For Arizona’s many inactive players, it’s one thing to sit on the bench and cheer on your teammates for a couple of hours, then go home.
It’s another to spend six hours flying round trip to the center of the country and spend a night in a hotel — while trying to finish fall semester classwork — in order to do the same thing.
So Allonzo Trier (ineligible), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (ankle), Ray Smith (knee) and Talbott Denny (knee) didn’t make the trip to Columbia because of finals, UA coach Sean Miller said.
Staying home avoids the possibility of the injured guys swelling up with all that time in the air.
“It’s not worth the risk,” trainer Justin Kokoskie said.
