Seen and heard: UA checks in on a former Wildcat, a surprising Stanford reserve and a Bill Walton sighting

STANFORD, Calif. — During a brief break in preparation this weekend, the Arizona Wildcats turned into spectators just in time to see one of their own put on a season-best performance Saturday evening.

In just his third game back from an elbow injury that cost him 12 games, former Wildcat guard Josh Green scored a season-high 18 points in the Dallas Mavericks’ 132-122 win over Golden State on Saturday, when the Wildcats were in attendance early at San Francisco’s Chase Center. Green also played a defensive role that helped limit the Warriors’ Klay Thompson to 1-for-11 shooting.

The injury interrupted what began as a rewarding season for Green. Drafted by Dallas in 2020 after spending a year at Arizona as a freshman in 2019-20, Green improved statistically across the board last season, averaging 9.1 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 53.7% overall and 40.2% from 3-point range.

Then, he was given a four-year contract extension worth $41 million in October.

“I knew I was going to take some games coming off an injury to get back into rhythm,” Green said. “It was unfortunate. I finally felt like I was getting into rhythm right before the injuries.”

Green said he felt the elbow tweak when he went up for a dunk against Memphis on Dec. 1. He missed 12 games before returning on Dec. 27

“It’s always tough getting plugged into a team in the middle of a season, especially a team that’s playing really well,” Green said. “So I just tried to be aggressive, and I trusted in myself shooting, and so did the team.”

That included Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who said it was great to see Green play the way he did Saturday.

“I always tell him he’s just got to play aggressive,” Doncic said. “When he plays aggressive, he’s a big problem. So hopefully that continues for him, because he’s a great player.”

Break in the routine

Before the Warriors-Mavs game, Green said he had heard the Wildcats might show up to watch but had not seen or spoken to them. Turns out, it was something of a stealth mission.

The Wildcats did not obtain tickets through the Warriors or coach Steve Kerr, the former UA standout, and sat about halfway up in the arena behind one of the baskets.

They left at halftime of the Warriors’ 5:30 p.m. game, allowing time for an Italian dinner in San Francisco and return to their Palo Alto hotel in plenty of time for their usual evening film session.

Reciprocation

While UA coach Tommy Lloyd didn’t make the trip to the Warriors game, the fact that the Wildcats showed up might have appeared to be something of a payback to Kerr, who showed up at UA’s exhibition game against Lebanon in Abu Dhabi last August.

Of course, it was officially none of that. Asked if Kerr told him the Wildcats owed him one after he attended that faraway game, when Kerr was coaching Team USA for friendlies in the United Arab Emirates, Lloyd smiled.

“He did not say that,” Lloyd said.

The Carlyle show

The 28 points that Stanford reserve guard Kanaan Carlyle threw down on the Wildcats in its 100-81 win Sunday might have appeared out of the blue, but not really.

Carlyle was actually a top-50 recruit out of Atlanta as rated by ESPN and On3, spending his senior year of high school at Overtime Elite, but he was under the radar early this season because Stanford did not rule him academically eligible until fall quarter classes finished.

Since then, Carlyle had 11 points against Idaho on Dec. 17, two at San Diego State on Dec. 21 and 12 on Thursday against ASU before blowing up against the Wildcats.

Carlyle shot 7 for 13 from the field against UA, hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and all eight free throws he took.

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So you could say school and sports are going pretty well for Carlyle at this point.

“This was the best school for me both academically and athletically, coming to a school where I know that they can use my talent,” Carlyle said. “The coaches like the energy I can bring to the team and the different abilities I can bring.

Walton on hand

Pac-12 Networks and ESPN analyst Bill Walton worked his first UA game of the season on Sunday, chatting with Wildcats Keshad Johnson, Caleb Love and Oumar Ballo before the game.

Walton said he’s scheduled to work many more of the Wildcats’ games this season but possibly only one at McKale Center — Thursday’s UA-Colorado game on ESPN.

Thankful

Stanford entered Sunday’s game averaging just 2,711 fans at Maples, the second-lowest attendance average in the Pac-12 behind only remotely-located Washington State.

Those who do show up are duly appreciated.

Stanford posted large signs outside each exit with a big “S” logo and the words: “THANKS FOR COMING.”

Sideline seats available

Getting a chance to host Arizona is always a boon for a Pac-12 school’s ticket sales, but it didn’t help Stanford that its chance to do so this year came on New Year’s Eve, when students are not yet back on campus for their winter quarter.

Stanford tried to make up some of the difference by plunking down temporary padded seats on top of what is usually a standing-only student section along the East-facing side of the court.

The tickets were selling for $125 on Stanford’s website and appeared about 90% full on Sunday.

New Year’s gift

Along with the usual posters and roster sheets, Stanford also gave interested fans an official “Stanford men’s basketball” 2024 pocket planner.

Inside, the planner contained lists of key holidays, a time zone map and a metric conversion table.

The big numbers

16 — Number of 3-point shots (on 25 attempts) that Stanford made, a school record.

58.1 — Stanford’s field goal shooting percentage, the highest of any UA opponent this season.

64.0 — Stanford’s 3-point shooting percentage, the highest of any UA opponent this season.

Quotable“Kicked our ass. Kicked our ass. I mean, good for them. They’re good players. Kicked our ass,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said postgame of Kanaan Carlyle, Andrej Stojakovic and the rest of the Stanford players.

Photos: Stanford upsets No. 4 Arizona Wildcats to close out 2023, men's college basketball