NCAA Tournament scouting report: No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 15 seed North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- Updated
Prepare for Arizona's NCAA Tournament opener against North Dakota on Thursday with Bruce Pascoe's in-depth scouting report.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Matchup: No. 2 seed Arizona (30-4) vs. No. 15 seed North Dakota (22-9)
Game: NCAA Tournament, first round
Location: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City
Time: 6:50 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
G Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior)
G Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman)
F Allonzo Trier (6-5 sophomore)
F Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman)
C Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior)
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
G Quinton Hooker (6-0 senior)
G Corey Baldwin (6-4 senior)
F Geno Crandall (6-3 sophomore)
F Drick Bernstine (6-8 forward)
C Conner Avants (6-7 sophomore)
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
North Dakota won the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles, edging Weber State 93-89 in an overtime thriller in Saturday’s tournament final in Reno, Nev. They were awarded a No. 15 seed on Selection Sunday, their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since transitioning to Division I in 2008-09. Arizona beat Colorado, UCLA and Oregon to win the Pac-12 Tournament, earning a No. 2 seed in the West.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Northern Colorado (Arizona won 71-55 on Nov. 21, North Dakota won 87-77 and 84-81) and Cal State Bakersfield (Arizona won 78-66 on Nov. 15, North Dakota won on 57-55 on Nov. 27).
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Fighting Hawks are 19-time veterans of the NCAA Tournament – below the Division I level, that is. They made seven different trips to the Elite Eight of the Division II event before beginning a transition to Division I in 2008-09. They became a full-fledged Division I member in 2012-13, joined the Big Sky Conference and are now on college basketball’s biggest stage. They made it this year by riding the talents of three guards who all average in double figures, led by senior guard Quinton Hooker. They run the nation’s 35th fastest tempo, averaging just 16.0 seconds per offensive possession, in large part because they are often successful in transition. They also shoot 3-pointers at a 38.7 percent pace. The Hawks are similarly aggressive on defense, pressing and playing mostly man-to-man defense. They average seven steals a game, with Crandall averaging more than two.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The versatile senior from Minnesota can score from all over the floor, and he’s made 89 percent of his free throws. Not surprisingly, he’s the only player in school history with more than 1,700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals, and he’s the second-leading scorer among active Big Sky players.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Hawks aren’t big but they are pretty athletic. Comanche is both. Arizona could go smaller with Keanu Pinder or try to see if Comanche can cause some matchup problems with his size and skills inside.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
“Crandall and Hooker are Pac-12-level guards. They’re really good in transition and they challenge you off the bounce. When you get 19 (Hooker’s scoring average) and 16 (Crandall) a lot of it isn’t always going to be out of a set so they do a good job of getting out in transition. All three of their guards are really aggressive and they can change the game. They’re like ASU and they’ll play four guards as well. We’ve gotta be able to defend the ball and get back in transition, and we cannot allow their pace to surprise us. (Defensively) they’re mostly man, with a little zone. They’ll pressure and deny you. They do a great job of stealing the ball.” — UA assistant coach Book Richardson, who scouted the Fighting Hawks.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
UA freshman Lauri Markkanen has played in plenty of tournaments for his native Finland, but usually those are the FIBA ones that involve pool play and then a championship round.
He’s learned that there is only a championship round in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ve been in tournaments where you have to win to advance,” he said. “But nothing like (that) it can end on the first day with a loss.”
That’s why they call it March Madness, of course. Once he started becoming interested in playing college basketball in the States, Markkanen said, he tuned into some tourney games over the previous two seasons.
Just not on regular Finnish television. That isn’t happening, at least yet.
“What’s the app called where you can watch the game later?” Markkanen asked. “I might have watched a couple of games on that.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The Salt Lake City arena once known simply as the Delta Center was changed from EnergySolutions Arena to Vivint Smart Home Arena in 2015, giving locals a mouthful to describe where the Utah Jazz played their games.
But at least it wasn’t toxic.
In a 2006 story titled "The Half-Life of Arena Naming Rights," the New York Times called EnergySolutions “a benignly named company that disposes of nuclear waste.”
EnergySolutions has a hazardous waste facility in the Utah desert, leading to all sort of easy jokes about the arena.
KSL Radio in Salt Lake invited fans submit theirs, and some of their nicknames stuck. Among them:
The Melta Center. ChernyoBowl. The Tox Box.
Others simply just called it the Garbage Dump.
On a (maybe) unrelated note, Vivent Smart Home Arena is set to undergo a $110 million facelift this summer to be completed in time for the 2017-18 NBA season.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
All the talk about Arizona’s chances to make the Phoenix Final Four has not been completely shut out of the Wildcats’ tight circle.
“A lot of celebrities are picking us,” UA guard Rawle Alkins said. “I think I saw Barack Obama picked us in his Final Four. So that’s pretty cool. It’s just a cool thing to see, but it’s not something I really think about.”
Allonzo Trier even found himself helping former NFL quarterback Micheal Vick make his NCAA Tournament picks.
“I'm just tryna fill out a perfect bracket … Allonzo Trier gonna be the X factor wit Lauri!” Vick tweeted.
Trier retweeted it with the response: “Appreciate the love coming from my favorite NFL QB of all time.”
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
7: Arizona wins in nine NCAA Tournament games played in Salt Lake City.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
15: Arizona wins in 21 NCAA Tournament games played as a No. 2 seed (UA is 3-1 under Sean Miller as a No. 2, all in 2015.)
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
19.3: Points Hooker averaged in the Big Sky Tournament en route to being named MVP.
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
27.3: Average Arizona wins under Miller, counting his 16-15 rebuilding year of 2009-10.
G Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior)
G Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman)
F Allonzo Trier (6-5 sophomore)
F Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman)
C Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior)
G Quinton Hooker (6-0 senior)
G Corey Baldwin (6-4 senior)
F Geno Crandall (6-3 sophomore)
F Drick Bernstine (6-8 forward)
C Conner Avants (6-7 sophomore)
North Dakota won the Big Sky Conference regular-season and tournament titles, edging Weber State 93-89 in an overtime thriller in Saturday’s tournament final in Reno, Nev. They were awarded a No. 15 seed on Selection Sunday, their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since transitioning to Division I in 2008-09. Arizona beat Colorado, UCLA and Oregon to win the Pac-12 Tournament, earning a No. 2 seed in the West.
Arizona and North Dakota have never played each other.
Northern Colorado (Arizona won 71-55 on Nov. 21, North Dakota won 87-77 and 84-81) and Cal State Bakersfield (Arizona won 78-66 on Nov. 15, North Dakota won on 57-55 on Nov. 27).
The Fighting Hawks are 19-time veterans of the NCAA Tournament – below the Division I level, that is. They made seven different trips to the Elite Eight of the Division II event before beginning a transition to Division I in 2008-09. They became a full-fledged Division I member in 2012-13, joined the Big Sky Conference and are now on college basketball’s biggest stage. They made it this year by riding the talents of three guards who all average in double figures, led by senior guard Quinton Hooker. They run the nation’s 35th fastest tempo, averaging just 16.0 seconds per offensive possession, in large part because they are often successful in transition. They also shoot 3-pointers at a 38.7 percent pace. The Hawks are similarly aggressive on defense, pressing and playing mostly man-to-man defense. They average seven steals a game, with Crandall averaging more than two.
The versatile senior from Minnesota can score from all over the floor, and he’s made 89 percent of his free throws. Not surprisingly, he’s the only player in school history with more than 1,700 points, 400 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals, and he’s the second-leading scorer among active Big Sky players.
The Hawks aren’t big but they are pretty athletic. Comanche is both. Arizona could go smaller with Keanu Pinder or try to see if Comanche can cause some matchup problems with his size and skills inside.
“Crandall and Hooker are Pac-12-level guards. They’re really good in transition and they challenge you off the bounce. When you get 19 (Hooker’s scoring average) and 16 (Crandall) a lot of it isn’t always going to be out of a set so they do a good job of getting out in transition. All three of their guards are really aggressive and they can change the game. They’re like ASU and they’ll play four guards as well. We’ve gotta be able to defend the ball and get back in transition, and we cannot allow their pace to surprise us. (Defensively) they’re mostly man, with a little zone. They’ll pressure and deny you. They do a great job of stealing the ball.” — UA assistant coach Book Richardson, who scouted the Fighting Hawks.
UA freshman Lauri Markkanen has played in plenty of tournaments for his native Finland, but usually those are the FIBA ones that involve pool play and then a championship round.
He’s learned that there is only a championship round in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ve been in tournaments where you have to win to advance,” he said. “But nothing like (that) it can end on the first day with a loss.”
That’s why they call it March Madness, of course. Once he started becoming interested in playing college basketball in the States, Markkanen said, he tuned into some tourney games over the previous two seasons.
Just not on regular Finnish television. That isn’t happening, at least yet.
“What’s the app called where you can watch the game later?” Markkanen asked. “I might have watched a couple of games on that.”
The Salt Lake City arena once known simply as the Delta Center was changed from EnergySolutions Arena to Vivint Smart Home Arena in 2015, giving locals a mouthful to describe where the Utah Jazz played their games.
But at least it wasn’t toxic.
In a 2006 story titled "The Half-Life of Arena Naming Rights," the New York Times called EnergySolutions “a benignly named company that disposes of nuclear waste.”
EnergySolutions has a hazardous waste facility in the Utah desert, leading to all sort of easy jokes about the arena.
KSL Radio in Salt Lake invited fans submit theirs, and some of their nicknames stuck. Among them:
The Melta Center. ChernyoBowl. The Tox Box.
Others simply just called it the Garbage Dump.
On a (maybe) unrelated note, Vivent Smart Home Arena is set to undergo a $110 million facelift this summer to be completed in time for the 2017-18 NBA season.
All the talk about Arizona’s chances to make the Phoenix Final Four has not been completely shut out of the Wildcats’ tight circle.
“A lot of celebrities are picking us,” UA guard Rawle Alkins said. “I think I saw Barack Obama picked us in his Final Four. So that’s pretty cool. It’s just a cool thing to see, but it’s not something I really think about.”
Allonzo Trier even found himself helping former NFL quarterback Micheal Vick make his NCAA Tournament picks.
“I'm just tryna fill out a perfect bracket … Allonzo Trier gonna be the X factor wit Lauri!” Vick tweeted.
Trier retweeted it with the response: “Appreciate the love coming from my favorite NFL QB of all time.”
7: Arizona wins in nine NCAA Tournament games played in Salt Lake City.
15: Arizona wins in 21 NCAA Tournament games played as a No. 2 seed (UA is 3-1 under Sean Miller as a No. 2, all in 2015.)
19.3: Points Hooker averaged in the Big Sky Tournament en route to being named MVP.
27.3: Average Arizona wins under Miller, counting his 16-15 rebuilding year of 2009-10.
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