LOS ANGELES โ Allonzo Trier has a drug testing schedule of every 7-10 days and wonโt be tested again until next week, according to the Pac-12 Networksโ Lewis Johnson, suggesting heโll be out again on Saturday when the Wildcats play at UCLA.
Johnson revealed the testing schedule during Thursdayโs UA-USC broadcast.
However, when I asked UA coach Sean Miller after Thursday's game if he knew of a testing schedule now that Johnson had mentioned one, Miller said "we don't."
Miller went on to say that he canโt comment further as per the UA statement quoting Trier saying he has asked UA not to say anything further.
The statement did not say what drug Trier took, what the injury was he sustained that prompted him to take it, how and by whom it was administered and how often he is being tested.
Kevin O'Neill isย among those wonderingย about what has been in Trier's system so long.
The Wildcats won their 11th straight game and improved to 17-2 on Thursday, yet exited their Galen Center locker room in a manner that suggested they lost. Dusan Ristic said they had an extended conversation after the game about letting down in the second half.
Miller offered a version of the same talk with the media afterward, having seen his defense give up 50 percent or more shooting in the second half for the third straight game.
Texas A&M, Colorado, ASU and now USC have all outscored the Wildcats in the second half while preventing UA from running away from those games.
โThis isnโt the first time a team went on a 30-11 run,โ Miller said. โI think itโs about the sixth time. Weโve hung on like this a number of times and itโs really a bad sign because as thrilled as we are to win -- theyโre a quality team -- if you just continue to see guys go on a 40-10, 30-8, 20-0, 16-2 run you have to address it as a coach and what Iโm gonna start doing is sitting a couple of guys and then everybodyโs going to know heโs not giving effort, heโs not playing hard enough.
โBecause the one thing you can control as a team is your effort level. We gave up on our effort level too many times in the second half โฆ we should be like 10-9 (with this problem). Weโre 17-2 and we give up these runs. So we donโt have time to talk a lot about it because weโre playing UCLA at 1 oโclock, but if we do that against UCLA they will beat us by 30 points. Thatโs one thing I do know.โ
You know somethingโs really bugging Miller when he fields a question about something completely different and transitions into the topic that he's not happy about.
Hereโs how he responded to a question about whether it was a focus to get Lauri Markkanen the ball in crucial moments:
โYou have to really be a bad coach to not give him the ball in critical moments just because heโs a great free throw shooter, a really good 3-point shooter, and from a decision-making standpoint, he rarely turns it over, and heโs physical,โ Miller said. "He can score from two. Itโs smart to put him in position to have the ball.
โThere are some other guys who can certainly deliver. I really wasnโt worried about our offense. Our offense was better in the second half than in the first. We got the ball inside more than we got to the foul line more. We attacked their zone with much more confidence. But while we were doing that, they went on the run they did in large part because if you don't defend them with your heart and soul being connected together theyโre too good of a team.
โTheyโre too well coached, they have too many good players and theyโre gonna make a run. And, again, if Iโm only talking about one team, itโs not going to be a problem. I can name seven teams, eight, maybe nine, where we might have been up 20, 10. When youโre on the road up 21, a lot of good things are happening. To make that come down to a one-possession game for about the seventh or eighth time is beyond concerning and we have to address it.
โWhen we have a big lead, we pull off the accelerator. We donโt have 11 guys who are playing right now so weโre kind of at the mercy of a guy saying, `Hey, look you have to finish, you have to be the same guy you were in the first half.' Tonight we had a hard time again and we did the exact same thing against Arizona State. We gotta move on to UCLA but UCLA may be the team to really teach us a lesson abut how important it is to be in the game for 40 minute because theyโre so good on offense.โ
Rawle Alkins hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and added a block and a steal, but still had moments of frustration Thursday. He shot 3 for 11 from the field, with four rebounds and three turnovers to his two assists.
โI think he got a little down because he had some layups and finishes that he missed and heโs missed a couple here in the last couple of games,โ Miller said. โI think sometimes when youโre a young player like that you can let it bother you, and Iโm telling him we wouldnโt be 17-2 without him.
โThen there are some things he can learn from. (As with) Kobi (Simmons) and Lauri, I know itโs well documented, but they mean a lot to our team, sometimes itโs actually not fair. Theyโre almost not allowed to be freshman. You have to treat them as a senior. Because the role they have on our team is that. Thatโs part of what Iโm talking about.โ
Hard to say Markkanenโs 23 point on 8-for-12 shooting had anything to do with his new hairstyle, which featured a buzz cut on the sides with short curls on top.
After all, Markkanen had 30 on 12-for-18 shooting against ASU.
What it was about: The old look "was getting out of hand,โ Markkanen said.
Isaac Hamilton made nine 3-pointers to help UCLA rout ASU 102-88.
Oregon's Dillon Brooks missed the entire second half of the Ducks' win over Cal, and Oregon wouldn't say if he might have reinjured his foot.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be honored at the UA-UCLA game for receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom
