Arizona flipped that traditional three-point math equation on its head Friday.
You know: The one that says you only have to hit 33 percent of your threes to equal the scoring output of a 50-percent rate from two-point range?
In a 95-65 win over Sacred Heart, Arizona hit 15.8 percent from three-point range but 60.3 from inside the arc. The numbers were even more drastic in the first half: Just 10 percent from three-point range and 70.8 percent from inside.
Yet the game was really never in question.
So maybe if you can dominate inside, who cares about three-point efficiency?
Of course, it’s not really like that. Both coach Sean Miller and guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright were less than pleased with UA's outside shooting.
“Some nights they’re not gonna fall, but with that we did a lot of other things well that we take notice of,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “Moving forward, those shots will fall and we’ll get better.”
If they take the right shots, in part by getting the ball to the right people at the right time, and in the right place. Especially to Lauri Markkanen.
That was the apparent implication Miller gave when he brought up the Wildcats’ 3-for-19 three-point shooting.
“The other lesson we talked about is we don’t run post-up plays for Parker. We don’t ask Dusan (Ristic) to bring the ball up court. We don’t run certain plays for certain players because each of them has a special skillset.
“Lauri Markkanen is one of the best offensive frontcourt players in the country. We have a big mismatch at times and he (has the) ability to shoot it. That’s not common. It’s up to us to find him. You just can’t play as if he’s a normal big guy out there. There were times he was open and the ball didn’t find him. Then all of a sudden it did and he went on his own personal 8-0 run. Learning his value on offense and allowing other people to play off him, that’s our responsibility as a coaching staff. Lauri is efficient. He’s not going to take bad shots. That was about as easy a 22-point night as I’ve seen.
So what got into Ristic after he struggled for the first two games? Clearly it wasn’t about trying hard; Miller has consistently praised his offseason work.
Maybe it was about comfort.
“There’s a difference between starting and coming off the bench,” Miller said of Ristic. “When you’re a starter, you feel game pressure, you feel the intensity of the first four minutes. There’s a lot at stake. The score’s 0-0. It takes you some time to get used to that feeling and it’s not just Dusan. I think that (starting) group in general is starting to get used to going out there and getting us off to a good start. He clearly was ready to play tonight. That doesn’t surprise me.
Ristic had six points and an assist on a layup by Markkanen all within the first 5:13, and Miller was asked if it his plan was to go to Ristic early.
It was more than that, he said. Arizona shot twice as many free throws (26 to 13) as Sacred Heart and scored inside in a number of ways.
“It’s getting the ball close to the basket, whether we’re driving it, offensive rebounds, throwing the ball in the post, we want to do that,” Miller said. “That’s something we’re well aware, how any free throw attempts we get per game, are we aggressive? We had 26 free throw attempts and I think you’ve seen us shoot -- we’re a very good free throw shooting team. Not only getting is getting there important but also we make them when we get them. Rawle (Alkins) and Kobi (Simmons) have the ability to get there. Kobi didn’t tonight but Rawle did nine times and that’s great to see.
“It wasn’t just throw-the-ball-to-Dusan . It’s always that we try to drive the ball and get it close to the basket. We’re gonna be a better team when we do that.”
Simmons played 34 minutes in both of UA’s games this week, even getting a chance to play point guard a bit with Kadeem Allen battling knee sprain. Miller indicated before the season that Allen would play almost exclusively off the ball, but has shifted Allen back to the point at times while Simmons learns both guard spots.
“He’s learning off and on the ball,” Miller said of Simmons. “Even when he’s not the prototypical point guard, he’s using ball screens. We have him in a role right now a lot like we had with like Nick Johnson. Although we didn’t call Nick a point guard, it was almost like having a second point guard out there.
“And Kobi’s learning to play college defense, and it’s not easy for a young freshman to guard a guy like Quincy McKnight. I know he plays for Sacred Heart, but I’m here to tell you – he came in averaging 26 and he left averaging 25.5. He scored 20 on us in the second half. We can talk about it in practice, we can show film, but not until you go out there in a game do you really understand what it takes, how hard it is. And both Rawle and Kobi have learned a lot over the last couple of games.”
Once again, Keanu Pinder drew praise after collecting four points, two rebounds, one steal and a block in just seven minutes during the first half, keying UA’s 16-3 run before halftime.
“’Nu is that one guy who plays extremely hard,” Jackson-Cartwright said. “He doesn’t take plays off. He really sparked our energy in the first half. The block, him running, getting putbacks in the low post. He does everything for us, the dirty work, and it’s really exciting to see how far he’s come from the summer until now.”
Our full coverage and a PDF of the box score are attached.
Around the Pac-12, Oregon State's struggles continued in Nevada, while Utah had little trouble with Coppin State and ASU beat Tulane.
