The Arizona Wildcats couldn't have asked for a better week than the one they just had.
A week ago, UA didnβt have Allonzo Trier and nearly threw away a 23-point second half lead at USC. Sean Miller threatened to bench underperforming players even though he had only three reserves, and a potential beating at UCLA was up next.
The next day, Trier was reinstated from his 19-game suspension. The day after that, the Wildcats upset UCLA.
On Monday, UA popped into the Top 10 and, on Tuesday, three potential No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds all lost. On Wednesday,Β Josh Pastner's guys beat another Top 10 team, Florida State.
Now, Arizona is only a pair of homecourt wins away from an undefeated first half of conference play, and the WildcatsΒ can have sole possession of first place if they beat WSU and Oregon somehow stumbles at Utah tonight (thoughΒ history suggests the Ducks will be fine).
We looked into how even the Phoenix Final Four looks more likely than ever to include the home-state Wildcats, at least at this very early point.
However, UAβs defeat of UCLA looks a little less impactful after USC took care of the Bruins on Wednesday at the Galen Center. The Bruins had trouble solving the Trojans' zone defense.
Washington, meanwhile, appeared to sleepwalk through some late-night action at Wells Fargo, where ASU broke its four-game losing streak. The Huskies made the long trek home after Wednesdayβs game and wonβt return to Arizona until Saturday, for the game at McKale on Sunday.Β
While Markelle Fultz couldn't will UW to a win again, he did show off a Martin Luther King tattoo on his chest.
We had a look at WSU and the Huskies in our scouting report/notes, and Miller talked up the Cougarsβ win at Washington, their toughness in a close loss at Cal and their win over Colorado last Saturday.
And, of course, their standout power forward, who is still in Pullman.
βJosh Hawkinson always been one of my favorite players in our conference,β Miller said. βHeβs done it year in and year out. I feel like heβs been there about six years at this point. He averages almost a double-double, shoots 55 percent from the field and heβs a capable 3-point shooter. Ike (Iroegbu) is the same, he has a lot of experience. And Malachi Flynn is one of the best freshmen in our conference.
βErnie (Kent) does an incredible job of coaching offense, putting his players in position to score, and they have a style on offense and defense thatβs unique.β
Hereβs the school-produced notes from Arizona and WSU. Our advance coverage is attached. The Spokesman-Review advance speaks to the Cougars' slim chances tonight while CougCenter points out that playing the game on Thursday makes it even worse for WSU.
