Underneath all that external hype No. 8 Arizona is generating at 10-0 so far this season, there are also some more unspoken tips-of-the-cap that coach Tommy Lloyd is beginning to see.
On Saturday at Illinois, the Illini poured in nearly double their average of made 3-pointers, many of them of particular difficulty, during Arizona’s 83-79 win.
Then, on Wednesday, there was Northern Colorado’s decision to use at least some of its eight prior days off to scheme defensively for the Wildcats. Primarily man-to-man team this season, the Bears on Wednesday threw out a triangle-and-two defense in an attempt to slow down UA’s Bennedict Mathurin and Kerr Kriisa.
It worked pretty well, for about 29 minutes, until UA pulled away from the tiring Bears and were able to take a breather. Then the Wildcats could rest easy, knowing they’ve defeated man-to-man defenses, zone defenses, differing uses of the press and, now, a flat-out gimmick.
After 10 games, they might have seen just about everything.
“There’s probably a few more tricky defenses out there, and if we see them, that’s a sign of respect for us,” Lloyd said. “That means we’re a good team that teams are having to dig deep to find plans to play against us.”
As with Illinois, Northern Colorado also appeared motivated on the other side of the ball. Especially guard Daylen Kountz.
The former Colorado guard, who had just two points on 1-for-4 shooting at McKale Center two seasons ago with the Buffaloes, poured in a career-high 33 points while going 4 for 5 from 3-point territory.
“He’s a really good player for one (thing), and he just kind of got it going,” Lloyd said. “I think we went under a screen or two early on him, he banged in a 3 and probably said, `Hey, you know, this might be one of my last chances playing a Pac-12 team, so I’m going to let it rip tonight.’
“They did a good job getting it into his left hand over and over again and he was in attack mode going downhill, or he would stop and hit a pull up. He’s just a really good player and we just didn’t do a good job guarding him individually or as a team.”
Tubelis dishes career-high eight assists
However, the Bears couldn’t match UA inside, with Christian Koloko collecting 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while Azuolas Tubelis approached a triple-double with 16 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
The eight assists doubled Tubelis’ previous career high, and the Lithuanian sophomore said he’s never had as many as ten even in club or FIBA ball.
But, in typical fashion, Tubelis didn’t make too much of it. Among other things, Tubelis noted that eight assists means, well, eight other guys had put the ball in the net.
“It was just the way we moved the ball,” Tubelis said. “If I see the open a teammate I’m just passing the ball and that’s it. They scored well, and that’s why I got eight.”
Fans help out
While the Wildcats didn’t attract their biggest crowd of the season on Wednesday, with an announced crowd of 11,943 showing up, they might have been the most active. Many fans stood on their feet throughout much of the second half, with UA leading by only four points with 11 to go before finally pulling away.
“To be honest, the crowd was better than we were tonight for a lot of the game,” Lloyd said. “I just think when you’re when you’re playing at home and you’re there to support your team, I think as a fan, it’s pretty cool to be proactive and make yourself part of the environment rather than sit back and worry about every referee call or every tough shot one of our guys takes or every defensive mistake.”
More metrics
After scoring in triple digits for the third time this season, Arizona not only ranks No. 1 in points per game at 97.1 but also is first in scoring margin (28.6) and assists per game (21.9).
The Wildcats are now third in assist percentage (ratio of assists to made field goals) at 65.8%, while their opponent Saturday, Cal Baptist, is No. 1 at 68.9.
Meanwhile, three Wildcats now rank among the top six most improved players since the preseason, according to college basketball analytics website EvanMiya.com, Kerr Kriisa is No. 2, Dalen Terry is No. 4 and Christian Koloko is No. 6. The site measures player ratings by their efficiency — and how their teammates do — when they are on the floor.
