When Arizonaโs reserve players scored three total points in a win over Washington on Jan. 3, there wasnโt all that much to worry about.
They were playing the Huskies at McKale Center, for one thing. For another, they simply made up for by playing three guys for 33 minutes or more, and all three scored 21 or more points. Bennedict Mathurin had 27 points, Christian Koloko 22 and Dalen Terry 21.
But with the Wildcats finishing up their first two-game week since mid-December by hosting Utah on Saturday โ and facing a three-game road trip that starts next week โ there probably wonโt be as much breathing room.
The reserves will have to help, whether or not backup forward Kim Aiken ever returns from an unspecified situation that has kept him out over a month now.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, thatโs exactly what the reserves did in Thursdayโs 76-55 win over Colorado at McKale Center.
Super senior guard Justin Kier packed 14 points and four rebounds into just 15 minutes off the bench, while sophomore guard Pelle Larsson had 12 points and five rebounds while hitting 2 of 3 3-pointers. Sophomore reserve center Oumar Ballo added five points and a rebound in 10 minutes.
Collectively, those three allowed UA coach Tommy Lloyd to keep all his starters under 30 minutes except Mathurin while helping pull the Wildcats away from Colorado in the final nine minutes.
โItโs just coming in and bringing energy,โ Kier said. โThatโs the first thing. No matter how the first five starters do, itโs just always bringing energy and thatโs something me and Pelle and Oumar really try to do.โ
Kier said it helps that heโs a veteran of the college game, having actually played it since 2016-17. But he had been a starter almost exclusively over three full seasons at George Mason and last season at Georgia. Larsson, meanwhile, started 18 of 25 games at Utah last season.
Yet both have assumed reserve roles this season, with Larsson doing so despite having missed most preseason practices because of a broken foot.
โI think Pelle is really coming on,โ Lloyd said. โI really feel that and see that. I just want him to just tighten up some of his decision-making and his passes a little bit. I think heโs really about to turn the corner and heโs gonna be a significant contributor in the second half of the season.โ
Larsson has become a steadier factor off the bench recently, except when he suffered an ankle sprains against Washington and Wyoming. And Kier has shown he can continue contributing as a starter even if heโs not starting but has struggled with consistency.
โI really challenged Justin today,โ Lloyd said after Thursdayโs game. โJustin is really talented and some days heโs great, some days heโs not. โฆ When he plays better, he really helps us.โ
Lloyd said he was disappointed that Kier picked up a travel call near the end of the first half and, worse, missed a defensive assignment on the next possession. But earlier in the half, Kier grabbed a loose ball late in the shot clock and flicked in a long 3-pointer at the shot buzzer to give UA a 17-6 lead nine minutes into the game.
โBy the time I looked up there was one second on the clock,โ Kier said. โWe shoot a lot of half-courters in pregame, so it actually felt really good the whole entire way. I kind of knew it was going in. I guess it was just luck of the draw.โ
Besides, Kier was hardly the only players Lloyd found himself disappointed in at times Thursday. The Wildcats took leads of up to 15 points in the first half but led by only four at halftime, and didnโt really start pulling away until the final 10 minutes.
Lloyd said heโs been trying not to use the Wildcatsโ relative lack of activity as an excuse โ they had played just once in three weeks because of COVID-19 pauses at UCLA, USC and ASU โ but said the Wildcats may have run into fatigue, especially because he limited the minutes of Azuolas Tubelis (nine) and Dalen Terry (12) in the first half after they picked up two fouls each.
โAll in all, the guys maybe got a little bit tired, maybe a little bit selfish, and thatโs not a good combination,โ Lloyd said.
In a way, maybe all the activity ahead will prove a good thing for the Wildcats. While they have to face a Utah team that had a week to prepare because of ASUโs COVID pause, the Wildcats are now the busier team.
After playing two games this week, Arizona will face Stanford on Jan. 20 on a trip that also includes games at Cal (Jan. 23) and UCLA (Jan. 25).
Their seemingly endless practices will be replaced more often by games and, maybe at this point of the season, thatโs a good thing.
โI definitely felt our decision-making wasnโt what it could have been in a lot of moments of the game, especially early,โ Lloyd said. โYou may be able to account that to a layoff. These games and the possessions in games are great teachers. A lot of times theyโre better teachers than what we do in practice. You can harp and say something in practice, but itโs maybe a little tougher for it to sink in.
โBut you get game footage and you can show guys. This team has been really good all year learning from film, so weโre going to continue to do that.โ
