Healing Kadeem Allen keeping Arizona Wildcats positive after loss to Bruins

The way Kadeem Allen looked during Arizona’s Senior Day loss to UCLA on Saturday, you’d think he might need to heal in two ways this week.

But while the UA guard is still battling the physical issue of his dislocated pinkie, he already appears to have the mental part taken care of.

Despite missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of his last game in McKale Center, Allen turned things around in the locker room afterward.

“Right after the game when we lost, he just told us, ‘Guys, keep your heads up. We have 10 games left in the season. Let’s make this season special,’” UA center Dusan Ristic said Monday, during the UA’s weekly news conference. “Even though we lost, he was positive, and that’s something that really impressed me after that game.”

Since the Wildcats don’t play again until they face ASU in Tempe on Saturday, Allen will have more time to take care of that physical issue, too.

He was seen fidgeting with his dislocated finger during the UCLA game — “playing on one hand,” UA coach Sean Miller called it — but Miller said Monday that Allen might get his stitches and bandage off by Saturday.

Miller said Allen has had to get more stitches than the original seven he received before the UA’s trip to Washington earlier this month to guard against infection and in case some opened up.

But Miller said Allen’s problem against UCLA wasn’t stitches popping off so much as just having to deal with the bandage on his shooting hand.

“That bandage bothers him. He’s not comfortable with it,” Miller said. “You think about it — every time he dribbles, passes, catches, shoots, it’s a factor. So maybe on Saturday (at ASU) when we get to that game, he won’t have a bandage. I don’t know.”

Miller said Allen is “healing and in a lot less pain” and all the Wildcats will get a chance to take it easier this week, actually. Miller said they will take a second day off and run shorter practices.

“We have to be smart right now because we’re late in the game. We’re entering March and we have 30 games under our belt,” Miller said. “I think it’s about practicing the right way — hard, but not overdoing it.

“Not just physically but also you can wear your own team down by showing them too much film and in your quest to be good at everything you kind of take it away. I think we’ll balance using this week to be as fresh as we can and ready at the same time.”

Miller excited about Heeke

Miller expressed enthusiasm about new Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke, saying Heeke reminded him in some ways of former UA AD Greg Byrne.

“He’s a really good person,” Miller said. “Easy to talk to, very down to earth, very genuine, and I think he’ll fit in very well here. We’re excited to have him. He’s coming at a very crucial time for our program and the athletic department. I think we’ll be in really good hands.”

Miller said Heeke’s combination of experience as an AD in the Mid-American Conference, and his 18 years in other roles at Oregon, are a blend of experiences that will serve the UA well.

Brooks, not Trier, named

Pac-12

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Player of the Week

While UA guard Allonzo Trier scored a career-high 28 points against UCLA, the Pac-12’s Player of the Week award went to Oregon’s Dillon Brooks — who hit a game-winner at California and also helped the Ducks stave off Stanford.

That’s the other side of Miller’s team-success-breeds-individual-accolades mantra.

“If there’s a lesson here, nobody’s talking about him because we lost,” Miller said. “No one really cares because you lost the game and that’s how it is in college basketball. When you win big games and your team is great, everybody gives you a lot of attention and when you don’t, you’re forgotten.”

Arizona had nominated Trier for the conference’s weekly award, while Stanford’s Reid Travis and UCLA’s T.J. Leaf were other notable nominees.

Miller praised the way Trier has been playing. The sophomore is shooting 68.6 percent overall and 64.7 percent from 3-point range in his last three games.

“Allonzo is becoming more comfortable and you’re seeing him kind of enter his best phase,” Miller said. “He missed 19 games and it’s not easy to all of a sudden just plug into a game, plus into a team, and it’s taken him a few weeks here to settle in. But he had a great game in a big game and he was a reason why we (had) a chance to win it. Not only did he have 28 points, but he was 11-for-14 from the floor, which was incredibly efficient.”

Miller’s son might attend UA

Miller was unable to watch his son, Cameron, play for Salpointe Catholic in the state championship 4A semifinals and finals last week because the Wildcats had games on the same days.

But Miller just might be able to see him more often next season: He said Cameron could enroll at the UA — though maybe not as a player — although Cameron has received a scholarship offer from Youngstown State and recruiting attention from several low-major Division I schools.

For now, Sean Miller said he was happy his son finished his career on a good note at a place he enjoys.

“He’s at a great school,” Miller said. “He loves it there and that’s what you worry about the most. He’s surrounded by a great group of people, teachers, coaches, his teammates. He’s had just an overall great experience at Salpointe on and off the court. That’s all that matters.

“The fact that it happened in the state championship is something he’ll remember forever and I’m very proud of him. He was one of the team’s leaders this year. He played his best at the end. I wished I would have seen it, that’s the downside of being a college basketball coach. That happens and you’re not there, but I know he understands.”

Rim shots

• Having expressed concern over the Wildcats’ efforts against UCLA’s zone defense Saturday, Miller said he found upon video review that the Wildcats actually scored 31 points during the 29 possessions when the Bruins used a zone. But the UA was just 1 for 8 the first eight possessions that UCLA used it in the second half. “And simultaneous with us going 1 for 8, they caught fire offensively,” Miller said.

• UA signee Alex Barcello will play for Tempe Corona Del Sol in the state Class 6A final against Basha at 7 p.m., Tuesday, in Phoenix’s GCU Arena.

• UA slipped from No. 4 to No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25. It also dropped to a No. 3 seed in the Midwest in ESPN’s latest NCAA Tournament bracket forecast.