Arizona-Cal postgame: On Rawle Alkins' prognosis, Dylan Smith's rhythm and Deandre Ayton's growl

BERKELEY, Calif. — With X-rays that came back negative and an aggressive nature, Rawle Alkins probably could have played Wednesday. He can probably play Saturday at Stanford, too.

But the Wildcats didn't take any chances Wednesday, sitting him out for precautionary reasons at Cal, and they may not Saturday, either: There’s too much at stake in the long term, for the Wildcats -- and for Alkins, who has been projected to go in the first round of this year's NBA Draft (the Ringer even has him as a lottery pick).

“Just for his peace of mind, his future, (we decided) to shut him down and not let him play,” UA coach Sean Miller said after UA beat Cal 79-58 on Wednesday.

Alkins has not reported any setbacks since returning from his broken foot on Dec. 9 against Alabama, and his play has improved steadily whilke he’s gained confidence. 

While Alkins wasn’t available for comment Wednesday, Miller said he felt pain during practice Monday and a “bit more” during Tuesday’s workout.

“But we got right on it and shut him down,” Miller said. “I think he actually feels a little bit better today than maybe he did yesterday, which is a good sign.”

Sophomore guard Dylan Smith said Miller told him he would start in place of Alkins on Tuesday night, though the soft-spoken Alabama native said that didn’t greatly affect his approach.

He looked comfortable, hitting two 3-pointers in the first half and a third just 24 seconds into the second half.

“It’s more of a rhythm when you’re playing (at the beginning) but it’s not about that,” Smith said. “It’s about winning. I’m just glad we won.

“Rawle’s a big part of the team. We need him with him to get back as fastsas possible. We needed an extra spark. I tried to provide it with defense and scoring if I could.”

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Deandre Ayton and Cal’s Don Coleman were both called for technical fouls for what appeared to be just a split-second of talking in the second half. Ayton dunked and celebrated by flexing, and Coleman appeared to respond.

When asked what he thought happened, Miller defended Ayton -- and, sort of, the officials.

“You know, it’s hard with a player like him because he’s so physically imposing and I don’t think you realize how much contact he takes,” Miller said. “He certainly gives his fair share out there but people bounce off him. If that’s a lesser person physically it would look almost like, `Wow, that’s a hard foul.'

“But with him, and it’s difficult for the officials because you can ref 60 games, 70 games, and there’s only one of him out there.

“But I do think that our conference is adjusting to Deandre and by the way he’s very composed. Very seldom loses it. I think he got called a foul for taunting. He growled at the guy or something. You’d rather him growl and tell him not to growl than be passive, right? I don’t think he meant any harm.”

Stanford won its fifth straight game by beating ASU on Wednesday, meaning the Cardinal’s game with Arizona will be an early showdown for sole possession of first place in the Pac-12.

ASU is now 2-4 in the Pac-12, and even Tra Holder is having issues.

But the Sun Devils this week at least picked up a commitment from five-star forward Taeshon Cherry, who decommitted from USC and was named in the Los Angeles Times as a subject in the federal investigation into college basketball.