LOS ANGELES β If it all ends this week, short of March Madness and even March itself, maybe itβs just as well for Arizona.
After beating USC 81-72 on Saturday in their biggest win of their self-truncated season, the Wildcats have a chance to at least finish in style.
They still might have to play a makeup game next week at Oregon, which has beaten them six straight times, and they also have the scheduling bandwidth to play another nonconference game, which would be anticlimactic.
But the way their schedule read after the USC game, their season ends Saturday, when Wildcats could finish on a three-game winning streak if they also beat Washington State and Washington at McKale Center.
Unless the Pac-12 tells them otherwise.
βWe really donβt know,β UA coach Sean Miller said. βWeβre approaching it that we only have two games left on our schedule. Maybe something will change this week, but thatβs how weβre approaching it right now.β
After their surprising win on Saturday, the Wildcats walked off the Galen Center court calmly but happily, then showered Miller in the locker room to celebrate what was his 300th win in 12 seasons at Arizona.
It was a big one, in many ways.
After losing five of their previous seven games overall and allowing a one-point halftime lead at UCLA turn into a 14-point loss on Thursday, the Wildcats punched this one in against the Pac-12βs first-place team.
βBeing able to actually break through and win, itβs a way to give everybody a lot of confidence,β Miller said. βI could feel it at the four-minute mark (left in the game), that everyone was still just very unsure, because weβve been in a situation, a number of times this year and it hasnβt always worked out for us. It was good to see us finish the game.β
Miller said if the Wildcats can finish with a few wins it βgives us something to feel good about,β but it might be a stretch to suggest that it will all roll over into next season.
UA has only two seniors, and the NCAA isnβt counting this season on anybodyβs eligibility clock, meaning everyone can return if they want to. Except this is high-major basketball, where everything is fluid.
Itβs all about the now, in part because who knows what is next.
βWeβre not really worried about next season,β guard James Akinjo said. βWeβre worried about right now. This showed we have a good team right now.β
A number of differing individual efforts Saturday showed why. While Azuolas Tubelisβ 16 points and 15 rebounds against the well-hyped Mobley twins were an obvious highlight, there were also these performances of note Saturday:
- For Akinjo, it was another argument for making the Pac-12βs 10-player all-conference team.
Akinjo had 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting, seven assists and made eight trips to the line against USC. In 17 Pac-12 games, Akinjo is now averaging 14.9 points and 5.8 assists while shooting 38.2% overall, 41.8% from 3-point range and 78.8% from the free-throw line.
βI think James has had an all-conference season, if you look at his numbers, if you look at his meaning towards our team,β Miller said. βHeβs slowly getting better, and I donβt think he always recognizes this himself. Heβs controlling the game better than he once did. You can be a really good player and maybe not have the impact of winning that some other really good players do.
βI really feel like heβs made a lot of progress over the last month, the last six weeks.β
For Dalen Terry, it was a slump-breaker.
The freshman small forward entered Saturdayβs game having shot 2 for 11 in his previous five games but hit 3s from both corners over consecutive possessions to help UA keep the Trojans from mounting a late run.
Miller noted that Terry also hit a couple of critical 3s in UAβs 84-82 win over ASU in Tempe, going 3 for 3 overall in his return to his hometown, but that was a month ago.
Miller said he loved that Terry has kept working since then.
βHe just keeps showing up. He just keeps working,β Miller said. βItβs been a while since heβs felt the shot go in a game like that. But that doesnβt mean that heβs quit working early in the mornings, before and after practice β and if youβre talented and you just keep working like that, you eventually break through.β
- For Christian Koloko, it was a lesson learned (without harm).
With 9:14 left Saturday, UAβs sophomore center picked up a technical for a shove on a play in which Ira Lee also committed a shooting foul. That gave USC a chance to cut UAβs eight-point lead to a single possession, but the Trojans hit only 3 of 6 ensuing free throws.
Miller said that was the kind of play that can often change a gameβs momentum and, even though it didnβt this time, the play may stick in Kolokoβs head for a while.
βHeβs a great kid,β Miller said. βHe gets frustrated with fouls, like a lot of big guys do. It doesnβt feel like heβs getting the call or that the callβs not made right and he reacts. We talked to him a lot about that, last year, especially down the stretch, and weβve addressed that this year.
βAnd heβs got to learn from it. Thatβs not a good play and I donβt mean this in any other way but, like, I got the officials. Iβm the coach. Itβs up to our players to play. So weβll address it.β
- For Jordan Brown, it was a long-awaited step forward.
The Wildcatsβ only McDonaldβs All-American, Brown is also now in his third year of college. But after Brown had 19 points and 13 rebounds against the Trojans for his most significant production of his UA career, Miller said heβs still learning.
Brown spent his freshman season of 2018-19 playing mostly behind veterans at Nevada before redshirting at Arizona as a transfer last season.
βAnd then COVID affected him as much as anybody β not only does he not play an entire year but we didnβt see him until August,β Miller said. βWe didnβt have that opportunity to keep working so this is his real first year of playing in college, and heβs had some great moments.
βHeβll keep getting smarter on the court. Heβll keep getting better. As you know, he can really score with his back to the basket.
βAnd now rebounding, being a better defender, being a better passer.
βJ.B. is a really unselfish guy but sometimes heβs into his move and he doesnβt recognize the pass-out. Heβs starting to do that a little bit so I just think that with experience, a great offseason and more games, youβll continue to see a more polished, more improved, better overall player.β