March Madness is here! Throughout the Arizona men’s basketball team’s run through the postseason, we’ll break down every game the Wildcats play. Here are five takeaways from the UA’s 85-65 victory over Long Beach State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Salt Lake City:
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
1. Zoning in
We knew LBSU would throw zone defenses at Arizona. The Wildcats struggled against the zone vs. USC and Oregon. It’s been their Kryptonite.
For a while, it worked. Arizona’s offense became two-dimensional for much of the first half: either a 3-pointer or a difficult layup. Analytics would tell you that’s the way to go; 3s and shots at the rim, with minimal attempts from midrange. But it’s not necessarily the Wildcats’ game.
They missed 11 of their first 13 shots classified as layups by StatBroadcast. They finished 12 of 29, with Caleb Love’s transition lay-in starting the turnaround.
Arizona made 13 3-pointers, a school record in NCAA Tournament play. A decent chunk came after the Wildcats moved the ball from side to side, inside and out. Those are good shots, whether they go in or not.
But the Wildcats can’t fall in love with the 3-ball. They can’t view it as the solution to the zones they’re bound to face moving forward.
Their 35 3-point attempts were by far a season high (previous: 27) and represented nearly half of their overall field goal attempts (48.6%).
Oumar Ballo barely got the ball in the post. He had only four field goal attempts and four foul shots. When the Beach went away from the zone, Arizona could run its actions and get the ball to Ballo.
It’ll be fascinating to see how future foes defend the potent UA offense. Although zone is clearly the way to go, it’s not the M.O. for most.
2. Caleb’s contributions
Love’s shooting slump continued deep into the afternoon at the Delta Center. He finished 6 of 17 from the floor, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range, and 3 of 5 from the line.
But Love found other ways to contribute, especially in the second half.
Long Beach State guard Jadon Jones takes a swipe but can’t stop the shot form Arizona guard Caleb Love in the first half of the teams’ matchup in first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Love snagged a season-high 11 rebounds. He also had five assists, two steals, a block and zero turnovers. His second-half line: 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block.
Arizona probably won’t reach the Final Four if Love continues to shoot 35% or worse, which he has for the past four games. But Love showed Thursday that he can be a net positive without knocking down shots at a high rate.
The Wildcats were plus-16 with Love on the floor in the second half, even though he made only 3 of 8 shots from the field. He hit the boards hard, set up his teammates and made an impact on the defensive end, including a block of a fastbreak layup — a play that was all effort and hustle.
Love didn’t have a good shooting game. But he put together an excellent all-around performance.
3. Boswell’s bounce-back
Arizona’s best player in the first half and its leading scorer overall was sophomore point guard Kylan Boswell, who entered Thursday in a horrific slump.
Arizona guard Kylan Boswell throws down an unopposed dunk late in the second half against Long Beach State.
Boswell scored 11 first-half points, matching his total from the previous three games, and finished with a season-high 20. His eight assists were one shy of his season-best mark. He also had two steals, a block and only one turnover.
Boswell shot with ideal balance from beyond the arc, making 4 of 9 attempts; he tends to fade away at times, resulting in a lot of front-rim misses.
Boswell also drove into the lane on multiple occasions, something he’s been hesitant to do at times this season. Like Love, Boswell has the ability to draw attention and free up teammates. He just needs to play with an assertive mindset.
No Arizona player has faced more scrutiny this season than Boswell, who flat-out disappeared in a handful of games. Almost all of them were UA losses.
His body language and energy were positive Thursday. Hopefully, that will carry over. The Wildcats need this version of Boswell to go as far as they want to go.
4. ‘O’ does work on ‘D’
Arizona center Oumar Ballo goes airborne to defend Long Beach State forward Amari Stroud, who is trying to drive into the lane, in the second half.
As mentioned, Ballo didn’t get a ton of touches. But he impacted the game in a significant way.
Ballo had a game-high 13 rebounds and four blocked shots — with all four coming in the second half.
LBSU began the half shooting 2 of 20 from the floor, per the TV broadcast. The Beach shot just 10 of 37 (27%) over the final 20 minutes as Arizona — led by Ballo — contested every LBSU attempt before garbage time kicked in.
Ballo never has been thought of as an elite rim protector; he’s averaged 1.2 blocks per game over the course of his UA career.
Lately? Ballo has been an eraser around the basket. He has <&rdpEm>averaged</&rdpEm> four blocks in the Wildcats’ past three games. Since Feb. 4, Ballo has had at least two blocks in nine of 14 contests.
Per StatBroadcast, Ballo had a defensive rating of 67 Thursday. Defensive rating is points allowed by a player per 100 possessions. The next-closest Wildcat was Love at 78.2, then Keshad Johnson at 97.
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (14) gets a whole lot of Long Beach State forward Lassina Traore (23) in pursuit of a rebound in the first half of the teams' matchup in first round of the 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
5. Fresh perspective
Two UA regulars had negative plus-minus ratings. They just happened to be the two true freshmen who are part of the Wildcats’ rotation.
KJ Lewis was 0 for 4 from the floor in 12 minutes. Motiejus Krivas had three rebounds — and three fouls — in eight minutes. Neither scored a point.
That’s the bad news. The good: They got their first taste of NCAA Tournament, win-or-go-home basketball in a game in which Arizona didn’t need them to prevail.
More likely than not, the Wildcats will need them at some point.
Lewis has been up and down offensively this season; he’s much less polished on that end of the floor. Even if he doesn’t score, he can help the team on defense with his ability to guard on the perimeter and disrupt passing lanes.
Krivas has cratered down the stretch. Thursday marked the fifth time in the past nine games that he failed to score.
He can contribute on defense — he’s 7-2, after all — but isn’t as consistent on that end as Lewis.
Tommy Lloyd went with a small-ball lineup late vs. LBSU, with Johnson playing center. Unless Krivas proves that he’s ready for prime time, that might be the preferred strategy if Ballo gets in foul trouble.
