Game info

Who: Arizona Wildcats (10-4, 1-0) vs. Utah Utes (7-6, 1-0)

Where: McKale Center, Tucson

When: Noon Saturday

Watch: Pac-12 Networks

Listen: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G Brandon Williams (6-2 freshman)

G Dylan Smith (6-5 junior)

F Brandon Randolph (6-6 sophomore)

F Emmanuel Akot (6-7 sophomore)

C Chase Jeter (6-10 junior)

Probable starters: Utah

G Sedrick Barefield (6-2 senior)

F Timmy Allen (6-6 freshman)

G Parker Van Dyke (6-3 senior)

G Riley Batten (6-9 freshman)

F Jayce Johnson (7-0 junior)

How they match up

Series history

Since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011-12, Arizona is 12-1 against the Utes and has never lost to them at McKale Center. The UA swept the season series last year, winning 94-82 behind 22 points and seven rebounds from Rawle Alkins in Salt Lake City, and 74-73 at McKale Center, when center Dusan Ristic hit three 3-pointers and scored 23 points.

This season

Arizona will also face the Utes in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 14.

Utah overview

Despite losing four starters from a 23-win team that reached the NIT championship game last season, Utah made road trips to Minnesota and Kentucky and hosted Nevada. All three of those games were losses, but the experience might have paid off Thursday, when the Utes upset ASU in Tempe 96-86 when forward Donnie Tillman hit six of eight 3-pointers and Mesa product Timmy Allen had 17 points.

The Utes’ lone returning starter, guard Sedrick Barefield, has been effective both in the starting lineup and off the bench, dropping 33 points on Nevada as a reserve on Dec. 29. Tillman also has been coming off the bench despite being the Utes’ second leading scorer; he played 30 minutes at ASU while scoring 22 points.

Most often, Utah turns at the point to Barefield or freshman Both (pronounced “Booth”) Gach, a big, skilled passer from Minnesota via Phoenix’s Compass Prep. Parker Van Dyke is a 43.3 percent 3-point shooter who plays off the ball.

Tillman leads a pack of versatile players who can slide into either forward spot, but he often plays power forward while Allen is a skilled passer and scorer who is most often at small forward. Another freshman, Riley Battin, is a good shooter and passer at power forward.

The Utes lost Tyler Rawson and David Collette inside but have two 7-footers at center: Jayce Johnson, who is an efficient shooter and effective rebounder when he’s on the floor for an average of 17 minutes a game, collecting 13.6 percent of offensive rebounding opportunities, and physical Idaho State transfer Novak Topalovic.

Overall, Utah has one of the least efficient defenses in Division I, allowing opponents to shoot 37.4 percent from 3-point range and 51.9 percent from two, but the Utes make up for it with good shooting. As demonstrated at Tempe, when they made 10 of 16 3-pointers in the second half, Utah takes the 22nd highest percentage of 3s relative to two-pointers, and hits them at a 37.4-percent 3-point rate. Utah also shoots 54.4 percent from inside the arc and gets to the line 20.7 times a game, hitting free throws at a 74.1 percent rate. Utah averages 111.5 points scored per 100 possessions, the 35th most efficient offense in Division I.

Key player: Sedrick Barefield

Utah

The SMU transfer helped lead the Utes to the NIT final last season, and is their undisputed engine this season. Barefield leads the Utes in scoring and assists, with an effective shooting percentage of 53.9. It isn’t a good idea to foul him, either, since Barefield makes 84.4 percent of his free throws.

Key player: Emmanuel Akot

Arizona

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who played high school ball in Utah, Akot will likely have a busy defensive afternoon against the Utes’ many versatile, offensively-minded forwards, especially Tillman and Timmy Allen.

Miller optimistic about Coleman

Even though Justin Coleman played only four minutes Thursday against Colorado after dislocating his shoulder in practice Monday, UA coach Sean Miller was optimistic his point guard would quickly return to normal.

Miller said Coleman was “maybe at the best level” in the degree of injury he suffered, and was able to play him Thursday because the UA’s medical team determined he wouldn’t risk any harm by doing so.

“But once we got him out there and he started playing, I think it was in everybody’s interests to just kind of let him keep getting better” and resting, Miller said. “My hope is that against Utah he can play more, almost grow his role back to what it was.”

Less than a minute after he came in Thursday’s game with 15:31 left in the first half, Coleman threw the ball away in a move that looked like it might have been affected by his sore shoulder. But Miller said it was hard to tell if pain made a difference.

“I listen to both Justins,” Miller said, referring to Coleman and UA trainer Justin Kokoskie. “No. 1, it’s is he able to play? And once he’s in there you have to listen to the athlete. Because sometimes when they haven’t practiced and they’re not out there every day, the game feels funny.

“I think Justin did the best he could. It was great that he was able to contribute at all but my hope is that he can continue to contribute more with each passing day.”

Doutrive reunion canceled

By signing with Arizona in the spring, freshman Devonaire Doutrive knew that meant facing his older brother, then-Utah guard Vante Hendrix, at least twice a season.

Doutrive said it would be a battle but described their relationship as good. “He’s a brother and he’s a friend,” Doutrive said.

However, the matchup won’t happen Saturday because Hendrix left Utah in late November after averaging 7.8 points over four games he played for the Utes.

The Salt Lake Tribune said Hendrix, who changed his name from Devante Doutrive after last season, had an exchange with Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak on the sideline after Hendrix was called for a technical foul in what turned out to be his last game, on Nov. 22 against Hawaii.

Laurian and Carla Watkins, the guardians for both brothers, have scheduled school visits this weekend as they race to find a new home for Hendrix this semester. Under NCAA rules, Hendrix will lose the season of eligibility because he played four games, but he could become eligible for another school at the end of its fall semester next season.

The visits are making it a hectic weekend for the guardians, but there’s one positive about Saturday’s game for them.

“Well,” Watkins said. “At least our family will know who we are rooting for this time.”

Finally, some greener grass

When he committed to SMU and then-coach Larry Brown out of Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School five years ago, Sedrick Barefield had the sort of plan that’s all too common among highly regarded recruits these days.

“You always expect to be that kid who comes into college, plays one or two years and leaves to play professionally,” Barefield said. “But for me, it’s been the exact opposite.”

Barefield left SMU without scoring a single point. He played just five games for the Mustangs as a freshman in 2015-16, averaging 3.2 minutes a game, and transferred to Utah in January 2016.

He became eligible in December 2016 but, after averaging 26.5 points over his first two games with the Utes, averaged just six over the next five games.

In the fifth game of that stretch, against Arizona at McKale Center, Barefield was 1 for 7 from 3-point range and 4 of 12 overall.

“It’s been extremely hard, a lot of days of frustration,” Barefield said. “There were a lot of days I’d go back to my dorm room crying. But I played for coach K (Larry Krystkowiak) and I’ve played for Larry Brown and those are guys who push their players.

“I feel like my college career has been a total learning experience. I’ve grown so much mentally learning from there. Coming into college, I didn’t know the game and now I understand it more than ever.”

Now the Utes’ leading scorer, Barefield heated up late last season, averaging 16.0 points during Utah’s NIT run and scoring 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting against Penn State in the final.

“I thought Sedrick was tremendous the last six weeks” of last season, Krystkowiak said in August. “He gained a lot of confidence. It was understanding what it takes and having some of that experience under his belt.”

Numbers game

4

Straight seasons Utah has finished among the Pac-12’s top four teams.

28.7

Percent of 3-pointers Arizona opponents have made, tied for the second-best defensive mark in the Pac-12.

37.4

Percent of 3-pointers Utah has made, second-best in the Pac-12.

56

Brandon Williams assists, the most of any Pac-12 freshman.