Arizona Wildcats opt out of practice after loss at USC

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — After a 23-point loss at USC on Thursday, and with another tough potentially tough matchup Saturday at UCLA, the Arizona Wildcats took it easy Friday.

Sort of.

They took the day off from practicing, rather than bus to Pauley Pavilion or another Westside facility, and instead concentrated on resting and preparing at their beachside hotel.

“I just want our guys to have as much energy as possible and we can prepare through film and some of the walk throughs, which we’re doing,” Miller said Friday afternoon. “We have a shootaround (at UCLA on Saturday) so we’ll use that.”

The Wildcats had just eight players available who were recruited with scholarship offers Thursday, and it doesn’t appear likely Chase Jeter will make it nine on Saturday.

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Miller said Jeter is “incrementally getting better” but declined to estimate his chances of playing against the Bruins.

“I think he’s better right now than he would have been yesterday afternoon and that’s really all we can bank on,” Miller said. “I don’t know if he’ll play. Wouldn’t surprise me if he does not play. But it’s too early to tell because the next 12, 16, 20 hours he might feel a lot better.”

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Miller recruited many of the current Bruins, including Jaylen Hands, Cody Riley and Moses Brown, so he’s pretty aware of their potential despite their mostly mediocre performances this season.

“They have a very talented group. They’re just really inexperienced,” Miller said. “Sometimes you look out on the floor, and not one of the five was even on the court a year ago for UCLA, similar to us. And a guy like Jaylen Hands has a much different and bigger role than he did last year. I think Kris Wilkes is one of the best players in our conference, if not the country. There aren’t many players who score as easily as he does.”