On five of the nine occasions that Sean Miller has taken Arizona on a two-game conference swing through Los Angeles, the Wildcats have been swept.
The odds donβt look too good for them against UCLA and USC this weekend, either. And their timing is awful.
USC is leading the Pac-12 at 11-2 and just rose to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday, when projected high-lottery pick Evan Mobley also picked up what appeared to be his 43rd Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award.
Actually, it was only his sixth, setting a new Pac-12 record for Freshman of the Week awards, but you get the point.
Mobley averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.0 blocks and 2.0 assists in the Trojansβ wins at Washington State and Washington last weekend, pretty much obliterating any shot that Arizonaβs nominee, Azuolas Tubelis, had after averaging 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds between UA win over OSU and a loss to Oregon.
The only question about the Trojans last weekend was whether they would also nominate Mobley also for the Pac-12 Player of the Week or grad transfer Tahj Eaddy, who averaged 19.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in USCβs road sweep.
USC nominated Eaddy ... and he was beaten out by somebody on an even better roll, UCLAβs Johnny Juzang.
That means the Wildcats will have to face Mobley & Co. on Saturday, then face Juzang, who scored 32 points at Washington and 25 at Washington State, and the rest of UCLAβs balanced attack.
The Bruins should have plenty of urgency, too. They lost 81-73 at WSU, their third loss in the past five games, dropping them to 10-3 in conference play.
Again, not great timing for the Wildcats, who already lost to USC and UCLA at home last month.
With only four games to go, maybe five if its postponed game at Oregon is rescheduled, Arizona has lost four of its past six games after beating Oregon State last Thursday and losing to Oregon to remain in sixth place.
USC tip time set
Arizonaβs game at USC on Saturday has been set for 4 p.m., with coverage on Fox (Channel 11).
The Wildcatsβ UCLA game on Thursday was already set for 7 p.m., though it had not been announced as of Monday if ESPN or ESPN2 would carry it.
Bruins, Buffaloes still getting AP votes
While USC is still the Pac-12βs only ranked team, UCLA finished 37th in voting overall despite its loss to WSU.
Colorado was 26th overall in voting totals last week but fell to 30th Monday after losing at Cal. Oregon received the 31st-most points in voting after winning 63-61 at Arizona on Saturday.
However, the Buffs are at No. 19 in the NCAA NET rankings, right behind USC (15). UA was No. 45 in the NET, No. 41 in Kenpom and No. 50 in Sagarin as of Monday.
Five-star center considering Wildcats
Five-star 2022 center Enoch Boakye of Canada decommitted from Michigan State and is considering Arizona, according to Tipton Edits.
Boakye told Sports Illustrated that UA, ASU, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, USC, Duke, Kentucky, Washington State and Gonzaga have already reached out since he decommitted.
βI donβt really have a timeline for deciding now,β he told SI. βAt the same time, I donβt want to waste anyoneβs time. I think things will move fast. I think eventually Iβll get to a top three and then Iβll announce.β
Mannion enjoying G League opportunity
When Warriors coach and former UA Wildcat Steve Kerr said last month he wanted ex-Cat Nico Mannion to βlet it flyβ in the G League bubble, his fellow former Wildcat took the words to heart.
Entering a game Monday against Raptors 905, Mannion had averaged 20.3 points and 6.7 assists over three games for the Santa Cruz Warriors while shooting 40% overall and 32.1% from 3-point range.
In six previous games with the NBAβs Warriors, Mannion had averaged just 1.5 points and 2.0 assists. He told the 1 Star Recruits podcast last week how he was looking forward to the opportunity.
Kerr βkind of talked to me before I left, saying βWe know you can make plays, weβve seen you play defense,β β Mannion said. βSo he was like βThe one thing you just need to work on is just getting comfortable shooting with game reps,β because his past couple months Iβve really only been able to get practice reps and workouts, not a whole lot of game minutes.β
Mannion said the last time he felt βreally in the mixβ in a competitive game was UAβs first-round Pac-12 Tournament win over Washington last March 11 before COVID-19 shut down the sports world. That meant it had been nearly 11 months before he played that sort of role again in the G League bubble, starting against the Ignite on Feb. 10.
βLooking at the rosters, thereβs some vets down here and thereβs a lot of talent,β Mannion said of the G League on the podcast. βSo getting those game reps I think Iβll just be even more comfortable headed back to Golden State.β