either. Over the long journey of the season there’s probably going to be a couple times when they’re needed and we’ve had those times.
“Somebody like Dusan has been at the forefront of those conversations. I believe we have a team that cares about each other. We have high expectations and we’ve all worked really hard.
“I was thinking about it driving in here today, (about) going to Spain in August. We really have started at that point. Although you’re not playing games, that’s when it started. So here we are down the stretch and I think we have a group of guys who are focused on the right things.”
If Arizona happens to sweep OSU and Oregon this week, Ristic will become the "winningest" player in Arizona history, a measurement Miller initiated earlier in his UA tenure.
Currently, Matt Muehlebach and Kaleb Tarczewski are tied with 110 wins played in, while Ristic has 109 and Parker Jackson-Cartwright 104.
"Obviously, it would be nice, it would be fitting, that somebody who’s spent as much time away from home, that’s worked as hard as he has and could be considered one of the most improved players in our programs’ history" would get it, Miller said. "I would say if you look all the way, he would probably be right there as somebody to compare with another former Arizona player that, `Man, did they get better from the time they walked into Arizona to the time they left.' So be very fitting and appropriate if he would be the guy who would leave here with the most wins."
Miller said the next two weeks will determine if Deandre Ayton becomes the Pac-12 Player of the Year — not only in how he does but also in how the Wildcats do as a team.
“A lot of those things take care of themselves if at the end of the regular season you have the most wins,” Miller said, when asked if Ayton would win the award. “If you’re the conference champion, with team success comes individual accolades, as you know. Especially in all conference voting. But I think he’s in the mix and a lot will depend on how we finish.”
While the Pac-12 Player of the Week awards are voted on by media who regularly cover the league, the end of season awards are voted on by coaches.
Rawle Alkins said last week he doesn’t want to take any more extra rest days and Miller said that’s fine as long as he doesn’t have any more soreness in his foot.
“It’s all about his pain,” Miller said. “Right now he has zero pain and with zero pain he’s able to do whatever. This break does come at a great time for him as well because he’s able to get a couple of days off and focus on the stretch run. He could be with us in everything we do all the way until the end and, knock on wood, I think that’s where he’s headed right now."
Miller said he had no reaction to reports last week that the federal investigation could wind up being extremely broad across college basketball.
“My focus is on our team,” he said.
Arizona moved up to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Wildcats are No. 22 in Kenpom, 14 in Sagarin, 23 in ESPN's BPI and 17 in RPI.
ESPN's Bracketology has UA a No. 4 seed in the West.
