Team's depth being tested, but good news may be on the way for resilient Wildcats

A year after his team kicked away a 22-point lead in a loss at ASU, Arizona coach Sean Miller might have had even more reason for concern when the Wildcats’ 26-point lead over the Sun Devils melted into the single digits during the second half Monday.

That’s because freshman wing Bennedict Mathurin went out with a sprained ankle late in the first half of Arizona’s 80-67 win over ASU, leaving the Wildcats with just three players they regularly count on plus lightly used freshman Tibet Gorener to fill out three perimeter spots.

The Wildcats survived Monday thanks to a 40-18 halftime margin they built in part behind Mathurin’s eight points and seven rebounds but the prospect of playing 40 minutes without him when Stanford and California come into McKale Center this week wasn’t something Miller was looking forward to.

“We’re, quite frankly, running out of players,” Miller said more than once during his postgame news conference.

But at the same time, there were also signs that the Wildcats might get through it just fine.

Here’s three reasons why:

• Mathurin’s injury wasn’t as bad as it initially appeared. The high-flying wing from Montreal went down under the basket while defending ASU guard Remy Martin’s attempted layup, then rocked back and forth slightly on the floor while in obvious pain in the moments afterward.

The first teammate to approach him, freshman forward Azuolas Tubelis, did not like what he saw.

“I was scared because he didn’t answer my questions,” Tubelis said. “But then J-Rock (trainer Justin Kokoskie) said that he will be OK so we hope him to get back soon.”

He was OK. Mathurin left the floor and took a quick in-house X-ray that returned negative. Without a break in the ankle, Mathurin then went on the floor to sprint during halftime warmups, but retreated when it became obvious he was in too much pain to play.

While Mathurin did not return to the bench in the second half, Miller was optimistic he wouldn’t be out long. He might even be able to play Thursday against Stanford.

“I don’t think his (sprain) is significant but it might be the first ankle injury he’s ever had,” Miller said. “The first one kind of scares you more than anything. My hope is over the next couple of days we are able to build up some confidence in him and he’s going to be able to see that he’s going to be all right.

“He’s going to be OK. It’s just I don’t know what the next few days or this week will look like.”

Miller said center Jordan Brown also suffered a similar ankle sprain in the first game against ASU on Jan. 21, but was able to recover and play 18 minutes on Monday.

“Jordan didn’t really practice but he really worked around the clock the last couple days to get ready for (Monday’s) game and I really credit Jordan,” Miller said. “He helped us tonight. And by the fact that he was able to play, I think that will really help him recover even more the next couple of days.

“Hopefully he’ll be closer to 100% against Stanford.”

• Kerr Kriisa may be able to play sooner than believed, for two reasons.

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Miller said Monday that the freshman guard from Estonia would be “eligible to play in games when we go to Utah and Colorado” next week, even though Kriisa was initially expected to be able to start playing only in the second game of that trip.

The key is in how the NCAA computes its penalty of making Kriisa sit out 70% of Arizona’s games because of arrangements he made to play for a club in Lithuania.

Since the Wildcats were planning a 27-game schedule at the time of the NCAA’s Dec. 21 announcement, the 70% penalty translated into 19 games that were to be completed before UA played at Colorado on Feb. 6.

But since the Pac-12 moved the second UA-ASU game up from March 6 to Monday, the Wildcats (12-3) now are on track to hit that 19-game threshold before the Feb. 4 game at Utah, assuming shelved games against San Diego (Dec. 21) and Oregon (Jan. 16) still count toward Kriisa’s “penalty clock.”

(Miller said last month that Kriisa would be able to play on Feb. 6 even if games were canceled before then.)

Whenever he is cleared eligibilitywise, Kriisa also appears likely to be cleared medically after suffering a broken nose and concussion in practice on Jan. 13.

Kriisa missed a game at Oregon State at Jan. 14 and also did not accompany the Wildcats to Tempe for their Jan. 21 game at ASU but was on the sidelines Monday.

Miller said after Monday’s game that Kriisa has been cleared for noncontact practices and expected he would be able to do more this week, paving the way for a possible return at Utah.

“He’s very, very close with his concussion,” Miller said. He might “be cleared to establish himself and practice. We need to get him to practice a few times so he can be the most ready he can be, but he comes to us at a very, very good time.”

• James Akinjo and Terrell Brown are resilient, versatile and experienced.

Without Mathurin, Akinjo played all 20 minutes in the second half while Dalen Terry played 19 and Terrell Brown 17 before fouling out, with Miller turning to Gorener to fill in for another three minutes.

After scoring 24 points at ASU on 8-for-17 shooting, Akinjo struggled from the field (3 for 10) on Monday but hit 9 of 11 free throws and dished six assists to only one turnover. Miller also complimented his defense.

“I think James is learning that as a point guard, there’s just so many different ways you can help win the game,” Miller said Monday. “The other night (at Tempe) he had a big night scoring. Tonight, he had a big night playmaking.

“He’s just our heart and soul. He believes in himself. We obviously believe in him. And his confidence is contagious. His teammates feel that confidence from him when he’s out there.”

Over a total of 35 minutes before he fouled out, Terrell Brown did a little bit of everything. He scored 18 points while going 4 for 9 from the field and hitting 9 of 10 free throws he took, while dishing three assists (though he had three turnovers) and collecting a season-high four steals.

It was the latest evolution for Brown, who led the WAC in scoring (20.7) last season and played more of a pass-first role before Jemarl Baker broke his wrist at UCLA on Jan. 9.

“I think the Pac-12 and playing at Arizona represents different challenges for him, but he’s capable of scoring and doing more, especially as he’s been given more of an opportunity,” Miller said.

“We talked to him when Jemarl suffered his season-ending injury that he could continue to be the distributor, he could continue to be a guy who really is unselfish, but we need some scoring from him. He’s really risen to the challenge.”