Arizona Wildcats basketball: On Trier's triumphant return home, lights-out Lauri, unique unis
- Updated
Seen and heard during Arizona's 79-62 win over the Washington State Cougars. Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Allonzo Trier played Thursday, making his 2016-17 McKale Center debut by coming off the bench against Washington State.
Of course, this wasnβt news anymore β Trier made his season debut at UCLA last weekend and helped the Wildcats beat the Bruins by 11 points.
But his βstatusβ was important on Thursday night against Washington State for no other reason than it was his first game at home since last March.
Trier didnβt start the game β UA coach Sean Miller said on Monday he was going to ease Trier back into the rotation, and a return to the starting lineup is likely coming soon. But when he entered the game at the 15:19 mark of the first half, the sellout crowd gave him a loud, long standing ovation.
Trier quickly made a 3-pointer for his first made shot attempt in McKale of the season to rile up the crowd some more.
It wasnβt all pretty: Later in the first half, Trier attempted a Steph Curry-range 3-pointer from well beyond the arc and missed badly. But Arizonaβs fans, certainly, were happy the sophomore star was back.
A couple hours before the game, Trier tweeted out a photo of his Arizona jersey (more on that in a bit), shorts and two pairs of shoes with the caption βgame day.β The tweet received more than 700 retweets and 1,500 likes.
Trier finished the night with 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting with a career-high seven assists in 25 minutes.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
327: Days since Trier last played a regular season game in McKale β the last coming on Senior Night against Stanford last season on March 5, the game where Gabe York scored 32 points and made nine 3-pointers.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Breaking news: Lauri Markkanen is a good shooter. Over the last five games, Markkanen has made 20 of 29 3-pointers, or 68.9 percent.
The 7-footer can rebound, too. He finished with 13 of them Thursday. UA center Dusan Ristic was the only other player, on either team, to corral more than five rebounds, and finished with seven.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Arizona debuted its βDesert Opsβ uniform against Grand Canyon earlier this season, a jersey combination with shiny numbers and lettering meant to be copper, but appearing more like gold.
In an informal Twitter survey, we asked readers how they felt about this jersey. From nearly 50 responses, the general consensusβ¦
Ew.
The biggest criticism focused on the lack of actual Arizona colors β cardinal and navy β anywhere on the jersey.
To match the uniform, Trier wore a flashy, shiny pair of gold sneakers β the βWheat LeBronβ sneakers, to be exact, from LeBron Jamesβ popular shoe line β that can best be described as a cross between basketball shoes and Timberland boots.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Arizona had a special guest in McKale on Thursday night: ex-Wildcat guard Nic Wise.
Wise is particularly important for what he meant to Arizonaβs coach.
Wise was expected to bolt when Miller was hired, but the UA coach convinced him to stick around for one more year. Wise helped the Wildcats to a winning record (16-15) that they wouldnβt have achieved without him.
He averaged 14.4 points per game as a senior and has since made stops in Germany, France, Italy, Turkey and, most recently, Kosovo.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Arizona baseball season is less than a month away, and excitement for the Wildcats around Tucson is high after the teamβs improbable run to the College World Series final last year.
The Wildcats were honored β only current players, not those who have since graduated or moved on to professional baseball β during the first half in McKale on Thursday, and received the second standing ovation of the night.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Allonzo Trier played Thursday, making his 2016-17 McKale Center debut by coming off the bench against Washington State.
Of course, this wasnβt news anymore β Trier made his season debut at UCLA last weekend and helped the Wildcats beat the Bruins by 11 points.
But his βstatusβ was important on Thursday night against Washington State for no other reason than it was his first game at home since last March.
Trier didnβt start the game β UA coach Sean Miller said on Monday he was going to ease Trier back into the rotation, and a return to the starting lineup is likely coming soon. But when he entered the game at the 15:19 mark of the first half, the sellout crowd gave him a loud, long standing ovation.
Trier quickly made a 3-pointer for his first made shot attempt in McKale of the season to rile up the crowd some more.
It wasnβt all pretty: Later in the first half, Trier attempted a Steph Curry-range 3-pointer from well beyond the arc and missed badly. But Arizonaβs fans, certainly, were happy the sophomore star was back.
A couple hours before the game, Trier tweeted out a photo of his Arizona jersey (more on that in a bit), shorts and two pairs of shoes with the caption βgame day.β The tweet received more than 700 retweets and 1,500 likes.
Trier finished the night with 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting with a career-high seven assists in 25 minutes.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
327: Days since Trier last played a regular season game in McKale β the last coming on Senior Night against Stanford last season on March 5, the game where Gabe York scored 32 points and made nine 3-pointers.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Breaking news: Lauri Markkanen is a good shooter. Over the last five games, Markkanen has made 20 of 29 3-pointers, or 68.9 percent.
The 7-footer can rebound, too. He finished with 13 of them Thursday. UA center Dusan Ristic was the only other player, on either team, to corral more than five rebounds, and finished with seven.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Arizona debuted its βDesert Opsβ uniform against Grand Canyon earlier this season, a jersey combination with shiny numbers and lettering meant to be copper, but appearing more like gold.
In an informal Twitter survey, we asked readers how they felt about this jersey. From nearly 50 responses, the general consensusβ¦
Ew.
The biggest criticism focused on the lack of actual Arizona colors β cardinal and navy β anywhere on the jersey.
To match the uniform, Trier wore a flashy, shiny pair of gold sneakers β the βWheat LeBronβ sneakers, to be exact, from LeBron Jamesβ popular shoe line β that can best be described as a cross between basketball shoes and Timberland boots.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Arizona had a special guest in McKale on Thursday night: ex-Wildcat guard Nic Wise.
Wise is particularly important for what he meant to Arizonaβs coach.
Wise was expected to bolt when Miller was hired, but the UA coach convinced him to stick around for one more year. Wise helped the Wildcats to a winning record (16-15) that they wouldnβt have achieved without him.
He averaged 14.4 points per game as a senior and has since made stops in Germany, France, Italy, Turkey and, most recently, Kosovo.Β
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Arizona baseball season is less than a month away, and excitement for the Wildcats around Tucson is high after the teamβs improbable run to the College World Series final last year.
The Wildcats were honored β only current players, not those who have since graduated or moved on to professional baseball β during the first half in McKale on Thursday, and received the second standing ovation of the night.Β
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Allonzo Trier received a standing ovation when he entered the game.
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