Just 15 seconds into Arizonaโs game with Oregon on Thursday, Justin Coleman sank a 3-pointer and everything was on track.
The Wildcats went on to lead the Ducks by up to five points in the first half, while the early shot meant Coleman needed just two more points to hit 1,000 for his college career.
He didnโt score again ... and the Wildcats lost.
But, considering Colemanโs winding journey through college basketball, what was another game?
The Arizona grad transfer from Birmingham, Alabama, scored 406 over two seasons at Alabama then, after redshirting in 2016-17, poured in 432 at Samford last season before graduating and moving to Tucson.
He entered UAโs 82-71 win over Oregon State with 160 points as a Wildcat, then knifed through and shot over the Beaver defense while delivering five assists and 5-of-10 shooting.
Coleman finished with 14 points, giving him 174 so far this season, and 1,012 for his college career with at least 14 games left to play.
โHe took a hard road to get there, but I know it means a lot to him; he had the ball in his hands at the end of the game,โ UA coach Sean Miller said. โScoring 1,000 points if youโre him โ Iโm sure he dreamed of doing that as a little guy at Alabama โ he worked his whole life to be a college player and he doesnโt do it because of his great athleticism or his great size. More than any guy on our team he loves the game. He really does. He works at the game.
โHeโs always in the gym and I think a big reason he wanted to finish his career here is he wanted to play on that big stage again and see what he can do.โ
Coleman showed what he can do on the biggest early season stage in college basketball โ the Maui Invitational โ by making the all-tournament team while averaging 20.7 points.
In part because of his offense in Hawaii, the UA picked up its biggest win of the season so far, against Iowa State, and played competitively with Top 10 teams Gonzaga and Auburn for over half of each game.
As a true point guard, Colemanโs focus isnโt usually on scoring, though. But creating shots for others and, at least occasionally, himself is.
โOur team needs a little bit of a scoring punch from him and you canโt always be the unselfish distributor on the perimeter,โ Miller said. โThis yearโs team needs him to take the open 3 and we need him to be a penetrator because thatโs his gift. He does that as well as or better than anybody on our team and I think our guys really feed off his energy.
โI credit Oregon (on Thursday) โ they limited his penetration and they limited his ability to score and you could see it just didnโt feel right.โ
Coleman spent much of Friday reliving that experience, and making sure it didnโt happen against the Beavers, too.
โI made a lot of mistakes in the Oregon game so I watched the film three or four times,โ Coleman said. โI just learned from my mistakes and tried to be ready. I had four turnovers and I just tried to be better this game.โ
Coleman finished with probably his best overall game since Maui, even counting UAโs 70-68 win over UC Davis last month, when he hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute left.
Afterward, not only did Coleman carry the ball around but his teammates also happily dumped water on him, according to what Brandon Williams told the Pac-12 Networks.
Then, after Coleman and Ryan Luther entered the post-game interview room, Luther finished it up by reminding everyone what just happened.
Luther might have just had the best game of his season, with 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Beavers, but that wasnโt what he was talking about.
โJust one more thing,โ Luther said. โMy guy, Justin Coleman, it was his 1,000th point of his career. Everyone on our team knows what type of guy he is and what type of person, and with all heโs been through heโs really deserving. A thousand points in college is pretty special.โ
