Arizona's Allonzo Trier showing why he was a preseason All-American

Triple A: All-American Allonzo

Arizona coach Sean Miller says he didn’t know Allonzo Trier could have made Arizona basketball history last week and, in one sense, it’s hard to blame him.

Three 30-point games in row? In the eight-plus years since Miller has coached the Wildcats, an era marked mostly by balanced teams full of NBA prospects, only Derrick Williams had even hit the 30-point mark before Trier did it twice this month. Williams had 32 against Duke in the 2011 NCAA Tournament and 31 twice during the 2011 Pac-12 season.

Trier had 32 against NAU on Nov. 10, 30 against UMBC on Nov. 12, and 28 against Cal State Bakersfield last Thursday … when Miller pulled him out with 4:37 left.

“If I would have known that, I would have kept him in,” Miller said, “and, believe me, he would have found a way to get two more points.”

Yes, he probably would have.

This is Trier we’re talking about, a player so driven he appeared on the New York Times magazine cover at age 13, ventured through a handful of high schools mostly for basketball reasons, and then drove all night from Las Vegas to Tucson the very day he received his high school diploma from Nevada’s Findlay Prep.

That was his grad night.

This is also a highly motivated player yet to play a full season of college basketball because of injury as a freshman and a half-season suspension as a sophomore.

So far this season, there are no restrictions. In three games so far, Trier is averaging 30.0 points on 70 percent shooting, having made 58.8 percent of his 3-pointers and 80 percent of his free throws.

That’s an efficiency well beyond what he posted earlier in his UA career. In fact, his numbers are so compelling that efficiency-oriented stat guru Ken Pomeroy currently has Trier atop his Player of the Year computation.

“With Allonzo, there’s not a guard in college basketball who’s playing better than him,” Miller said after UA beat Bakersfield 91-59 on Thursday. “He’s really at a place where I thought he’d be.

“He’s a preseason All-American and that’s how he’s playing.”

Trier will have a chance to show it to a wider audience via ESPN networks this week in the Battle 4 Atlantis, with UA’s first game Wednesday against North Carolina State being streamed via ESPN3.

Here are five reasons why Trier is playing so well:

Nothing’s in the way now

While he started 21 of 27 games as a freshman in 2015-16, Trier missed seven games of conference play with a broken wrist he suffered in a quadruple-overtime game at USC.

Last season, he missed both exhibitions and 19 regular-season games because of a positive PED test, both keeping him off the court and into what he called a “glass house,” with everyone wondering what was going on while the UA remained quiet until after he missed 18 games.

He’s been through a lot, and kept going.

“If you look at his two first years here at Arizona, he missed almost half the Pac-12 as a freshman, and yet was on the all-freshman team,” Miller said in the preseason.

“Other coaches (vote for that) so that says a lot about what they think of him as a player. Then he came back for his sophomore year (after the suspension) and was the MVP of the Pac-12 Tournament, and our leading scorer (17.2 points).

“We have our fingers crossed that he has an opportunity to have a start-to-finish year where he’s healthy and hasn’t missed a practice.”

He’s matured

Not only will Trier turn 22 in January, but he’s had two years of adversity, games, practices and his own workouts to grow from since arriving in Tucson from Las Vegas early that morning of May 2015.

“Allonzo has put in as much work on the game of basketball as any player we’ve had,” Miller said. “He’s fought through his own adversity. I think it’s helped him. It’s allowed him to grow up.

“He’s more mature. He’s the best teammate he’s ever been.”

Trier said he’s now able to play more without thinking, to better anticipate — and to help lead his teammates on both sides of the ball.

“It’s my third year here now,” Trier said. “I have a different seat on the bus. So it’s not about being able to help myself. It’s about trying to help all my teammates, make sure they’re in the right spots. I have to set an example for all of them. I have to be more vocal.”

He’s defending

While Trier’s offensive gifts demand considerable energy on that side of the court, Miller has cited his progress on defense.

As always, the key has been in Trier’s preparation.

“We challenged him,” Miller said. “Him and I have watched a lot of film over the last couple of weeks and will continue to do so, because I think it’s very important that we are on the same page. I have great belief in him as a player.

“Him being locked in defensively, on every play and guarding sometimes a terrific offensive player in his own right, while he’s scoring, that’s what the great, great payers do and that’s what we think of him. That’s what he wants to be and I believe he’s well on his way.”

Trier said his experience helps, and he’s tried to pass on knowledge gained to younger teammates.

“It’s understanding what Sean expects out of us defensively, knowing the schemes and knowing where to be,” Trier said.

He’s more versatile

When Miller coached Trier on USA Basketball’s U19 team in the summer of 2014, he remembers coaching a fairly one-dimensional driver. A very good driver, but a one-dimensional player nonetheless.

Now Trier can drive or pull up with accuracy.

“He was very, very streaky as a shooter and it’s through his own determination and hard work that he’s made himself into a great shooter,” Miller said. “That’s part of why you see his efficiency improve, because it’s easy for him. He can score at all levels, the basket, foul line, from the 3-point line, in transition. Now it’s just a matter of continuing to grow, to refine that and always play tough defense and I think he’ll emerge as an All-American.”

Not only can Trier score in different ways now, but he’s also been a more active passer, notably giving the ball up so far this season against tight defense when he might have kept it before.

“If you look at his overall shooting percentage, he makes it look easy,” Miller said Thursday. “As a matter of fact, I’m surprised when he misses free throws.

“It probably cost him another 30-point game, but the stat that I love the most about him is he had four assists and one turnover (against Bakersfield) — and some of his passes tonight were great passes.”

He’s driven

Did we mention that already? It probably can’t be mentioned enough.

Trier mentions it, at least subconsciously, every time the ball leaves his hands.

“I trust my preparation every game,” he said after dropping 32 on NAU. “I work really hard at what I do. So I expect to make the shots I shoot.”