Scouting report: No. 4 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 5 UCLA Bruins
- Updated
Prepare for Arizona's game against UCLA on Saturday with Bruce Pascoe's in-depth scouting report.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Matchup:Β No. 5 UCLA (25-3, 12-3 Pac-12) at No. 4 Arizona (26-3, 15-1)Β
Location:Β McKale CenterΒ
Time:Β 6:15 p.m. Β
TV:Β ESPNΒ
Radio:Β 1290-AM, 107.5-FM Β Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
The last time: Allonzo Trier returned from his 19-game suspension and Arizona limited UCLA to just 2-of-14 3-point shooting in the first half to take an 11-point halftime lead, then hung on to that margin in the second half of a 96-85 win at Pauley Pavilion. The Wildcats had six players score in double figures, led by freshman Kobi Simmons, who had 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Trier had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his first game back after the NCAA held him out because of a positive PED test.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Since losing to Arizona and USC in successive games last month, the Bruins have pulled off six straight wins, including an 82-79 win over Oregon at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 9 that put the Wildcats alone in first place in the Pac-12. Theyβve done it in part by playing better defense overall, mixing in a 3-2 zone defense with their man-to-man, becoming the third-best field-goal percentage defensive team in Pac-12 games (allowing just 42.9 percent) and the sixth most efficient defense overall (105.0 points allowed per 100 possessions). Reserve center Ike Anigbogu has been playing better on both sides of the floor, a 6-10 and 250-pound rim-protecting presence who also scored a season-high 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting at ASU on Thursday. Guard Aaron Holiday continues to be a disruptive defensive presence off the bench, while starting point guard Lonzo Ball leads the Pac-12 in steals (2.1) and assists (7.0) in conference play.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
You couldnβt pin UCLAβs loss to Arizona last month on the remarkable Bruin freshman guard: He had 24 points and eight assists to just one turnover in 37 minutes. Simply put, he's the motor for the nationβs most efficient offense.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Markkanen outplayed former UA commit T.J. Leaf last month, but the Finnish freshman has struggled from the perimeter lately while Leaf is averaging 19.5 points in his last six games β including 25 on 11-for-16 shooting at ASU on Thursday.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
βTheyβre the No. 1 offensive team in the country (92.1 points per game) and (third) in 3-point percentage (41.7). Theyβre so explosive at all five positions, and you can only hope to slow them down. On any given night, anybody on their team can beat you. To me theyβre the most explosive offensive team weβve played. (Defensively) theyβll mix it up, probably play a lot more zone against us. Their staff has done a great job of getting their guys to play better defensively. Theyβre holding teams to a lower percentage and coming together at the right time.β β UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack, who scouted the Bruins. Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Saying UA coach Sean Miller has done βone of the best coaching jobs of anyoneβ considering the Wildcatsβ various absences and only three losses to quality teams, ESPN's Jay Bilas said heβs deserving of being the coach of the year.
That doesnβt mean Miller will get it, of course.
βCoach of the year is kind of a weird thing,β Bilas said. βSome people look at it as who did the most with the least and so it leaves kind of the best teams out of it, like the coach is expected to do that. And then if youβve won at a high level like Arizona has, you donβt seem to be in the running for that.
βI think he is but reasonable minds can differ on that.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Lute Olson wasnβt yet the Arizona coach when Bilas was a high school recruit in Southern California in the early 1980s. But if he was, Bilas might have been tempted to play in Tucson rather than heading across country for Duke.
Or at least Bilasβ mom would have been.
βCoach Olson recruited me to Iowa and when he started recruiting me, I loved him, and still do,β Bilas said. βHeβs not only one of the great coaches but great gentlemen Iβve ever met.
βBut my mom was going to Iowa. Didnβt matter where I went. She was going to Iowa. She loved him. That was a done deal as soon as he walked in the door. She thought he was Paul Newman.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
While itβs hardly unusual for the parent of a student-athlete to think highly of their child's skills, the father of Lonzo Ball took it to another level last weekend.
LaVar Ball said Lonzo was better than Steph Curry.
βPut Steph Curry on UCLAβs team right now and put my boy on Golden State and watch what happens,β LaVar Β said.
Miller was asked earlier this week if heβs ever had a playerβs parent compare their son with an NBA player, and quickly sensed where the question was going.
βIβm not gonna comment on that,β Miller said.
But on Friday, ESPN analyst Jay Williams said he didnβt think LaVarβs comments would affect his son.
βI have a feeling that his father has been the way for a while, so I donβt think that bothers Lonzo as much as it bothers everybody else,β Williams said. βYou can compare him to a perennial all star and maybe the best shooter in the history of the game but he has this easiness about him. I commend him because itβs so different in todayβs culture. Weβre forcing these kids essentially to be grown men.βΒ
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Not surprisingly, secondary market ticket prices for Saturdayβs UA-UCLA game are the highest seen in recent years.
As of early Friday evening, the lowest asking price on both StubHub and VividSeats was $200 (for an upper section set) and TicketIQ said asking prices increased about 33 percent over the past two weeks to an average of about $318.
TicketIQ said the previous high asking price two days before a game was before UAβs Dec. 6, 2014 showdown with Gonzaga β but even that game was averaging a two-day-out price of $206.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
0: Arizona losses in seven previous Senior Day games under Sean Miller.Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
6:Β Previous Top 5 matchups in Pac-12 history before Saturdayβs UA-UCLA game, with the last in 2008 (No. 4 WSU vs No. 5 UCLA) and the last involving UA in 2004 (No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 5 Arizona.)Β
- Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
53.3:Β UCLAβs overall field-goal percentage, a mark higher than any Division I team has finished the season with since Duke shot 53.6 percent while winning the 1992 NCAA title.Β
The last time: Allonzo Trier returned from his 19-game suspension and Arizona limited UCLA to just 2-of-14 3-point shooting in the first half to take an 11-point halftime lead, then hung on to that margin in the second half of a 96-85 win at Pauley Pavilion. The Wildcats had six players score in double figures, led by freshman Kobi Simmons, who had 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Trier had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in his first game back after the NCAA held him out because of a positive PED test.Β
Since losing to Arizona and USC in successive games last month, the Bruins have pulled off six straight wins, including an 82-79 win over Oregon at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 9 that put the Wildcats alone in first place in the Pac-12. Theyβve done it in part by playing better defense overall, mixing in a 3-2 zone defense with their man-to-man, becoming the third-best field-goal percentage defensive team in Pac-12 games (allowing just 42.9 percent) and the sixth most efficient defense overall (105.0 points allowed per 100 possessions). Reserve center Ike Anigbogu has been playing better on both sides of the floor, a 6-10 and 250-pound rim-protecting presence who also scored a season-high 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting at ASU on Thursday. Guard Aaron Holiday continues to be a disruptive defensive presence off the bench, while starting point guard Lonzo Ball leads the Pac-12 in steals (2.1) and assists (7.0) in conference play.Β
You couldnβt pin UCLAβs loss to Arizona last month on the remarkable Bruin freshman guard: He had 24 points and eight assists to just one turnover in 37 minutes. Simply put, he's the motor for the nationβs most efficient offense.Β
Markkanen outplayed former UA commit T.J. Leaf last month, but the Finnish freshman has struggled from the perimeter lately while Leaf is averaging 19.5 points in his last six games β including 25 on 11-for-16 shooting at ASU on Thursday.Β
βTheyβre the No. 1 offensive team in the country (92.1 points per game) and (third) in 3-point percentage (41.7). Theyβre so explosive at all five positions, and you can only hope to slow them down. On any given night, anybody on their team can beat you. To me theyβre the most explosive offensive team weβve played. (Defensively) theyβll mix it up, probably play a lot more zone against us. Their staff has done a great job of getting their guys to play better defensively. Theyβre holding teams to a lower percentage and coming together at the right time.β β UA associate head coach Joe Pasternack, who scouted the Bruins. Β
Saying UA coach Sean Miller has done βone of the best coaching jobs of anyoneβ considering the Wildcatsβ various absences and only three losses to quality teams, ESPN's Jay Bilas said heβs deserving of being the coach of the year.
That doesnβt mean Miller will get it, of course.
βCoach of the year is kind of a weird thing,β Bilas said. βSome people look at it as who did the most with the least and so it leaves kind of the best teams out of it, like the coach is expected to do that. And then if youβve won at a high level like Arizona has, you donβt seem to be in the running for that.
βI think he is but reasonable minds can differ on that.βΒ
Lute Olson wasnβt yet the Arizona coach when Bilas was a high school recruit in Southern California in the early 1980s. But if he was, Bilas might have been tempted to play in Tucson rather than heading across country for Duke.
Or at least Bilasβ mom would have been.
βCoach Olson recruited me to Iowa and when he started recruiting me, I loved him, and still do,β Bilas said. βHeβs not only one of the great coaches but great gentlemen Iβve ever met.
βBut my mom was going to Iowa. Didnβt matter where I went. She was going to Iowa. She loved him. That was a done deal as soon as he walked in the door. She thought he was Paul Newman.βΒ
While itβs hardly unusual for the parent of a student-athlete to think highly of their child's skills, the father of Lonzo Ball took it to another level last weekend.
LaVar Ball said Lonzo was better than Steph Curry.
βPut Steph Curry on UCLAβs team right now and put my boy on Golden State and watch what happens,β LaVar Β said.
Miller was asked earlier this week if heβs ever had a playerβs parent compare their son with an NBA player, and quickly sensed where the question was going.
βIβm not gonna comment on that,β Miller said.
But on Friday, ESPN analyst Jay Williams said he didnβt think LaVarβs comments would affect his son.
βI have a feeling that his father has been the way for a while, so I donβt think that bothers Lonzo as much as it bothers everybody else,β Williams said. βYou can compare him to a perennial all star and maybe the best shooter in the history of the game but he has this easiness about him. I commend him because itβs so different in todayβs culture. Weβre forcing these kids essentially to be grown men.βΒ
Not surprisingly, secondary market ticket prices for Saturdayβs UA-UCLA game are the highest seen in recent years.
As of early Friday evening, the lowest asking price on both StubHub and VividSeats was $200 (for an upper section set) and TicketIQ said asking prices increased about 33 percent over the past two weeks to an average of about $318.
TicketIQ said the previous high asking price two days before a game was before UAβs Dec. 6, 2014 showdown with Gonzaga β but even that game was averaging a two-day-out price of $206.Β
0: Arizona losses in seven previous Senior Day games under Sean Miller.Β
6:Β Previous Top 5 matchups in Pac-12 history before Saturdayβs UA-UCLA game, with the last in 2008 (No. 4 WSU vs No. 5 UCLA) and the last involving UA in 2004 (No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 5 Arizona.)Β
21:Β Straight homecourt wins for Arizona.Β
53.3:Β UCLAβs overall field-goal percentage, a mark higher than any Division I team has finished the season with since Duke shot 53.6 percent while winning the 1992 NCAA title.Β
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