SAN JOSE, Calif. — When Rondae Hollis-Jefferson still played for the Arizona Wildcats, it was rare for another team’s star to have a typical night. Hollis-Jefferson shut them down all season — and especially in March.
He spent most of Arizona’s 2015 second-round matchup with Ohio State defending D’Angelo Russell, who claimed pre-game that he wore the No. 0 because nobody could guard him.
Russell shot 3 of 19, scored nine points and Arizona won at ease by 15 points.
Kadeem Allen is that guy for Arizona now, except with a twist: The Wildcats don’t always put Allen on the other team’s best offensive player.
Lately, that’s been working just fine. Let the star get his, shut down the rest of the lineup.
Over Arizona’s last five games, the Wildcats have allowed Saint Mary’s Jock Landale to score 19 points, North Dakota’s Quinton Hooker to score 25, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks to score 25 and Colorado’s Derrick White to score 31. They fared better against UCLA’s Lonzo Ball in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Arizona is 5-0 during that stretch with an average margin of victory of 11 points.
Xavier, Arizona’s opponent on Thursday, is led by junior guard Trevon Bluiett. Since the Musketeers’ Edward Sumner went down with a knee injury, Bluiett has paced Xavier with 18.6 points per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field. He scored 40 points against Cincinnati on Jan. 26, and has scored 20 or more in five of his last eight games. Bluiett posted 29 in a second-round upset of Florida State last week.
He knows there’s a chance Allen will cover him on Thursday.
“I haven’t watched Arizona that much over the season, but I heard he was a good defender just going over personnel,” Bluiett said. “He’s one of the defensive players in the conference. I know he’s a great defender and I know he’s going to try and do his best to keep me out of the game.”
But looking at the Wildcats’ recent success, Allen might not cover Bluiett, and if he does, it won’t be for the whole game.
“He’s a good player,” Allen said of Bluiett. “He makes their team better. Bluiett stands out when he shoots the ball and he’s crafty with the ball, and he just makes everyone better.”
Stopping Bluiett is key: The Musketeers are 14-4 this season when he scores 20 or more points.
“I just look at it as another opponent, another game,” Bluiett said. “Based on that, I try to find the holes in the defense and make plays any way I can.”
Bluiett is listed at 6-foot-6. The 6-3 Allen will probably get some help from the 6-5 Allonzo Trier and the 6-6 Rawle Alkins. Arizona’s coaches will make that decision sometime before tipoff Thursday.
“I don’t know. We don’t know who will guard who,” Allen said Wednesday. “Coaches will make that decision game time tomorrow, and I’ll be ready.”
