Arizona center Oumar Ballo (11) reacts as the team leads against Arizona State during the second half of their Pac-12 Tournament semifinal matchup on Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) drives to the basket past Arizona State guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. (4) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)
Arizona State guard Frankie Collins (10) drives to the basket against Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa (25) during the second half of their game in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley, center, reacts to a call during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)
Arizona guard Cedric Henderson Jr. (45) reacts after scoring against Arizona State during the second half of their game in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis, left, shoots under pressure from UCLA guards Tyger Campbell, center, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis (10) grabs a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona State in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, Friday, March 10, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)
LAS VEGAS β In back-to-back seasons, the Arizona Wildcats will compete for a Pac-12 Tournament championship.Β
Second-seeded Arizona took down rival and No. 6 seed Arizona State 78-59 in the Pac-12 Tournament Friday night, the first meeting in postseason play between the Wildcats and Sun Devils since 2009.Β
Here are five takeaways from the Wildcatsβ latest triumph as they turn their focus to the championship game against No. 1 seed UCLA on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
1. Learning from past, dominating paint
Just call them the Arizona Avengers.Β
In revenge games against Pac-12 opponents this season, the Wildcats are 5-0. After falling to ASU in Tucson just a couple of weeks ago courtesy of Desmond Cambridge Jr.βs 60-foot buzzer-beater, the Wildcats handed their in-state rival a 19-point loss.Β
βWe have a great coaching staff thatβs willing to adapt,β said Arizona wing Pelle Larsson, who finished with 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting. βWe donβt want to be grumpy and stick to our ways. Every time we lose, we watch film and learn something, and that shows how weβre willing to adapt to win.β
Arizona smothered ASU 40-22 in points in the paint, adding to the Wildcatsβ 54-22 advantage over Stanford on Thursday; the UA is plus-50 in paint points in two Pac-12 Tournament games. In those two games, Arizonaβs frontcourt duo of Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo have combined for 75 points on 34-for-46 shooting from the field and 33 rebounds.Β
βObviously it's how we like to play, and when you got two bigs like we have, I think the smart thing is to feed 'em,β Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.Β
Up next: another revenge game; Arizona faces top-seeded UCLA for the conference championship on Saturday night.Β
βWe lost to them and we felt like we made a lot of mistakes, so limiting those mistakes in this game would be great,β Larsson said.Β
βWeβre playing for a championship, not just revenge, so weβre very excited.β
2. Kriisa: tape but no turnovers
Arizona point guard Kerr Kriisa wore red βKT tapeβ on his right shoulder after enduring an injury in the first half of the Wildcatsβ quarterfinal win over Stanford.Β
βIt holds it a little bit better, but honestly I just do whatever my medical staff tells me,β Kriisa said.Β
Kriisa, who shot a free-throw left-handed late against Stanford, scored five points on just 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. However, he added seven assists, three rebounds and no turnovers.Β
βThis time of the year, you put the team ahead of yourself," Kerr said. "If I started being moody, then it wouldβve let the whole team down, so I just went out there and did the best I could.βΒ
Once the adrenaline from Thursday wore off, Kriisaβs shoulder βwas definitely sore, especially in the morning.βΒ
βIn the morning, it wasnβt the best," he said. "But I have the best training staff and medical staff here.β
3. ASU's bubble busted?Β
As a βbubbleβ team, the Sun Devils fought for their postseason lives in the Pac-12 Tournament, and it just might be enough to qualify for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.Β
ASU (22-12) is currently projected as the βlast team inβ in the NCAA Tournament, albeit being listed as βtoo close to call,β per ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi. As of Friday night, Lunardi has ASU, Utah State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers as the last teams to secure at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament.
Lloyd believes the Sun Devils are a βtournament-worthyβ team.Β
βI know this ... if you match up with them in the NCAA Tournament, you're not going to sleep good,β he said. βThey are a difficult team to play against, and I think that's a team that can win NCAA Tournament games without a doubt in my mind.βΒ
ASU coach Bobby Hurley pleaded the Sun Devilsβ case as a team worthy of making the NCAA Tournament during his postgame news conference Friday.Β
βWe've demonstrated that we could go away from our home court and win, and that's a major priority in the NCAA Tournament. We have seven true road games, road wins, we're 5-1 on a neutral court. (And) we won 22 games in a power conference,β Hurley said. βHow much more do you really have to do? β¦ So I'm hopeful with all the things I stated that we would have a really, really good chance to get in the NCAA Tournament.β
4. 'Vegas Ced' rises in postseason play
Arizona forward Cedric Henderson Jr. is averaging 18.5 points and four rebounds in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Lloyd dubbed Henderson, the graduate transfer from Campbell, βVegas Ced.βΒ
βHe's been awesome. He's been great. β¦ He's one of those guys you wish you had for a couple years,β Lloyd said. βBut he kept climbing, and he's earned everything he's gotten in our program. He just keeps getting better and better and better. I know this: I'm super comfortable and confident when he's on the court.β
Henderson said βpressuring the ballβ has led to his impactful production on the offense end.Β
βBeing aggressive defensively and crashing the board hard allowed me to be more aggressive,β Henderson said. βKind of puts you in a mindset to play as hard as possible. And it just works out.βΒ
5. All the marbles
Arizona and UCLA: the two inseparable (for now) West Cast powers meeting up in the Pac-12 Tournament again. Together, the Wildcats and Bruins have won a combined 12 conference tournament championships β and are about to make it 13 on Saturday in the championship bout between the two top-seeded Pac-12 teams β going back to 1987.Β
Since the Pac-12 Tournament was moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2013, Arizona and UCLA have battled each other six times in the postseason, with Saturday marking the seventh.
The first contest in β13 was UCLAβs controversial 66-64 win, when Arizona point guard Mark Lyons was called for a double-dribble. But film showed UCLAβs Jordan Adams knocking the ball away, resulting in UA coach Sean Millerβs famous βhe touched the ballβ rant in the postgame news conference. The following year, the Bruins beat the Wildcats in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game. Since then, Arizona has won four straight against its longtime conference rival in Las Vegas, including the come-from-behind victory in the 2022 title game.Β Β
βEveryone wants to see it, not going to lie,β Jaquez said. βUCLA and Arizona, two top dogs in the Pac-12, and itβs always a show. Itβs always fun to play. I love playing them.β
Saturdayβs conference title game is also the first matchup between the Wildcats and Bruins since Jaquez edged Tubelis for Pac-12 Player of the Year, despite Tubelis leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, the first player to accomplish that feat since Leon Powe (Cal) in 2006.Β
Jaquez, whoβs averaging 17.4 points and eight rebounds per game this season, said Tubelis is βa hard player to guard, because heβs underratedely fast.βΒ
βHeβs very quick, and a lot of people donβt give him enough credit for his quickness and how he catches, rips and runs the floor. The way he gets his buckets is a lot different,β Jaquez said. βHe runs the floor and gets into open spots. Heβs good at getting open, and his teammates are really good at finding him. Itβs hard to guard.
"Heβs unique. Heβs 6-11, but heβs mobile β very mobile. A lot of guys that height, you can just stick him in the post, but he can rip and drive β and heβs a really good driver.βΒ
Said Tubelis of the matchup with Jaquez: βHeβs a really good player, and heβs really crafty. Itβs hard to stop him, because if you make a small mistake, heβll shoot over you. If I remember correctly, he guarded me at UCLA, so it was pretty hard. He pressured me every time I got the ball. β¦ He gives you a lot of contact, he spins and has a great shot. I mean, heβs the Pac-12 Player of the Year.β