Improvement of Jaden Bradley and Arizona's other reserves bodes well for Wildcats' stretch run

Easily lost in Arizona’s most lopsided win ever over ASU on Saturday is the fact that the Wildcats’ third-leading scorer, Pelle Larsson, had just five points.

Just 4.8% of UA’s scoring total on a night when the Sun Devils rode a two-game winning streak into McKale and lost 105-60.

That’s how balanced and powerful the No. 5-ranked Wildcats have become.

With records of 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the Pac-12, where they lead Washington State by a half-game, the Wildcats are once again showing the sort of balance and versatility that led them to a No. 1 ranking after their big early season wins over Duke, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

But there are a few new twists this time because the Wildcats’ bench might be stronger than ever. Saturday’s game showed three reasons why:

1. Bradley is playing like a high-level starter

Already rated the Wildcats’ most valuable player on a per-possession basis heading into Saturday’s game, according to basketball data guru Evan Miyakawa, Jaden Bradley set a new career-high in scoring against ASU while refusing to deviate from his ever-efficient ways.

In his 25-minute, 21-point appearance off the bench, Bradley hit 8 of 11 field goals, including the only 3-pointer he took, while going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line. He also had four rebounds and five assists with no turnovers. All that’s on top of what has consistently been a defensive presence that rates among UA’s best.

“So proud of my guy,” forward Keshad Johnson said, referring to Bradley. “You know, sometimes when it’s just not his night to score, he’s doing other things on the defensive end and getting assists, and stuff like that. But tonight, we’ve seen what he can do when it comes to put the ball in the hoop.”

Bradley put the ball in the hoop eight times, displaying his athleticism and aggressiveness to drive in for the best possible shot and mostly taking the sort of smart shots UA coach Tommy Lloyd has been encouraging him to create and take.

“He’s a really good player, he’s been patient with me, and he’s really making a huge impact,” Lloyd said. “He has all season, but you’re seeing it more and more.

“My biggest challenge for him has been to create repeatable habits. You even saw a couple finishes late there where he probably got a little too fancy for my liking, but he had some great simple layups early in the game, or just a jump shot fake and layup. I think he can be really, really elite at that, and to see his buy-in on that is huge.

“I think that’s going to be really encouraging for the development in his own career and it’s going to be great for our program.”

2. Big Mo is spelling Big O capably

Starting center Oumar Ballo posted his fifth straight double-double on Saturday, with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and did so in just 23 minutes. Despite averaging a double-double in Pac-12 games (13.1 points and 11.2 rebounds), he is averaging only 26.3 minutes, nearly two minutes fewer than he did in Pac-12 games last season, allowing him to stay potentially fresher, especially when he’s been notably banged-up at times over the past two seasons.

A big reason why Arizona doesn’t have to rely more on Ballo is the play of freshman Motiejus Krivas.

In 14 Pac-12 games, Krivas has averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while averaging 12.8 minutes, ensuring the Wildcats almost never have to go small inside unless they want to. Krivas is also shooting 60.0% from the field and has made 22 of 26 free throws (84.6%) in conference games.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The only problem with Krivas may be a good one to have.

“I’ve been on him pretty hard,” Lloyd said. “He probably hasn’t liked being around me too much, but I’m on him real hard because I really believe in him and I think he can be great — and I think he can be great this year.

“Sometimes you get a kid like that who’s really nice. Which he is. Incredibly nice, incredibly soft spoken, patient. You know, maybe he sees his opportunity next year where I see his opportunity as right now. So I’m really encouraging him to go for it, and he really responded.”

3. There’s confidence deep into the bench

While Lloyd has stuck firmly to an eight-player rotation all season, his ninth, 10th and 11th guys have all had productive, confident moments when they’ve had a chance during Pac-12 play.

Guard Filip Borovicanin scooped up six points, three rebounds and three assists when given 14 minutes at California in the Wildcats’ conference opener. Spanish guard Conrad Martinez added what Lloyd called a “little salsa” when he had four points and grabbed a steal on Feb. 10 at Colorado.

And on Saturday, forward Paulius Murauskas squeezed production out of every second he was on the court. The Lithuanian freshman hit both 3-pointers and all four free throws he took while scoring a career-high 12 points in just five minutes.

While Lloyd has consistently complimented Murauskas, he said earlier in the season that Murauskas had to make an adjustment from being a small forward to playing power forward for the Wildcats, especially after Henri Veesaar was lost for the season with an elbow injury. But Murauskas hasn’t been needed even there because Larsson often slides over to the four when Johnson is on the bench.

“He’s been getting a lot more reps at the four lately, and that’s where it gets tight,” Lloyd said. “I think we all know how good of a player and how valuable Pelle is, and obviously, Keshad is having a great season. Eventually you kind of run out of opportunities for guys.”

Except, maybe, in some handy circumstances. Arizona was already up by 30 points when Murauskas first entered the game with 5:42 left, so his points weren’t exactly needed, but his production suggested he and the rest of the Wildcats might be able to work it out when a real need arises down the road.

“If we can survive a night where Pelle, who’s a really good, all-conference type player, has only five points,” Lloyd said, “I think that bodes well for Arizona basketball.”

<&rule>

Photos: Arizona pound on on arch rival ASU 105-60, Pac-12 men's college basketball