In his last two games -- 64 minutes played total -- Parker Jackson-Cartwright has 15 assists and one turnover.
That eye-opening ratio is coming just in time for Arizona. Not only have the Wildcats played their last two games with just eight players, but they also had to face a fulltime zone defense for the first time this season on Monday against Northern Colorado, along with the Bearsโ fast-moving, well-spaced offense.
The way Sean Miller spoke after UA's 71-55 win Monday, Jackson-Cartwright was the kind of veteran they needed to get through it.
โHeโs just more experienced,โ Miller said. โHe has certainly gotten stronger but what he is is experienced. Everyone holds the freshman to this high standard (as if) theyโre the reason you win or lose. But if you look at our freshmen tonight it was the first time they ever defended a style like we defended. It was the first time we ever played against a college zone and we were down at half.
โIt didnโt look good so we had to dig deep but because they had to go out there and perform they had to learn. Theyโll learn a lot more this way.โ
Miller said learning to play against the zone doesn't mean you have to โaudition your three-point shooting skillsโ but be able to penetrate for drives and postups, and know when to go and when not to go.
He said a three-point play by PJC in the second half, that finally sparked some momentum in the Wildcats, was an example of how to deal with it.
โYou know, Parker heโs learned how to play the game, he knows our system, heโs been in college now for three years, heโs always been someone you trust with ball in his hands,โ Miller said. โFifteen assists and one turnover (in two games)? I donโt know what coach wouldnโt take that.
โIt has a way of being contagious. We played with six turnovers. Playing with single digit turnovers in any game in November, especially playing as many new players as we are, is a good sign for us. So thatโs something we have to keep with us, to have an opportunity to be that same responsible team.โ
Jackson-Cartwright said the initial adjustment to the zone was hard because โweโre a team that likes to get out and run,โ but that it adjusted in part by swinging the ball from side to side more often and penetrating then kicking the ball back.
โItโs going to feel funny for some time,โ he said. โBut when we make adjustments, we can get out and get some easy baskets.โ
Add another impressive stat to Lauri Markkanenโs early college career: He played 38 minutes on Monday, in large part because Miller found him an ideal antidote to what Northern Colorado was doing.
โHe was exhausted but against the zone and the way their team plays offense, he was the perfect guy for us to keep in, no question,โ Miller said. โWith your best players, sometimes you have to allow them to play through fatigue. We don't want to play anybody on our team 38 minutes a game but there are those games when theyโre going to be called on to play more.
โWe had a couple guys not play as well. And Lauri, his ability to make shots, and he had 13 total rebounds.. โฆ and whatโs really good about his game tonight is he didnโt get off to a great start. But he was able to leave that behind and play through that. He was better in the second half than he was in the first.โ
While Markkanen and Jackson-Cartwright helped solved the zone, Allen took on a key defensive role against Northern Coloradoโs Jordan Davis, even though Allen was in just his second game after returning from a knee sprain.
โI think heโs back,โ Miller said of Allen. โHe doesnโt have his total confidence back yet offensively. (On Friday against Sacred Heart) he was trying to do the best that he could but he was clearly better tonight. And we needed him.โ
Allen said he felt great Monday, after he felt more tentative in Fridayโs game.
โIt was more of a fear factor,โ Allen said of his five minutes Friday. โI was kind of nervous.โ
Allen also drew some laughs in the interview room when he spoke about Davis.
โHeโs a good player,โ said Allen, his eyes then appearing to light up a bit when he looked at the box score. โOh yeah. I give credit to him. Heโs a great player and his team fed off him. Heโs a great young point guard and heโs going to get better.โ
Well, guess who showed up and dropped 32 points on Sacred Heart on Monday? Was Santa Clara's Jared Brownridge warming up for another torching of Arizona on Thursday?
Certainly, Miller hopes not. Brownridgeโs 44-point effort a year ago, in a game that went to overtime before UA pulled out a win in the Wooden Legacy, was enough.
โThey have a player who scored as many as many points as any player has against our team other than Jimmer Fredette,โ who scored 49 during the 2009-10 season, Miller said. โHe was closer to 60 than 20. He missed some good shots and that says a lot about last yearโs team for us. Everybody saw that defensive stopper role and they just ran as fast as they could the other direction.
โIt was about other things and we fought that throughout the year. And although we might have improved somewhat that never became part of last yearโs identity. With this yearโs team I think we have a better opportunity to be tougher, more responsible, to be able to get big stops and we have to be able to guard one of college basketballโs best guards.โ
On Thursday in Las Vegas, Miller will also be facing one of his best coaching friends, Herb Sendek, who is no longer a rival as he was at ASU but nevertheless is once again an opponent.
Miller said he spent time with Sendek as he took a year off after ASU fired him, and that โSanta Clara is very lucky to have him as their coachโฆ. He returns to the game probably a better coach than he was the last 20 years, and heโs been a heck of a coach before he got to Santa Clara.โ
Sacred Heart's Quincy McKnight earned Northeast Conference Player of the Week honors in part because he scored 22 points on the Wildcats last Friday.
Here's a link to the online box score for the Santa Clara-Sacred Heart game. A PDF of the Arizona-Northern Colorado box score is attached along with our photo gallery.ย
