In the big picture, all is well with the Arizona Wildcats. Maybe better than could be expected.
Theyโre resilient, to be sure, having dealt with two season-ending ACL tears, the Allonzo Trier Saga, Parker Jackson Cartwrightโs bum ankle and Kadeem Allenโs popped pinkie โ all while collecting a 24-3 record, first-place position in the Pac-12 and track to a No. 2 or No. 3 NCAA Tournament seed.
Theyโve been through so much adversity that coach Sean Miller says if he had been told beforehand about it that โI would have said we wouldnโt be in the NCAA Tournament.โ
But since Trier returned on Jan. 21 and the Wildcats pulled out their biggest win of the year, 96-85 at UCLA, it has been difficult to gauge exactly where they are heading.
They struggled at home with the zone defenses of Washington and Washington State, fell behind at halftime to then-winless Oregon State, were blown out at Oregon, posted single-digit home wins over Stanford and Cal โ but managed to convincingly sweep the return games with the Cougars and Huskies last weekend.
This weekend could be a much clearer test of where they are, with home games against sneakily talented USC and again-surging UCLA at McKale. Maybe by then weโll know the answers to questions like these:ย
