ARIZONA SCOUTING REPORT
ARIZONA:
- G Kadeem Allen
- (6-3 senior)
- G Kobi Simmons
- (6-5 freshman)
- G Rawle Alkins
- (6-5 freshman)
- F Lauri Markkanen
- (7-0 freshman)
- C Dusan Ristic
- (7-0 junior)
GONZAGA
- G
- Nigel Williams-Goss
- (6-3 junior)
- G Josh Perkins
- (6-3 junior)
- F Jordan Mathews
- (6-4 senior)
- F Johnathan Williams
- (6-9 junior)
- C Przemek Karnowski
- (7-1 senior)
HOW THEY MATCH UP
The series: The Wildcats have beaten the Zags in each of the previous three seasons in what might be the Westβs premier nonconference rivalry. UA blew out a shorthanded and injury- plagued Bulldogs team in the second round of the 2014 NCAA tournament 84-61, then edged the Zags in overtime 66-63 at McKale Center the following season after Gonzagaβs Byron Wesley missed three free throws that could have sent the game into double OT. Last season, the Wildcats overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to pull out a 68-63 win in Spokane. Overall, UA is 6-1 in the series, having lost only during the 2011-12 season in Seattle.
Gonzaga overview: Seems like just about every season you can make the case that Gonzaga has its best team yet under Mark Few. But really, maybe this is it. The Zags have a little bit of everything: good size, experience, solid point guard play and three-point shooting. While Arizona can match up with their size and speed, the Zags go a solid eight deep and have five players averaging in double figures. While Gonzaga lost skilled forward Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis to the NBA after last season, two Pac-12 transfers helped round them out: scoring-minded point guard Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and three-point specialist Jordan Mathews (Cal). Theyβve also gotten an outside shooting boost from guard Josh Perkins, who has morphed from a 38 percent to a 48 percent shooter from outside the arc. Inside, Polish big man Przemek Karnowski, who missed last seasonβs UA-Gonzaga game, is a force that the Wildcats may have trouble defending.
KEY PLAYERS
Gonzaga
- Nigel Williams-Goss
- The Washington transfer can do it all, averaging more than a 2-1 assist turnover ratio while leading the Zags in scoring with an especially efficient shooting touch from 3-point range and the free-throw line.
Arizona
- Kadeem Allen
- Itβs back to the grind more than ever for UAβs workhorse senior guard, who will have to run the point while trying to ward off Gonzagaβs many three-point shooters.
He said it
βTheyβre shooting the three much better. Williams-Goss is a much better addition to their backcourt and Mathews hit 6 of 12 threes against us (while at Cal last season). Theyβre a great three-point shooting team and they have Karnowski inside; he can score and pass out of the post. They have a great ball-screen and post-up offense. Williams-Goss is the total package. He can shoot threes assist, drive the ball. Killian (Tillie) and Zach Collins come off the bench. (Defensively) they play a lot more zone than they have in the past, a very aggressive zone.β
β UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack, who scouted the Bulldogs.
SIDELINES
Familiar faces
Whether itβs in the NCAA tournament, a home-and-home series or a neutral site such as the Staples Center, Arizona and Gonzaga keep managing to find each other.
This will be the fourth straight season that theyβve met, while theyβll also face each other next season in Phoenix and are both scheduled to play in the 2018 Maui Invitational.
UA coach Sean Miller is fine with all that. In fact, heβs the one who agreed to take the Wildcats to the Gonzaga campus last season for the first time ever, returning a game the UA won at McKale Center during the 2014-15 season.
βWeβre gonna continue to play Gonzaga because theyβre one of the best programs in college basketball,β Miller said. βTo have the opportunity year in and year out to play against them in a true away game or a neutral game makes a lot of sense, especially if you consider who they are in the West.
βI admire the program, the coach, and I love their team this year. β¦ You have to admire every single thing about their program on the court, off the court, their tradition, the quality of players they are able to maintain year in and year out.β
Miller said it was also important to play Gonzaga in Los Angeles, a city thatβs βreally important to our programβs historyβ (and traditionally a big UA recruiting ground).
βAnd on national television, thatβs the type of games you want to play in at Arizona,β Miller said. βBut they can also run you completely out of the city of L.A. if youβre not ready to go because of how great they are.β
Returning the praise
If it isnβt already obvious by their willingness to schedule each other that Miller and Gonzagaβs Mark Few have some mutual respect and a coaching friendship, Few chipped in with a few words of his own during a Basketball Hall of Fame publicity call earlier this week.
βWeβve had a great series and relationship with the University of Arizona,β Few said. βI canβt think of probably another program I have more respect for. And thereβs not a head coach I have more respect for than Sean. The job heβs done at Arizona has been one of the more amazing building and sustaining projects. Because when he took over he followed a Hall of Fame guy in Lute (Olson) and thatβs not an easy situation.
βOnce again, theyβre right up near the top in the college basketball landscape and weβve had some great games with them the last couple of years. We ended up on the short end so hopefully maybe we can turn that around.β
Upgraded
For all the success Gonzaga has had for nearly two decades now, it wasnβt until this season that the Zags lost two guys at the same time who made an NBA opening-night roster.
And even this year, it wasnβt a sure thing that both Sabonis and Wiltjer would make the NBA.
Sabonis was drafted 11th and is averaging 21.7 minutes for Oklahoma City, but Wiltjer had to make it via the free-agent route.
Wiltjer wasnβt drafted but signed with the Rockets and made the teamβs opening roster. He was sent down to the D-League Rio Grande Valley Vipers for five games last month but is currently back with Houston.
βWeβre really proud of what Kyle and Domas have been able to do,β Few said. βBut also Iβm happy and very pleased with the new guys we have stepping in.β
Numbers game
2 of Gonzagaβs four 7-0 starts have ended with losses to Arizona, in 2014-15 (at McKale Center) and 2008-09 (in Phoenix).
4 Arizona wins in nine games under Miller at Staples Center, where UA lost in the finals of the 2011 and 2012 Pac-10/12 Tournaments, the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 and the 2015 Elite Eight.
6 Lauri Markkanenβs standing among top 3-point shooters in the Pac-12 so far (46.9 percent).
β Bruce Pascoe