STANFORD, Calif. β After playing eight games away from McKale Center already in his college career, Rawle Alkins has noticed something about road trips with the Arizona Wildcats.
That is, theyβre not really road trips.
Especially in the neutral- and semi-neutral atmospheres they have played in often, like Sundayβs Arizona-Stanford game at a decidedly neutral Maples Pavilion.
βUsually everywhere we go, we have a home court no matter where we go,β Alkins said. βWe had a home court in Houston. In Vegas. We have Arizona fans everywhere so we appreciate it. The fans really helped us a lot.β
After Sundayβs game, UA fans blockaded the Wildcats route from their locker room to the team bus so tightly that many of them walked the opposite direction down a Maples Pavilion corridor, then out to the court, where they could find a less cluttered-path to their bus.
Even then, Parker Jackson-Cartwright was stopped immediately upon reaching one end of the floor.
βCan we get a selfie?β a fan asked Jackson-Cartwright.
Stanfordβs Reid Travis had to work hard for his 11 points and eight rebounds Sunday β thanks to the length and depth UA put up against him -- and UA coach Sean Miller was grateful for that.
Among other things, Travis was just 5 for 12 from the field and shot only three free throws, making only one, when he averaged more than eight taken entering the game.
βHeβs a heck of a player,β Miller said. βI think heβs one of the best (in the Pac-12). The big thing with him is free throws so we tried to deal with that as best as we could. But size and depth, it helps when you have four of them instead of only one or two big guys.β
The Wildcatsβ 71.4-percent 3-point shooting was by far their best of the season, with their previous best being a 50-percent effort (9 for 18) against Santa Clara. Their 10 made threes was also a season high.
Miller said the three-point shooting made Arizonaβs offense overall the most efficient it has been all season. (UA also made 21 of 23 free throws).
However, UA also tied a season-high in turnovers, with 19.
βI think the only thing we didnβt do was take care of the ball,β Miller said. βWe had some turnovers that you donβt want to have on the road. I think the other things we did really well offset that.β
While Parker Jackson-Cartwright played two more minutes than he did Friday at Cal (he played 22 against Stanford), with six assists to his three turnovers, he missed all four field goals he took.
Heβs shooting just 35.2 percent overall this season and 23.8 percent from three-point range after having led the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (48.6) in league games last season.
βParkerβs doing really well,β Miller said. βThe thing that heβs most uncomfortable with right now is shooting and heβll get that back. I think it was missing four weeks and prior to that he wasnβt shooting real well, so his percentage is really low.
βHeβs a far better shooter than heβs showing in the games and thatβs going to come. Now that heβs regularly back practicing, I would like to think here he could make a lot of shots. Heβs not on balance when he shoots. You can tell he doesnβt have a lot of confidence. But it only takes one to go in and heβll never look back.β
UA's 39-point margin of victory was its biggest since the Wildcats beat Cal 99-60 on March 5, 2014 at McKale Center.
Our game story and sidebar are attached to this post, as are PDFs of the box score and updated stats.
