ALBUQUERQUE – While Rawle Alkins was Arizona’s obvious headliner on Saturday, because he scored a career-high 26 points on 9-for-11 shooting, Allonzo Trier put up a sneaky important performance in the Wildcats’ 89-73 win.
Trier not only had to contend with the usual defensive focus on him as a scorer but also had to shift over to point guard for about 13 minutes. In the first half, Trier played about nine minutes at the point, because Alex Barcello was out with an ankle sprain and Parker Jackson-Cartwright picked up two early fouls when he fouled Joe Furstinger and then the two were called for a double technical when they exchanged words afterward.
Trier also had 11 points on 2 for 2 shooting from the field, hit his only 3-pointer and went 6 for 6 from the line, all before halftime.
“I told him after the game that the first half he played might have been his best overall half that he’s played at Arizona," UA coach Sean Miller said.
"He played point guard, did a great job of defense, made big plays, was efficient. He let the game come to him. He might not have had as good as a second half but his statistics speak for themselves.”
Trier finished with 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting, went 8 of 9 at the line and had five assists to two turnovers.
He had no complaints about the role, either.
"It was fine," Trier said. "I love it when the ball’s in my hand. It’s just me having a different role, a different assignment, when Parker goes out of the game. I worked on it in practice so I was ready for this moment."
Miller said he wasn’t sure if Barcello would return Monday against North Dakota State but it doesn’t sound like the Wildcats are in any mood to rush him back.
Barcello's ankle worsened after he initially hurt it during a practice last week (UA wouldn’t confirm a specific date, but said it happened between the Dec. 5 Texas A&M and Dec. 9 Alabama games).
“We’re gonna get him back soon,” Miller said. “He had an ankle situation and looking at him in the Alabama game, as we led up to that, you could tell something was really bothering him. We decided to shut him down and get his health back.”
Barcello is known to be a pretty all-out guy, so I asked Miller if Barcello maybe didn’t tell everyone what he was feeling.
Miller said: “We were aware of it but it just got progressively worse.”
Miller said the fast pace of the Lobos fed into Alkins’ game, allowing him to make decisions in the open court and get to the basket.
Alkins said starting also allowed him to get a quicker feel for the game and to stay warm, though he noted that the environment wasn’t so friendly to deal with.
“We knew this was going to be a hyped game, a hyped crowd,” Alkins said. “They average 30 3s. We knew they were going to shoot it but we didn’t know they were going to make it the way they did. Hearing the crowd behind them, it felt a lot worse than it was on the scoreboard.”
Miller praised both the Lobo fans and first-year coach Paul Weir.
“We knew coming here that we were playing at a great venue and I have lot of respect for their coach,” Miller said. “He gets his teams to play with tremendous effort. They play such a unique and frenetic style that regardless of who you are as a team and what you’re trying to do, you’re going to have to deal with their style of play.
“I thought the second half they amped their pressure up and did a great job of taking the inside away, did a great job of man-to-man and fronting our post. The first half we got the ball inside easier but for the most part if you’d told me we’d play with 10 or fewer turnovers and have the offensive statistics that we did, I certainly would have signed up for it.”
Even though the Lobos are just 3-8, Miller said Weir’s first season with them “should be the most enjoyable of his coaching career” while he puts down a foundation for what’s to come.
“He inherited a program that was going through a lot of change and he’s utilizing this opportunity to implement a style, that as he has the opportunity to recruit to, will be a very very fun, exciting, successful style,” Miller said. “The pressure on coaches is immense but in his case he should feel no pressure because how he’s going about things.
"It’s exactly what I would have done when we came to Arizona, and that is `I really don’t care who we have, this is how we’re going to do it. We’re going to build a program and a system and in time it’s gonna win out.’ I think that’s what’s gonna happen. He’s a terrific coach.”
Thanks to a quick charter flight from the nearby Albuquerque airport (OK, “Sunport”), the Wildcats were back at McKale Center just before 11 p.m. Saturday.
The charter flight should allow them to more easily make a quick turnaround to play North Dakota State on Monday, a game the Wildcats had to cram in this week in order to keep finals week clear.
“We tried to give our guys a lot more space during finals week and I think they really took advantage of it,” Miller said. “It’s tough to play games during that week so with that we had to sneak one more game in unless we wanted to play it after Christmas and this was what it is.
"It’s almost like playing at Utah and then Colorado where in between games you fly, so we have to get ready to go. It’s a great preparation for the Pac-12 for our team.”
Our full coverage, along with PDFs of the box score and updated stats, are attached to this post.
