The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews all of the game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of Saturday's Pac-12 showdown against Stanford.
Who: Arizona (5-0) vs. Stanford (3-2)
Where: Kaiser Permanente Arena, Santa Cruz, Calif.
When: 5 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook
PROBABLE STARTERS: ARIZONA
G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)
G Jemarl Baker (6-5 junior)
F Dalen Terry (6-7 freshman)
F Jordan Brown (6-11 sophomore)
C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)
PROBABLE STARTERS: STANFORD
G Daejon Davis (6-3 senior)
G Bryce Wills (6-6 junior)
F Ziaire Williams (6-8 freshman)
F Oscar da Silva (6-9 senior)
C Spencer Jones (6-7 sophomore)
HOW THEY MATCH UP
Arizona's Jemarl Baker Jr., right, drives the ball past Stanford's Spencer Jones (14) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
The series: Arizona leads Stanford 68-29 and has never lost to the Cardinal since Sean Miller took over the program in 2009-10, a span of 19 straight. Arizona has won the past 20 games overall, last losing 76-60 on Jan. 4, 2009, when Russ Pennell served as the Wildcats’ interim head coach. The teams met only once last season, with Arizona winning 69-60 at McKale Center when Zeke Nnaji led the Wildcats with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
This season: Stanford is scheduled to visit McKale on Jan. 28 as part of the Pac-12’s standard rotation of 18 games. Arizona and Stanford were not initially scheduled to meet in California this season until the Pac-12 decided to play 20 games this season, and the game was then added back to UA’s 18-game slate, along with the Dec. 28 Arizona-Colorado game.
Arizona head coach Sean Miller held a press conference on Tuesday as the Wildcats prepare for Cal Baptist and the Pac-12 opener against Stanford on the road.
Stanford overview: Years of steadily increasing recruiting may finally pay off this season for Jerod Haase, who may have his best Stanford team yet. Loaded with experience and returning 74 percent of its scoring from last season — while also welcoming in the program’s highest-rated recruit ever, wing Ziaire Williams — the Cardinal is off to a 3-2 start despite having to live a nomadic existence thanks to a health order in their home county. The Cardinal opened Maui Invitation play with a win over Alabama and lost to North Carolina by four before Indiana beat them by 16 on the final day.
Stanford features the 12th most efficient defense in Division I so far, holding opponents to just 87.8 points per 100 possessions. Their opponents are averaging just 28.3% from 3-point range and turn the ball over an average of 16.0 times. In percentage terms, Stanford opponents turn the ball on over 21.8% of their possessions.
Offensively, the Cardinal is an average 3-point shooting team, taking just 33.4% of its shots from beyond the arc and hitting them at only a 31.3% rate. But they do a lot of damage by driving inside and going through all-conference forward Oscar da Silva, one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball. Guard Daejon Davis, who averaged 16.3 points while shooting 40.0% from 3-point range in the Maui Invitational, also will return Saturday after being held out Tuesday at Cal State Northridge for what Stanford said was not meeting program standards.
KEY PLAYERS
STANFORD: Oscar da Silva
Arizona's Zeke Nnaji, right, defends against Stanford's Oscar da Silva (13) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Stanford, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
Stat geeks gotta love the son of a Brazilian boxer and a mother from Germany: He’s currently the No. 5 player in Kenpom.com’s analytically-generated Player of the Year standings and according to Stats Inc., he’s the only player in the last 25 years to average 20 or more points while shooting above 65% from the field and 95% from the line over his first five games of a season. Among other notables, da Silva is shooting 70.5% from two-point range and when he’s on the floor, blocking shots on 5.9% of opponent possessions and rebounding 8.3% of the Cardinals’ misses.
ARIZONA: Bennedict Mathurin
Arizona freshman Bennedict Mathurin had an impressive week, averaging 13.0 points.
UA’s Canadian freshman has shown immense potential while also running into some typical freshman mistakes so far this season but he’s been careful defensively, committing only 2.1 fouls per 40 minutes. The Wildcats will need him to use his length to help stop the Cardinal’s driving ability, especially after Bryce Wills scored 25 points at McKale Center last season while drawing seven fouls and going 10 for 13 from the field.
SIDELINES
The one who got away
FILE — In this Jan. 20, 2020, file photo, Sierra Canyon’s Ziaire Williams (1) controls the ball against Paul VI during a high school basketball game at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. Williams is rated as the nation’s No. 6 prospect in the 247Sports Composite. Stanford coach Jerod Haase says Williams “has the unique ability to score on all three levels, and his versatility as a defender is elite.” (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)
Miller has never lost to Stanford on the court at Arizona, he did lose a big one to the Cardinal off it last April.
That’s when versatile five-star wing Williams chose the Cardinal over Arizona and USC after what had been a secretive recruiting battle.
“He’s one of the most talented players that we’ve recruited in the 12 years that I’ve been at Arizona,” Miller said.
“He’s an outstanding player, and as athletically gifted and talented as he is, I think he’s equally bright on and off the court. He’s also very skilled at shooting the ball. Sometimes at that height, at that age, shooting kind of follows the athleticism, just because they’re so talented they don’t necessarily have to invest in their shot. Ziaire really has both.
“I think he’s one of the best players in the Pac-12, one of the best young players in college basketball, and someone that we really wanted in the recruiting process but we weren’t able to get him. That happens.”
It’s still not McKale
Ira Lee goes up for a slam dunk against Stanford in Wednesday’s game. Coach Sean Miller says Lee “has really started to pick it up” for the Wildcats.
While Saturday’s game is technically being hosted by Stanford, it won’t be at Maples Pavilion. The venue, Kaiser Permanente Arena, is the 2,500 seat home of the Golden State Warriors’ G League team, located about 45 miles from Stanford (and, most critically, outside of heavily restricted Santa Clara County).
But that isn’t making Miller feel all that much better.
“We have to be ready for all different scenarios,” Miller said. “Playing a road game in a conference like the Pac-12 is challenging. And being that it’ll be our first game away from McKale, that in and of itself will be challenging for our group.”
Arizona offers son of Hoosiers legend
Chicago-area 2022 center Kyle Thomas, who announced this week he has received a scholarship offer from Arizona, may be rated only with three stars, but he has strong bloodlines: Thomas is the son of the late Daryl Thomas, who was the co-captain of Indiana’s 1987 national championship team.
Kyle Thomas also holds offers from Illinois, Nebraska and Indiana.
Reppin’ the Dodgers?
Arizona Wildcats forward Ryan Luther (10) receives an elbow near his face by Stanford Cardinal forward Oscar Da Silva (13) in the first half during a game at McKale Center on February 24, 2019 in Tucson, Ariz.
During a Zoom media conference after he dropped 32 points on Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, da Silva wore a Los Angeles Dodgers T-shirt under his Stanford warmup gear.
That’s a nod to Stanford assistants Jeff Wulbrun, a Southern California native who recruited him. But as to how the Dodgers actually won the World Series last fall, da Silva has no idea.
He’s from Munich, after all.
“I don’t really get it,” da Silva said of baseball. “But football, I’ve actually become a fan of football.”
Numbers game
3
Power conference teams that have yet to play a home game: Stanford, DePaul and South Carolina.
6
Times Arizona and Stanford have met off campus but only once outside of the conference tournament, in Honolulu during the 1968-69 season, when Arizona had not yet joined what was then the Pac-8.
29
Stanford’s rank in minutes continuity, a Kenpom.com measure of how many of a team’s minutes are played by the same players from the previous season.
302
Arizona’s rank in minutes continuity.
