Arizona baseball outlasts Rhode Island in high-scoring affair

After scoring just 19 runs in their previous six games, and winning only three, the Arizona Wildcats’ offense finally returned to the form we saw during the opening weekend and throughout last season.

Arizona (7-3) cranked out 15 hits and capitalized on 10 walks and three hit batters in a 19-10 win over the Rhode Island Rams on Saturday night at Hi Corbett Field.

The first six hitters in Arizona’s lineup were a combined 13 for 25 with six walks, 14 RBI and 15 runs scored, this coming a night after the bottom of the order carried the Wildcats in a 5-1 win over Central Michigan. Ryan Holgate was 2 for 3 with five RBI while Branden Boissiere and Michael Dyer had three RBIs each and both Boissiere and Austin Wells had three hits apiece.

An 8-run second inning broke it open for Arizona, with two-run singles by Dyer and Brandon Boissiere helping turned a 2-1 lead into a 10-1 advantage.

The Wildcats added three more in the third, highlighted by a 2-run double from Holgate, to lead 13-1, but then Rhode Island chased UA starter Quinn Flanagan during a 6-run top of the fifth in which the Rams scored on a bases loaded walk and then on a balk by reliever Randy Abshier.

Arizona made it 15-7 in the bottom of the third on RBI groundouts by Holgate and Tony Bullard, then after Rhode Island cut it to 15-10 in the top of the sixth the Wildcats added two more in the bottom of the frame via RBI hits from Donta Williams and Wells.

An RBI single from Kobe Kato in the seventh and a solo home run from Dyer in the eighth capped the scoring for Arizona.

Freshman Blake Peyton earned his first career win with two hitless innings of relief, allowing three walks but striking out four. Arizona pitchers struck out 11 Ram batters, striking out at least 11 for the 10^th straight game to start the season.

Arizona wraps up the weekend by facing Rhode Island Sunday at 12 p.m. MT at Hi Corbett.

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What Jack Murphy said after Arizona’s collapse at UCLA

Murphy coached much of the second half after Sean Miller was ejected

The Arizona Wildcats collapsed late in Saturday’s 69-64 loss to the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles.

Head coach Sean Miller was ejected midway through the second half, so here is what assistant coach Jack Murphy, who led the Wildcats in the final 12 minutes or so, had to say after the game.

On the game as a whole: “I thought our guys played really well. They competed. We beat them on the glass, that was a big part of what we wanted to do. ... But unfortunately for the second straight game, we didn’t take care of the ball, especially when it mattered most. 13 turnovers, that falls on me, the last 12 and a half minutes, some of the things that we called. But the guys played so hard. I have to get my my hat off to them. Nico Mannion, Max Hazzard, all the guys all the way throughout. Dylan Smith Stone Gettings, Zeke Nnaji, Christian Koloko, Chase Jeter, everybody on the team rallied together when Coach (Miller) had to leave with 12 and a half minutes to go. And we were in a great position to win the ballgame. I think it was tied with a 1:09 left. We were up four with about 2:20 to go, just couldn’t finish the game.”

On why the team keeps collapsing late in games: “Every game is different. Obviously tonight, because of our foul trouble and because we were fouling, they got to the line. So every time something happened, they were shooting two free throws. There wasn’t an opportunity for our defense to get a stop. We held them to 33 percent from the field, 33 percent from 3. But when they went to the line, you have to give them a lot of credit, they made their free throws. And that’s tough to compete with when they’re shooting like they did from the line, especially in the last minute or so because every time you’re trying to be aggressive, you’re down two or three and there’s less than 30 seconds in the game, you have to foul and and they’re going to the free-throw line shooting two.”

On if the calls going UCLA’s way frustrated Arizona’s players: “Yeah, I’m sure it does, but Coach talks about it all the time, we can’t worry about that. We have to control what we can control and UCLA did a good job of not fouling. So we have to do a good job of not fouling and just go out there and play our game. When we worried about ourselves, when we were worried about our execution or rebounding the ball, we were really, really good. We led the game for 34 minutes. I mean, when you’re going on the road, especially in Pauley Pavilion, the way that UCLA is playing right now in the Pac-12, and you lead the game for 34 minutes, you could walk out of this building with your head held high. You just have to finish it off. And I think that’s something with a young team that we have, we’re learning to do, and we’re going to take care of business next week at home. We have to. And then it’s on to Vegas.”

On how close this team is to putting it together: ”Yeah, I think we’re really close. I mean, you look at just the progress we made from Thursday night to tonight. If we played like we did tonight Thursday, we probably walk out of the Galen Center with a win. The guys competed, they showed effort, they listened in terms of our film session, in terms of our preparation for UCLA. I felt in the first half UCLA really struggled to score because we were guarding them so well. And then obviously our scoring came from the extra pass. You saw late Max Hazzard had a great pass to Dylan Smith for a 3-pointer on the wing. Those were the plays we weren’t making on Thursday. When we have everybody going on all cylinders, playing together, making the right read, (we’re hard to stop). Nico Mannion offensively was incredible tonight. And that’s the type of guy that we come to expect in practice and we’ve seen from time to time in games, but that’s the guy that can help us to big things still the rest of the season.”

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Arizona collapses late in loss at UCLA

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

Leap Day only happens once every four years, so it’s fair to say things that happen on Feb. 29 are rarities.

Yet on the night of Sean Miller’s first career ejection, most of the other things the Arizona Wildcats did were far too familiar.

The Wildcats scored two points in the final 3:44, turning it over on three straight possessions at one points, as the UCLA Bruins used a late 10-0 run to win 69-64 on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Arizona (19-10, 9-7 Pac-12) lost its third straight game and got swept on the LA trip for the fifth time in the Miller era, more than on any other trip, and now is in serious jeopardy of missing out on a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. The Wildcats are currently tied for fifth place in the loss column with USC and Stanford, with only the top four finishers avoiding having to play in the opening round in Las Vegas.

Up by six at the break and by as many as nine after that, the Wildcats managed to weather multiple storms during the first 12 minutes of the second half. UCLA (19-11, 12-5) pulled within one on four different occasions, including after Miller was ejected with 12:28 to go following his second technical foul.

The Wildcats even overcame a 4:44 scoring drought to go up 60-56 on a Max Hazzard 3-pointer with 4:49 left, and Zeke Nnaji’s dunk off a pass from Nico Mannion with 3:44 to go gave them a 62-58 lead.

Mannion finished with 19 points, including eight in the first 3:35 of the second half, and six assists, while Nnaji has 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

But Nnaji picked up his fourth foul with 9:52 left and took only two shots after that, going in and out of the lineup to avoid fouling out, while Mannion didn’t score in the final 11:22.

Their disappearances only partially contributed to Arizona’s latest collapse. A massive free throw discrepancy—UCLA was 29 of 38 while Arizona was 10 of 16, with the Bruins having a 20-4 edge in the second half—and nine second-half turnovers were far more liable.

UCLA, which only shot 33.3 percent, went more than seven minutes without a field goal before Chris Smith scored on back-to-back possessions to tie it with 1:21 to go. Smith’s second basket came after Stone Gettings made a bad pass, then after Dylan Smith stepped on the end line Tyger Campbell gave the Bruins a 64-62 lead with 50.3 seconds to go.

Hazzard then dribbled out of bounds with 32.7 left, and UCLA made 5 of 8 free throws after that while Arizona missed three shots and a free throw before Christian Koloko scored a meaningless basket with two seconds remaining.

Arizona took a 33-27 lead into the locker room after ending the first half on a 9-0 run capped by Hazzard’s fallaway baseline jumper at the buzzer. That came following a 10-0 UCLA run sparked by Miller getting a technical foul for yelling after official John Higgins, no doubt creating a new GIF in the process.

Miller had taken umbrage with a no-call after Mannion stole an inbounds pass and had his shot rejected under the basket by UCLA’s Cody Riley, the coach so worked up he had spit on his chin for more than a minute as Arizona’s coaching staff tried to corral him near the bench.

Arizona held UCLA to 23.1 percent shooting in the first half, holding the Bruins scoreless for the first 4:50 and scoring nine points off seven turnovers. That included five straight points off steals after Hazzard went coast-to-coast after a swipe and then Smith drained a 3 not long after grabbing an errant pass for a 15-7 lead, then a Nnaji 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their biggest lead at 18-9 before UCLA scored 18 of the next 24 points to lead 27-24.

The Wildcats return home for the final weekend of the regular season, hosting the Washington State Cougars on Thursday night at McKale Center.

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Hannah Clifford’s hat trick leads Arizona soccer past UTEP in spring opener

Photo by Ryan Kelapire

Arizona soccer is short on players but not on firepower.

Hannah Clifford had a hat trick and Jada Talley added a brace as the Wildcats routed UTEP 5-0 on Saturday to open the spring season.

“We had a lot of reps in practice—me and her, especially—so I’m just happy it carried over because I know we had a lot to do with each other’s goals,” Talley said. “And whether or not she directly assists me, her movement creates space for me to be one-v-one with somebody.”

Talley opened the scoring in the third minute and capped the scoring in the 77th (of 80) minute, battling for a long ball and juking the goalkeeper before firing a shot into an open net.

That came just minutes after Clifford used her back heel to knock in a cross from Jill Aguilera. Her first goal came in similar fashion, one-timing a cross from Grace Santos in the 21st minute.

“Our frontline did a good job moving today,” Clifford said. “I think a lot of times our biggest enemy is not having enough movement up top, and so when we do that, I think it’s hard to stop us.”

Arizona lost seven players to graduation and transfer, leaving them with 14 players in the spring. Two are sidelined with injuries, so Saturday that meant newly-added walk-on Jordan Schulke was the only backup.

“Obviously fatigue is a big thing for us,” Talley said, “but nobody cares.”

The Wildcats looked like the fitter team anyway, outshooting the Miners 14-3 and holding them in their half for most of the match.

“I think it just shows us that we can do it,” Talley said. “We didn’t have any subs but we played 80, I came out for probably five minutes, so it shows you that you can do it. So it’s kind of like, ‘what can you do if you do have a 10-minute sub?’ So I can only get better from here.”

Coming off a 10-goal season, Talley has already shown she can play at a high level. Some of her teammates have a lot more to prove, and the short bench affords them the opportunity to do just that.

Defenders Molly Shannon and Sabrina Hillyer, who both redshirted last season, started Saturday, operating along the flanks. Sophomore Mariah Dunn, who only totaled 60 minutes last season, started in the back alongside junior center back Ava McGary and senior outside back Sabrina Enciso.

The Miners didn’t test UA goalkeeper Hope Hisey until five minutes into the second half when a cross skipped across the mouth of the goal before being cleared to safety.

“I felt like the backline stepped up when they needed to,” Clifford said. “Obviously, we were getting the ball higher up the field a lot of the time, but when it went back there, they definitely did their job and cleaned it up.”

Talley was impressed by the way Madison Goerlinger, a versatile sophomore, commanded the midfield and how Enciso, a three-year starter, steadied the backline.

“Her being an older player, being a senior this year, being able to tell everybody where to go, it’s a big job,” Talley said.

Talley then looked to her left and pointed at Clifford.

“I think my girl played really good,” she said.

Clifford’s three goals were three times as many as she scored in the fall. She was mostly a backup in her first three seasons, but Talley thinks she’s ready for a bigger role.

“She didn’t get as many starts as I would have liked her to have last year and I think she just proved herself right now,” Talley said. “And spring just started, so I’m really excited for season and the rest of spring camp.”

Other notes

• Junior Iyana Zimmerman, one of Arizona’s better attackers, is currently sidelined with a minor knee injury.
• Junior Iliana Hocking, a key midfielder, is out indefinitely with a hip injury.
• As of now, Arizona’s next spring game is Saturday, March 21 against BYU, who are coming off an Elite Eight season.

Postgame interview

Here’s Jada Talley (two goals) and Hannah Clifford (three goals) after @ArizonaSoccer’s 5-0 win over UTEP pic.twitter.com/Zh6bs2wpWQ

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) March 1, 2020

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Arizona vs. UCLA game thread

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 9-6 Pac-12) finish up their final road trip of the regular season when they visit the UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5).

Arizona is coming off an ugly 57-48 loss at USC on Thursday night and now face a UCLA team that has won six in a row to climb into a tie for first place. The Bruins manhandled the Wildcats 65-52 in Tucson on Feb. 8.

Here is all the info you need to tune in, along with links to all of our pregame coverage. Come chat with us!

Arizona-UCLA game time, details:

Date: Thursday, Feb. 29, 2020

Time: 8 p.m. MST

Location: Pauley Pavilion; Los Angeles, Calif.

Line: Arizona -2.5

KenPom projection: Arizona will win 71-67, with a 65 percent probability of the Wildcats coming out on top.

Which TV channel is Arizona-UCLA on?

Arizona-UCLA will be televised on ESPN. Bill Walton and Richard Jefferson will be on the call alongside Dave Pasch.

How can I watch Arizona-UCLA online?

The stream of Arizona-UCLA can be viewed at espn3.com.

How can I listen to Arizona-UCLA on the radio?

You can listen to Arizona-UCLA on the Arizona IMG Sports Network.

How can I follow Arizona-UCLA?

By following us on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm! You can also follow our editors at @RKelapire and @realBJP.

Pregame coverage

• Arizona vs. UCLA score predictions
• What to watch for when Arizona visits UCLA on Saturday
• What we learned from Arizona’s loss at USC
• What Sean Miller said after Arizona’s loss at USC
• Offense struggles again as Arizona falls to USC
• USC’s Onyeka Okongwu makes unbelievable 3/4-court shot against Arizona
• Arizona guard Max Hazzard to miss USC game for personal reasons
• Arizona guard Josh Green won’t play at USC or UCLA due to back injury

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Malia Martinez’s clutch homer helps Arizona beat Alabama, overcome shaky day in circle

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It’s Arizona’s second win over Alabama in as many days

On a day when the Arizona Wildcats’ pitchers didn’t have their best stuff, a senior rose to the occasion.

Down to their final out, Malia Martinez blasted a three-run homer to lift the Wildcats to a 6-5 road victory over No. 8 Alabama, their second win over the Crimson Tide in as many days.

The comeback ended a rollercoaster ride that seemed destined for a Wildcat victory early in the game, but got derailed along the way, a shaky day in the circle being the culprit.

The idea that the Wildcats have a 1A and 1B in the circle instead of a 1-2 punch gained more credence Saturday. There was also more evidence that both pitchers struggle with many of the same issues, as they combined to give up eight hits and seven walks that turned into five earned runs.

Alyssa Denham got the call against the Crimson Tide on Saturday after Mariah Lopez pitched the Wildcats to a 2-1 victory on Friday. Lopez gave up seven hits and a walk in that outing, but was able to keep Alabama from capitalizing on those baserunners.

Denham scattered four hits over four innings on Saturday, but she also walked four and hit one. Her defense didn’t always help her, either, as they committed two crucial errors. It turned into two earned runs.

With walks becoming an issue, Arizona coach Mike Candrea lifted Denham at the beginning of the fifth inning. Lopez took the circle with the Wildcats leading 3-2. By the end of the sixth, she had given up three hits, three walks and three earned runs. Alabama led 5-3.

Star seniors Reyna Carranco and Jessie Harper led off Arizona’s half of the seventh but went down quietly. Someone else would have to spur the rally.

Those “someone elses” were Martinez and a pair of underclassmen. With two outs, freshman catcher Sharlize Palacios connected on a single. Then sophomore designated player Marissa Schuld stepped into the box and knocked an 0-2 pitch into right field for another single, setting the stage for Martinez’s heroics.

She took Lexi Kilfoyl’s first offering of the at-bat and deposited it over the center-field wall, erasing the deficit once and for all, though Alabama managed to make things interesting at the end.

After retiring the first batter in the seventh, Lopez allowed a long double to Savannah Woodard. The righty bounced back by slamming the door with a strikeout of Abby Doerr and a groundout off the bat of Alexis Mack.

Lopez got the win, but gave up four hits, three walks and three runs (all earned) in three innings. She struck out four of the 16 batters she faced. The outing raised her ERA from 1.05 to 1.66 on the season.

The Wildcats (15-3) wrap up their trip to Alabama on Sunday at 10 a.m. MST vs. Texas-Arlington.

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Former Arizona star Abdi Abdirahman qualifies for Olympic marathon

Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

One of the most accomplished runners in Arizona Wildcats history has earned a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Abdi Abdirahman, the 1998 Pac-10 cross country champion, finished third at the U.S. Marathon Trials on Saturday in Atlanta. The top three placers will make up Team USA in Japan this summer.

He has done it! @Abdi_runs grabs a spot on the podium and on the U.S. Olympic team! #MarathonTrials20 pic.twitter.com/aNeCJWbBWC

— Team USA (@TeamUSA) February 29, 2020

It will be the fifth Olympics for the 43-year-old Abdirahman, who was born in Somalia but moved to the United States in the 1990s, graduating from Tucson High in 1995 and starting his college career at Pima Community College before running for the UA from 1997-99. He became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and competed for his adopted country at the Olympics in 2000, 2004 and 2008 in the 10,000-meter run.

Abdirahman qualified for the 2012 Olympics in the marathon but withdrew from the event midway through because of a knee injury.

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Arizona vs. UCLA score predictions

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

Will the Wildcats cool down a red-hot Bruins team?

The Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 9-6 Pac-12) try to rebound from their latest woeful offensive display when they visit the UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5) on Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Arizona lost 65-52 at home to UCLA on Feb. 8, shooting its worst percentage ever at McKale Center. The Bruins have won six straight to move into a tie for first place with ASU and Oregon, while the Wildcats are looking to avoid a sweep in order to hold onto a top-four finish and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Tip off is set for 8 p.m. MT with the game being shown on ESPN.

Below are our staff predictions:

Brian J. Pedersen — UCLA wins 68-62

Arizona played much better against the previous two teams it faced the second time around after losing the first, even if the Oregon game went the same way, so it stands to reason the Wildcats will do the same against UCLA, right? It’s good to dream.

The Wildcats are shorthanded, have no offensive identity—unless you call bad 3-point shots such—and can only play good defense for so long before something breaks. UCLA is as hot as can be, winners of six in a row and now starting to get into the NCAA tournament discussion. The only way Arizona wins is if the Bruins revert to their non-conference or early January form, which is probably asking too much.

Ronnie Stoffle — UCLA wins 70-61

Thursday night was an absolute abomination. Sean Miller likely knew all week that Josh Green would be unavailable for this trip due to a “back injury”. Max Hazzard missing that game could have been a late-week development.

Regardless, that was the most embarrassing and careless game plan I’ve ever witnessed from Miller. That game was absolutely there for the taking but his let’s-just-jack-up-three-pointers game plan allowed it to slip away.

Was anyone else having flashbacks to last year? This team is far too talented to be pulling pages from last year’s playbook. That statement is still applicable even with Green’s absence.

I understand USC was basically giving those shots to Arizona because they weren’t going to let Zeke Nnaji dominate. The lack of creativity from a scheming perspective of this coaching staff was disgusting.

A few weeks ago I said very few things would surprise me with this team. Here’s one: I will be beyond shocked if Arizona wins Saturday night assuming they trot out the same eight from Thursday. In other words, if Hazzard is unavailable again, Arizona has next to no chance of beating the hottest team in the conference on the road.

Christian Mortensen — UCLA wins 61-54

I so want to pick Arizona to win this game, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Having won six straight, UCLA is the Pac-12’s hottest team and are coming off a thrilling last second victory over ASU.

The Bruins will be smelling blood and Pauley will be bouncing, so I just don’t see the short handed Wildcats doing enough offensively to a get a win Saturday night.

Matthew Rein — UCLA wins 63-62

Thursday’s game against USC was as ugly as college basketball gets. Beyond only shooting 3 for 26 from three, Arizona’s offense looked tepid, and frankly flat out horrendous. Saturday night’s showdown against the scorching hot Bruins presents new challenges for the Cats. UCLA bullied Arizona in their first meeting in McKale, and I can’t imagine Arizona being able to impose their will.

I don’t think UCLA will win in a blowout, but it’s hard to see Arizona coming away with the victory right now. Is it possible? Sure. But without Josh Green and potentially Max Hazzard, the shorthanded Cats will really be challenged by this Bruin squad.

Ryan Kelapire — UCLA wins 72-60

The only reason I would pick Arizona in this game is because the Pac-12 almost never goes to script. Because on paper, this is an easy game to pick. The hottest team in the conference is at home against a short-handed Arizona team that can’t seem to get out of its own way. (Or make a dang 3-pointer.)

The Bruins’ deliberate style of play makes it hard for them to blow teams out, so I think they win by 10-13 points. Their physicality will wear the Wildcats out.

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How Arizona’s J.J. Taylor performed at the NFL combine

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Only one member of the Arizona Wildcats was invited to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, but that lone representative put up some solid numbers in a series of on-field drills.

Running back J.J. Taylor got his chance to show his stuff on Friday, attempting to get pro scouts to overlook his small—he was officially measured at 5’5.25” and 185 pounds on Tuesday—stature.

Here are Taylor’s results, courtesy of NFL.com.

• 40-yard dash: 4.61 seconds
• Bench press: 19 reps
• Vertical jump: 34.5 inches
• Broad jump: 118.0 inches
• 3-cone drill: 7.0 seconds
• 20-yard shuttle: 4.15 seconds

Taylor had the second-best time among running backs in the 20-yard shuttle run and the third-best time in the 3-cone drill, while his 19 reps in the bench press were tied for 12th-best. He was just outside the top 15 among rushers in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and broad jump.

Taylor, who ran for 3,263 yards at Arizona from 2016-19, is not listed on any current mock drafts, but this performance could help his cause.

NFL.com gives him a draft grade of 5.5, which equates to a prospect making the last few spots on a roster or a practice squad, with analyst Lance Zierlein saying this about Taylor:

“Short but stout runner whose running style is more power back than water bug. Taylor has been a productive college back who runs decisively both inside and outside, but does not have the burst or wiggle teams are looking for from smaller runners. His size is a hindrance but he might have an outside shot if he can rebrand as a matchup pass catcher out of the backfield.”

Taylor had 32 catches for 289 yards in 2019.

JJ Taylor - 19 reps pic.twitter.com/bFVIi4gBfj

— Garret Price (@DynastyPrice) February 27, 2020

@Cen10Football getting love from the announcers at the combine. Haven’t heard any other HS mentioned. pic.twitter.com/zBMRVuHj5u

— Camron Pitcher Sr. (@Capitch44) February 29, 2020

JJ Taylor
Jonathan Taylor
Patrick Taylor Jr
Ke'Shawn Vaughn pic.twitter.com/JwIARzMAxY

— SUSPENDED AGAIN (@FTBeard1) February 29, 2020

D'Andre Swift - Georgia
J.J. Taylor - Arizona
and Jonathan Taylor - Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/jexIADpdTm

— SUSPENDED AGAIN (@FTBeard1) February 29, 2020

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Arizona vs. UCLA: Game time, TV channel, live stream, odds, radio info

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 9-6 Pac-12) finish up their final road trip of the regular season when they visit the UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5).

Arizona is coming off an ugly 57-48 loss at USC on Thursday night and now face a UCLA team that has won six in a row to climb into a tie for first place. The Bruins manhandled the Wildcats 65-52 in Tucson on Feb. 8.

Here is all the info you need to tune in, along with links to all of our pregame coverage.

Arizona-UCLA game time, details:

Date: Thursday, Feb. 29, 2020

Time: 8 p.m. MST

Location: Pauley Pavilion; Los Angeles, Calif.

Line: Arizona -2.5

KenPom projection: Arizona will win 71-67, with a 65 percent probability of the Wildcats coming out on top.

Which TV channel is Arizona-UCLA on?

Arizona-UCLA will be televised on ESPN. Bill Walton and Richard Jefferson will be on the call alongside Dave Pasch.

How can I watch Arizona-UCLA online?

The stream of Arizona-UCLA can be viewed at espn3.com.

How can I listen to Arizona-UCLA on the radio?

You can listen to Arizona-UCLA on the Arizona IMG Sports Network.

How can I follow Arizona-UCLA?

By following us on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm! You can also follow our editors at @RKelapire and @realBJP.

Pregame coverage

• What to watch for when Arizona visits UCLA on Saturday
• What we learned from Arizona’s loss at USC
• What Sean Miller said after Arizona’s loss at USC
• Offense struggles again as Arizona falls to USC
• USC’s Onyeka Okongwu makes unbelievable 3/4-court shot against Arizona
• Arizona guard Max Hazzard to miss USC game for personal reasons
• Arizona guard Josh Green won’t play at USC or UCLA due to back injury

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What to watch for when Arizona visits UCLA on Saturday

Jacob Snow-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 9-6) will wrap up the Los Angeles road trip on Saturday against the UCLA Bruins (18-11, 11-5), looking to snap a two-game losing streak.

Tip-off at Pauley Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. MST on ESPN. Here are some things to watch for.

Hot vs. cold

The Bruins are the hottest team in the Pac-12, winning six straight and eight of their last nine, propelling themselves to the top of the conference standings and into the NCAA Tournament conversation.

Their winning streak started on Feb. 8 in Tucson when they routed Arizona 65-52, holding the Wildcats to their worst-ever shooting percentage in McKale Center (25.4%).

Arizona is 3-2 since then, losers of two straight, all but ending its hopes of claiming a conference championship.

That alone doesn’t inspire much confidence that Arizona can snap its losing streak, though Vegas oddsmakers actually peg the Wildcats as slight favorites for Saturday’s contest.

Those shooting struggles

Game in and game out, you really have no idea which Arizona team will show up. One weekend, they can shoot 20 for 44 from 3, the next game they can go 3 for 26.

I mean, there is really not much else to say here except that Arizona needs to do more of the former and less of the latter to have a shot at beating a scorching UCLA team.

Bruising Bruins

While Arizona’s 3-point shooting was a problem vs. UCLA the first time—they shot 6 for 23—the bigger issue was the Wildcats struggling to finish around the rim, going 6 for 20 on layups.

They were, for the lack of a better term, soft.

“You have to be physical, you have to go through contact, you can’t cry,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said that night. “Sometimes you have to make a clever pass because they’re physical and walling up, and their toughness and physicality wore on all of us. it wore on our team, wore on our drives, wore on our second shots. Early in the game you could see guys are like begging for the foul and falling down. And you have to know going into the game that they’re playing that type of game, and you have to be able to adjust but that that really bothered us.”

Even Zeke Nnaji had trouble that night, going 2 for 8 from the field, though he did go 10 for 10 from the line. Unless Arizona can flip the script on the perimeter, it will need to find a way to get Nnaji going this time around.

If UCLA deploys the same kind of defense USC did—i.e. doubling on the catch, not rotating off shooters—it won’t be easy, especially if UA’s guards continue having difficulty with their entry passes.

“When you have a player like Zeke, it’s so important that you have the piece of mind that you exhausted all possibilities of being able to maximize him,” Miller said. “He had a double-double. You have to take in consideration the number of times he caught the ball and got trapped and the number of free-throw attempts and times he got fouled. In tonight’s circumstances, we probably needed three or four more quality low post catches and shots that I thought we had him but weren’t able to get him the ball.”

The Bruins also present a problem on the glass, entering as the Pac-12’s top offensive rebounding team. Arizona infamously has difficulty corralling rebounds in close games, so that’s pretty worrisome.

Green and Hazzard

The Wildcats will be without Josh Green, who did not travel with the team to Los Angeles as he nurses a lower back injury. That we know.

What we don’t know is whether or not Max Hazzard will suit up. The Los Angeles native missed the USC game for “personal reasons” though oddly he was on the bench anyway.

Not having Green makes the Wildcats far less intimating in transition and on defense, while Hazzard’s shooting was sorely missed against the Trojans.

Also: them being out puts Arizona at eight healthy scholarship players, causing them fade down the stretch of Thursday’s game as fatigue started to set in.

“We’re down to just a couple guards and I thought we wore down as the game went on,” Miller said.

Eye of the Tyger

As Nico Mannion has struggled down the stretch, UCLA’s freshman point guard has surged. Tyger Campbell has averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 assists over the last five games. In his last two games he has 25—yes, 25!—assists to just four turnovers, a big reason the Bruins picked up momentous wins over Colorado and ASU.

Campbell and the Bruins play at a deliberate pace and have become quite good in the halfcourt, shooting 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3 as a team during their six-game winning streak.

Campbell’s 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the Pac-12.

And while he is not much of a shooter, he is becoming a more consistent scorer, tallying double figures in seven of his last eight games.

Packed Pauley

UCLA notoriously has fairweather fans, so now that the Bruins are winning, they are showing up in droves.

9,626 flocked to Pauley Pavilion for the ASU game on Thursday, creating a raucous environment that Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley compared to the excitement of the Lonzo Ball era.

With the Bruins now in first place and inching closer to an NCAA Tournament bid, you can expect a similar environment Saturday night. Probably even more hectic given the storied history between Arizona and UCLA, and the fact the Wildcats will bring their fair share of fans to Westwood.

Scoreboard watching

Arizona just needs to keep pace with Colorado in the loss column to earn a bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Buffaloes have two games left—a Sunday tilt at Stanford followed by a road game at Utah next Saturday.

If Arizona falls to UCLA, it will need the Buffaloes to drop one of their final two games. If the Wildcats beat UCLA, they can clinch a bye with a sweep of the Washington schools at home next week.

ASU, Oregon and UCLA all own the tiebreakers over Arizona, so it’s unlikely the Wildcats will finish better than fourth.

An incredible broadcast

We get the treat of having Bill Walton AND Richard Jefferson doing color commentary alongside Dave Pasch.

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Arizona baseball knocks off Central Michigan to open tournament

Courtesy Arizona Athletics

Tony Bullard drove in three runs and the Arizona Wildcats leaned on their pitching for a 3-1 win over the Central Michigan Chippewas on Friday night in the Arizona Tournament at Hi Corbett Field.

Bullard's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning completed a 2-run frame to put Arizona (6-3) up 3-1, then his 2-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Wildcats some insurance.

The bottom of Arizona's lineup came up big Friday, with Bullard, Jacob Blas, Brandon Boissiere and Mac Bingham combining to go 7 for 12 with four runs scored and four RBI.

Garrett Irvin improved to 3-0 after allowing a run and three hits over six innings. He struck out eight before Vince Vannelle fanned three over the final the innings for his second save.

The win came two days after Arizona lost 4-2 in 10 innings to Central Michigan, which also lost 9-2 to Rhode Island earlier Friday.

The Wildcats take on Rhode Island Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.

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Aari McDonald sinks game-winning layup to lift No. 13 Arizona past No. 4 Stanford

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Aari McDonald banked in a layup with nine seconds left in overtime and No. 13 Arizona beat No. 4 Stanford 73-72 on Friday for its first-ever win over a top-5 team.

Battling a nagging ankle injury, McDonald finished with 20 points, 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

AARI MCDONALD FOR THE WIN

She's COLD pic.twitter.com/L1GZUwskDP

— Arizona Women's Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) February 29, 2020

Sam Thomas had 17 points, 15 in the fourth and overtime, and made a 3 to put Arizona up 71-64. The Cardinal roared back with an 8-0 run in 45 seconds to recapture a lead before McDonald drove for the game-winning bucket.

Dominique McBryde had 13 points, including 11 in a big third quarter when she buried three 3s.

Their senior missed a month’s worth of games in December, but the team has been money when she plays, going 17-2 overall and 10-0 at home. She showed why on Friday night as Arizona captured their first victory over a Top 5 team in program history.

The Wildcats (23-5, 12-5) went cold late in the second quarter. Stanford held them without a point for over six minutes to end the first half and begin the second. Then, McBryde came alive. Her team scored 14 points in the third quarter. Eleven of them were hers.

Neither team came out looking terribly sharp on offense from the beginning. It was almost three minutes into the game before McDonald took a Thomas steal and put points on the board.

The entry of Helena Pueyo lit some fire under the Wildcats. The freshman picked off a pass from Anna Wilson and swished a 3 on the other end to give Arizona the one-point lead. Two minutes later, another shot from distance. The lead was six.

The home team looked comfortable as they closed out the opening quarter with an eight-point lead, but scoring became more difficult as the game wore on. After pushing their lead to nine early in the second quarter, the Wildcats saw their advantage slowly dwindle.

Arizona ended the half on a 2:28 scoring drought, allowing Stanford to cut the lead to two at the half. The Wildcats didn’t come out of the locker room any hotter from the floor.

The Cardinal opened the second half on an 8-0 run, building their own six-point lead before McBryde got hot. The senior, playing in her final two regular season home games, hit a 3 and followed with a layup. Another 3-pointer. Then, a third 3-pointer. In three minutes, she had scored 11 points.

Pueyo was the only other Wildcat to score in the quarter, adding a 3 of her own. Arizona had climbed within five with 10 minutes to play.

Then, it was time for Thomas The junior opened the final quarter with 10 straight points. The game was tied. The 7,838 fans in McKale Center rose together and roared.

This story will be updated.

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Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza’s RBI single propels Arizona softball past No. 8 Alabama

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza RBI single in the seventh lifted No. 7 Arizona to a 2-1 win over No. 8 Alabama on Friday in Tuscaloosa.

It is a revenge victory for the Wildcats, who were eliminated from the Women’s College World Series by the Crimson Tide last June.

Mariah Lopez (8-2) was strong in the circle, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out nine in a complete-game effort.

Arizona (14-3) grabbed an early lead in the first when Reyna Carranco and Sharlize Palacios executed a double steal to plate Carranco.

Alabama (10-6) immediately answered in the home half when KB Sides ripped an RBI double to center.

Arizona only amassed four hits, but two in the seventh plus a key walk by Jenna Kean. The junior got aboard with one out in the frame and promptly swiped second. After a groundout advanced her to third, Palomino-Cardoza singled to left to score the go-ahead run.

It is Arizona’s third win over a ranked team, the others coming against No. 11 Tennessee and No. 18 Missouri.

This one, because of what Alabama did to Arizona last season, was certainly sweeter. The two teams will rematch Saturday at 3 p.m. MST.

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Player’s perspective: Previewing the Arizona soccer spring season

Mariah Dunn defends Sabrina Enciso | Photo by Ryan Kelapire

The Arizona soccer team opens its spring season Saturday when it hosts UTEP at 3 p.m. MST.

The Wildcats are coming off a 12-7-1 season in which they advanced to the Round of 32 where they lost to No. 4 seed Penn State.

Arizona had an eventful offseason, losing seven players to transfer as well as seven players to graduation, leaving just 13 on the roster until the 2020 recruiting class arrives in the summer.

I caught up with senior forward Jada Talley (UA’s leading scorer), junior midfielder Iliana Hocking, and sophomore defender Mariah Dunn on Friday to talk about the spring season and the state of the program.

Here is what they had to say:

Ryan Kelapire: What did you learn from the 2019 season?

Talley: “I feel like we learned how to overcome things. I feel like that was a big thing for us. Like, so many people leaving, obviously everybody knows. But I just feel like the girls who are here, I feel really comfortable with. I feel like everyone’s improving as a player too. I’m getting surprised every day at practice and what some of the girls do. So it’s just really cool seeing that and seeing everybody work past all the media and everyone saying, ‘oh, why did everybody leave?’ and asking those questions and stuff. So I’m just looking forward to our next season. I feel like we’re going to be really good as a team and we’re going to add new people, and we’re going to be even better than last year.”

Hocking: “We learned we should be confident against big ranked teams, because we’ve proven we can beat UCLA and Washington State, and they both went to the Final Four. And I think we all proved that we’re really hard workers and we don’t care if teams are better than us, we’re still going to come out and give them a fight. And we expect the newcomers to help us and have the same work ethic that we do and hope to have a successful season and even go further in the tournament than last year.”

Dunn: “Everybody wants to get to the tournament, but I think last season when we lost against Penn State, that was definitely a learning curve for us because we were up, and we need to make sure that like we can finish the game off like when we need to. ... It set a fire underneath us for this year coming up. Obviously when we did lose, everybody’s hurt, everybody was upset that we were so close, but we know what we need to do the next year to improve.”

Talley: “Yes it’s good that we made it to the tournament, but we need to set that standard higher and finish games out, because we’ve done that a lot. We did that against Washington too and that could have been an easy win for us, so we need to throw that part of our game into practice more and keep it in our minds more. I think that’s the last part of our game that we’re missing as a team.”

RK: Why should people not be concerned about your team losing so many players?

Talley: “I’m not trying to throw shade, but everyone who left kind of left for personal reasons. And it, to me, had to do with the lack of playing time they were getting. So we’re still returning so many people that do get that playing time and are here to show out for the team and for the crowd that comes out. So I think we’re going to be just fine. We’re returning a lot of people that I love to play with and I know that they’re great players, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Hocking: “Transfers are just a part of women’s college soccer and it happens everywhere, so I think everyone expects some people to come and go, but everyone’s mentality is you still have to work hard, you can’t just focus on people leaving, you still have to focus on yourself, focus on the team, work hard, and you’re going to get back to that place and you might even be better than you were before. And we still have so many girls that got great reps during last season, a lot of people started, played quality minutes, and everyone is experienced playing in big Pac 12 games. I think we’ll be just fine.”

RK: What do you guys do in the spring?

Talley: “We work out so much.”

Dunn: “So hard, way harder than summer.”

Hocking: “Yeah, we get yoked. Spring consists of just a lot of weightlifting. You can’t play soccer that much. You have the eight weeks, you can only play soccer two hours at the beginning of each week, so it’s to add strength and it’s good for injury prevention, getting everyone strong, make sure everyone’s agile...so you’re better for next season and even healthier.”

Dunn: “I also think during spring it’s more specified to you and what you need as a player, because during summer you’re doing team workouts. But during spring, we have certain groups that we’re put into based on what we need to work on—like agility, strength, and fitness.”

Talley: “There’s a lot of competition based off the weight room. I feel like a lot of that goes into conditioning, and we do challenges. We have Bear Down Games or Red vs. Blue and that’s all basically weight room stuff. So I feel like they’re just trying to focus on getting us big because they don’t want us lifting much in the season. So this is a little four-month period for everyone to just get big and get their body ready for the five-month season that we have.”

RK: What are you trying to get out of the spring games?

Talley: “We’re just trying to get used to playing with each other, because these are going to be the girls that we’re going to have for season. We’re just looking to add maybe a couple, two or three, who are going to genuinely help us in my opinion. So I think it’s just getting reps with each other. You can only do so much in practice against each other. And I feel like people who didn’t get to start every game like Mariah last year, it’s her time to shine and take that spot and make it hers.”

Dunn: “Like Jada said, this is my time to shine and show what I can do for the program and show I can be an impact for the team since I didn’t get to do that last year. ... I think that [fans] can expect my aggressiveness on the field, and I like to attack down-line and stuff, so getting crosses in, anything that can help.”

Hocking: “We haven’t played a game in a couple months so it’s just getting everyone that game experience and getting people who didn’t get to play in that many games last year more reps so they’re more comfortable with the environment and people they’re playing, and even trying people out at different positions .... I want to see how that looks in spring when the games aren’t counting for a record but we still want to be successful.”

RK: What’s your personal goal in 2020?

Talley: “I want to get the (scoring) record.* I know the (NWSL) draft is in January, I really want to get drafted. I don’t know about overseas yet, but either one is an option for me. I know I didn’t want to play pro...but I do now. I think my mind has changed and I feel like I’ve matured as a player and I’ve seen what I can do. I kind of proved it to myself because I know I didn’t have this much confidence this time last year.”

Dunn: “This year I want to definitely prove myself individually as a defender. Because last year playing midfield showed me that, yeah, I wasn’t used to playing that position but I got more comfortable. And then when I play defender now, I feel that I can contribute more because I’ve always played there.”

Hocking: “I want to get more fit. I want to be able to play the full 90 and help consistently throughout those 90 minutes, and I want to work more on attacking and shooting. I scored three goals last year, which was awesome. I don’t score that much and that’s a great feeling to help the team like directly, so it’d be awesome to like get more in attack, as we are losing Brooke (Wilson), who did score a good amount of goals.”

*Talley needs 15 goals to become UA’s all-time leading scorer

RK: Other than yourself, who has impressed you in the spring so far?

Talley: “I want to answer that after the game. Yes, you get to showcase yourself in practice, but it only goes so far. We don’t do drills. We haven’t really scrimmaged yet.”

Dunn: “Yeah, we don’t have enough players.”

RK: Okay, so what are you looking forward to seeing then?

Talley: “I want to see somebody take over the [midfield] because I feel like we’re gonna have a lockdown backline once they get playing with each other and everybody gets more comfortable. I know for us when we have a good game with our midfielders, we always win. So seeing somebody shine in the middle will make me feel good about it.”

Hocking: “I feel like we have a lot of experience up top, so I’m not too worried about that. So I would say definitely this game I want to see who in the backline (stands out) because the backline hasn’t played together in any games. So how they’re going to work together and how everyone’s going to shine and show their strengths, that’s gonna be really interesting to see. And what formation we play in the back and how comfortable everyone is.”

RK: For the freshmen arriving in the fall, what’s the biggest challenge they will face?

Dunn: “The biggest challenge that I faced was definitely coming in and we got a packet for summer to work out. And when I came here, I was fit but I wasn’t as fit as I should have been. So I think that coming in, you need to make sure you’re running every day and getting that game fitness up, because it’s different, especially when you’re in the heat. Mental toughness is a big thing. Because I think there’s a lot of times where some of us freshmen were like, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it here’ but you have to know that this is what you got recruited for, this is what you’re signing up to do.”

Hocking: “It’s just a big jump from club. In club it was so slow compared to this. You realize how much running you have to do in the game and how hard you have to work. In club you can really get away with walking around, seeing how the game’s going. But it’s very competitive in college. I think all the girls need to come ready for that competitive aspect of it. You might not come in and start. You just have to like deal with it, work your ass off and not expect anything.”

Talley: “Summer is a test on your mental toughness because it is very freaking hard. It is very hard so I feel like it’s players being able to come in and not being like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do this’ after a week because it’s going to test you and you’re not going to want to do it. It’s 9,000 degrees. So I think it’s just making it through that and realizing that it’s soccer, you’ve been doing it your whole life, you’re here for a reason, you got recruited for a reason, so keep that in the back of your mind and just push through it. You have all of us to lean on. Everybody who’s here wants to be here or we would have transferred.”

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Jessie Harper homers as Arizona softball cruises past McNeese State in Alabama

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Jessie Harper launched her sixth homer of the season and No. 7 Arizona cruised to a 7-2 win over McNeese State on Friday to open the Easton Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Wildcats (13-3) will complete the doubleheader at 5 p.m. MST against No. 8 Alabama, the host team.

Arizona led 3-0 in the fifth when Harper broke the game open with a three-run shot to right, the 72nd of her career, 20 shy of tying UA’s all-time record.

Alyssa Denham carried a no-hitter into the sixth, but saw it get broken up by a one-out bloop single. The Cowgirls (15-4) followed it up with a double, hit by pitch and single to plate their first run, then an RBI fielder’s choice to score their second.

The Wildcats notched nine hits and a pair of walks from eight different players. They hit 5 for 10 with runners in scoring position, an area they struggled in last week.

Malia Martinez opened the scoring in the first with a clutch two-out, two-run single up the middle.

Ivy Davis added an RBI groundout in the fourth and Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza lifted a sacrifice fly to left in the sixth, her team-best 21st RBI of the season.

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3 up, 3 down from Arizona’s loss to USC

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats lost for the second straight game Thursday night, this time at the hands of the USC Trojans, falling 57-48 at the Galen Center in LA.

Arizona was without the services of Josh Green (back) and Max Hazzard (personal reasons) and dropped to 19-9 overall and 9-6 in Pac-12 play with the loss.

The Wildcats’ defeat also all but ended any chance they had of winning the league title, while also seriously hurting their chances of receiving a bye in the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament.

While our full recap of Thursday’s game can be found here, and a breakdown of what a morose Sean Miller said afterwards here, below is a further analysis of the Wildcats’ loss to the Trojans.

Up

Zeke Nnaji

None of the Wildcats really played well on offense against USC, but Arizona’s best player this season persevered through his team’s cold front to notch his conference-best 13th double-double of the year.

Nnaji finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds against USC, leading Arizona in both categories.

Considering that Nico Mannion was just 3 of 14 from the field, Dylan Smith 1 of 9 and Jemarl Baker Jr. 2 of 9, the ball probably should have been worked inside to Zeke more often, particularly early in the game when he took just four shots in the first half.

It was a bad loss all around, but Zeke doesn’t deserve to shoulder much of the blame.

Rebounding

This was really the one area of the game where Arizona was superior to USC.

The Cats out rebounded the Trojans 38-32 overall and 14-4 on the offensive glass, outscoring SC in second chance points 11-2 as well.

It ultimately wasn’t enough to get a what was honestly a must-win, but if there was one thing that the UA did well in what was otherwise an ugly loss, it was hit the boards.

After the game, Miller agreed with that sentiment.

“Rebounding was a real key for us in this game, and we did a great job,” the Wildcats’ head coach said. “We just couldn’t make a shot.”

Defense

It won’t be remembered, simply because of how poor the Cats were on offense, but Arizona actually played alright on defense Thursday night.

The Trojans shot 42 percent but the Wildcats limited SC to just 30 percent shooting from 3 and importantly forced 15 turnovers as well.

Despite how poor Arizona was on offense, the UA remained within striking distance until pretty much the end of the game.

Granted, that might have had more to do with the Trojans’ own problems than Arizona’s defense — but considering the Wildcats’ offensive woes, they really should have been blown out.

Down

Offense

Yes, it was shorthanded, but once again Arizona had an awful shooting night on Thursday against USC.

The Wildcats shot just 25 percent from the field against the Trojans and were an abysmal 3 of 26 from 3.

Without Green, the Cats struggled to get in transition—they finished with just six fast break points—and struggled to get good looks in the half court.

In the end, it was one of Arizona’s worst offensive performances of the Miller Era and afterwards the coach lamented the fact that his team just couldn’t get anything going.

“You’re not gonna win when you shoot 28 percent, 11 percent from 3 and have 15 turnovers,” he said. “For the most part, 25, 30 minutes, our defense was clearly good enough to win the game, we just didn’t have any offense.”

There’s only three games left in the season, and I think at this point it’s fair to say that this team just isn’t that good at running a half-court offense.

Depth

Without both Green and Hazzard the Wildcats struggled mightily to get anything going against USC.

Playing basically a six-man rotation, the UA simply didn’t get significant offensive contributions from enough guys and they ended up scoring a measly 48 points — its lowest point total in a game this season.

Ira Lee finished with six points after being inserted to the starting lineup, but only Nnaji (15) and Mannion (11) were the other Wildcats to score more then five points.

Stone Gettings had a quiet night, finishing with just four points on 2 of-5 shooting in 34 minutes of action.

After the game, Miller said that he thought his team felt Green and Hazzard’s absence down particularly the stretch in the second half.

“Playing without Josh and Max, I mean we’re down to just a couple guards and I thought we wore down as the game went on,” he said. “The guards who played, obviously they played their hearts out, but we had a another historic tough night shooting the ball.”

Green did not travel with the team so obviously won’t play against UCLA on Saturday, while Miller couldn’t say whether or not Hazzard would be available against the Bruins.

Nico Mannion

With Green and Hazzard both out, Arizona absolutely needed its most coveted recruit to have a big game if they were going to get a dub against the Trojans.

But with NBA scouts all over the arena, Mannion struggled mightily, posting 11 points and going 3 of 14 from the field and 1 of 7 from 3 in the loss.

He tried to shoot himself out of the slump in the second half — taking some seriously questionable shots in the process — but they just wouldn’t fall for him.

The freshman didn’t distribute the ball well either Thursday night, finishing with two assists and two turnovers.

There is no doubt that he is obviously a very skilled player — which is why he has been rated so highly in NBA circles — but with three games left in the season, I think it’s safe to say he’s at least been somewhat underwhelming at Arizona. To this point, that is.

Both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments are still looming, so Nico certainly still has a chance to flip the script, but it’s hard to imagine that his draft stock isn’t falling right now.

His stock with Arizona fans certainly has.

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Arizona hosts Stanford: What to expect, how to watch

Photo by Jacob Snow/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

As with so many occasions this season, Friday’s game between the Arizona Wildcats and Stanford Cardinal has a kind of importance for Arizona that hasn’t been seen since the early 2000s or the late 1990s. In this case, memories of both hang in the air.

In 2004, the Wildcats and the Cardinal met for their second matchup in just under a month. Stanford had been victorious in the teams’ earlier meeting, handling Arizona easily in Maples Pavilion. But the season is long. The Wildcats could put pressure on Stanford for the title race if they could beat the Cardinal in McKale Center on Feb. 5.

They did, edging Stanford out 88-83. It improved the Wildcats’ conference record to 9-2, even in the loss column with 10-2 Stanford. Eventually, it would be the game that secured a share of the regular season title for Arizona.

“Tonight we took advantage by seizing the opportunity,” then-coach Joan Bonvicini said after that game. “Stanford is a great team and never backed down from us. But at the same time, we didn’t back down at all either. Our players stepped up when they needed to, and played with a lot of poise.”

Current head coach Adia Barnes hopes to be able to say the same thing after Friday’s game. It won’t be a game that could eventually allow the Wildcats to tie the Cardinal for first as happened in 2004. This time, it would be about the opportunity to tie for second or at least climb to third and avoid a possible matchup with top-seeded Oregon in the semifinals of next week’s Pac-12 tournament.

What the Wildcats will face is a very different team from the one that took the floor for Stanford last year. Gone is star Alanna Smith who had seven blocks to go along with 20 points and 14 rebounds in last year’s game in Tucson. Smith is now part of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Also missing is DiJonai Carrington who added 19 points in that blow-out. The senior has missed most of the season with an injury. She has not appeared in a game since November.

But there’s still lots of talent, as there always is in Palo Alto. The Hull sisters—Lexie and Lacie—are back. Six-foot-one Lacie Hull used her length to effectively guard Aari McDonald last season.

Kiana Williams is back. The junior scored 13 points and went 3 for 5 in Tucson last season.

“They’re so young this year,” Barnes said. “They’re young, and they’ve had a lot of injuries. So missing a player like DiJonai is huge, because she’s a leader, a vet, she’s hard to guard. And so when you have young players on your team, I think it’s a lot harder. But the amazing thing about (Stanford coach) Tara (VanDerveer) is that her team could be young, it can be old, she could have half the team hurt, and she still always finds a way. So with whatever she has because of her system, her philosophy and her coaching, she always finds a way to be better. You may count Stanford out or say, ‘Oh, they’ll be like fourth or fifth.’ And she always rises to first or second. You’re like, ‘I don’t know how to she does it.’ But I think that’s why she’s a hall of famer.”

One thing that helps is that the youth is extremely talented. The freshmen constituted the No. 2 recruiting class this season.

Unfortunately for Stanford, their top freshman has been out for almost two months. No. 1 recruit Haley Jones had been part of the starting lineup since Carrington was injured, but suffered her own injury in January.

Despite that, they have lived up to their billing as the league’s second team largely because they have a coach who won’t allow anything else to happen.

“I love everything about what (VanDerveer) does,” Barnes said. “I also love the fact that she’s always professional. That anything can happen. I mean, she could have so many excuses this year. She can complain about this, she can complain about that. She’s missing two of her star players. You will never see her talk about it, because she just does what she does. She just coaches her team.”

As for the Wildcats, they appear to be healthy. While McDonald sat out last week, it was primarily for precautionary and rest reasons. Her coach says she’s back and 100 percent this week.

Cate Reese dealt with symptoms of diabetes that forced her to spend parts of two nights at the hospital during the Rocky Mountain road trip. All indications are that she’s fine now, as well.

The Wildcats have shown that they can beat Top 10 teams. They have shown that they can compete against Top 5 teams. Now, they have the opportunity to help improve their seeding in the Pac-12 Tournament and to secure home court advantage in the NCAA Tournament by taking down No. 4 Stanford.

They can also help their coach pick up a victory over a woman for whom she has the “most respect for of any coach in America.”

“Tara has 1,000 wins? I’ll die before I have 1,000 wins,” Barnes joked.

Arizona-Stanford game details:

Date: Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Time: 6 p.m. MST

Location: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Records: Arizona (22-5, 11-5), Stanford (24-4, 13-3)

Rankings and ratings: Arizona is ranked No. 13 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today/WBCA polls. Stanford is ranked No. 4 by the AP and No. 6 by the coaches.

Analytics site Her Hoop Stats rates the Cardinal No. 9 and the Wildcats No. 18 overall. Stanford is rated the No. 9 offense and the No. 16 defense. Arizona is the No. 33 offense and the No. 8 defense.

The official RPI has Stanford at No. 8 and Arizona at No. 24.

Which channel is Arizona-Stanford on?

The game will be aired live on Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12 Bay Area and the Pac-12 Network national feed.

How can I stream Arizona-Stanford ?

The stream will be available on Pac-12.com or the Pac-12 Now app on your mobile device, but only if you already subscribe to the Pac-12 Network. Click the “How to watch” button at the top of the link.

How can I listen to the radio call of Arizona-Stanford?

The call by Derrick Palmer is available on the Arizona IMG Sports Network. On the radio, you can tune into KTUC 1400 AM. You can also listen via Tunein.com or the Tunein app on your mobile device.

Where can I find stats for Arizona-Stanford?

Official stats are available on Arizona Live Stats both during and after the game.

How can I follow Arizona-Stanford?

You can follow us on Twitter @AZDesertSwarm. You can also follow our editor @RKelapire and our reporter @KimDoss71 for coverage of Arizona women’s basketball on game day and every other day of the week.

Catch up with our coverage from this week

• Notebook: On Cate Reese’s health, Sam Thomas’ career night and finishing in the top four of the Pac-12
• Aari McDonald will participate in senior day, but is undecided about the WNBA draft
• Aari McDonald to play vs. Stanford
• Arizona falls in the polls after the loss to Colorado

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What we learned from Arizona’s loss at USC

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats turned in another clunker Thursday, falling to the USC Trojans 57-48 in Los Angeles, their lowest scoring total of the season.

Our full recap can be found here, Sean Miller’s postgame comments are here, and below are some additional takeaways from a forgettable night.

Another awful shooting night showed this team’s true colors

In typical this-team fashion, the Wildcats posted a historically bad 3-point shooting night just when you thought they had turned the corner in that department.

Arizona shot 20 for 44 from 3 last weekend against the Oregon schools, only to follow it up by shooting 3 for 26 against USC, a dismal 11.5% conversion rate.

“Clearly we took a couple tough ones,” Miller said.

What is telling is that wasn’t even Arizona’s worst 3-point shooting performance of the season. (They shot 11.3% against Baylor.)

It reaffirms two things—this team is maddeningly inconsistent but, on most nights, a legitimately bad 3-point shooting team with very little sense of what a good shot is.

Since the start of conference play, Arizona is shooting 32.6% from 3.

Nico Mannion’s shooting keeps getting worse

One of the most disappointing things about this season has been Mannion’s cold shooting. It continued Thursday, with him going 3 for 14 from the field and 1 for 7 from 3.

That drops his season field-goal percentage to 38.8% and his 3-point percentage to 31.7%, numbers that fall well below the nation’s average.

What’s worse is that Mannion, contrary to what you’d think for most freshmen, has regressed as the season has gone on. Over his last seven games, he is shooting 28.8% from the field and 22% from 3.

As I’ve written before, that really becomes a problem when he is leading the team in shot attempts. At some point he either has to start making them or stop hoisting so many.

Arizona’s shooting woes handcuffed Zeke Nnaji

A residual effect of not being able to hit shots? Teams can double team and pack the paint without restraint.

At least that is Miller’s explanation for why Nnaji only took 10 2-point shots, even though it was clearly Arizona’s best source of offense.

“At the beginning of the game, USC elected to double team Zeke on low-post catches and really not rotate,” he said. “So that’s kind of like anytime the ball’s thrown in, just leave your man, double team and let’s see if they can make it.”

Once it became clear post-ups were going to be difficult, Nnaji was used as a screener. He did get some open looks when he popped for a mid-range jumper, but the paint was still congested when he rolled to the rim.

On one basket, he made it work anyway, catching the ball in the paint and using some nifty footwork to split a pair of defenders for a layup.

“Why don’t they do that more?” the ever-so-observant Bill Walton asked.

“That right there would have been our best bet,” Miller said, “but you have to be able to get the ball in and I thought we took a couple ill-advised shots instead of being able to get the ball in. And sometimes the player doesn’t do it on purpose, he’s just not a good passer.”

The defense has been sneaky good lately

Underscoring the offensive issues is that Arizona is 3-2 in its last five games despite holding its opponents to an offensive rating under 87 (an elite mark) in four of its last five games.

Since the start of conference play, Arizona has a 94.0 defensive rating, only trailing Stanford.

It leaves some hope that the Wildcats can be a great team if their offense finds some consistency. Until then, winning ugly is their best bet.

“For the most part, 25, 30 minutes, our defense was clearly good enough to win the game,” Miller said Thursday. “We just didn’t have any offense.”

It’s unclear when Green and Hazzard will return

Maybe things would have been different if Josh Green (back) and Max Hazzard (personal reasons) were available. Green might have been able to create some points in transition and could hit some perimeter shots.

We know Green won’t play Saturday at UCLA—he didn’t even travel with the team—but Hazzard’s status is murkier. It was odd seeing him on the bench but not playing, and Miller didn’t offer any clarity after the game.

“I don’t know. Personal reasons,” he told reporters at the Galen Center. “I can’t really say much beyond that.”

Green has a pretty length injury history—he has undergone shoulder surgery twice, including last April—so it’s not outlandish to think his latest ailment, a sacroiliac joint sprain, could cause him to consider pulling the plug and shift his focus to the NBA Draft.

Green is a projected first-round pick and aggravating his back (or suffering any other kind of injury) could cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars if it becomes serious.

Green is ultra-competitive and doesn’t seem like someone who would bail on his team as the postseason nears, but it’s at least something to be mindful of.

The No. 4 seed is probably Arizona’s best-case scenario

If the season ended today, the Wildcats would be the No. 5 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, one spot short of earning a first-round bye.

At this point, the No. 4 seed is probably as good as it gets unless the Wildcats beat UCLA, which is looking increasingly unlikely given Arizona’s injuries and the fact the Bruins have won six straight.

Here is an updated look at the top half of the standings:

1. Oregon (11-5)
2. UCLA (11-5)
3. ASU (10-5)
4. Colorado (10-6)
5. Arizona (9-6)
6. USC (9-7)
7. Stanford (8-7)

Assuming Arizona loses to UCLA but beats Washington and Washington State (the likest scenario in my opinion), the Wildcats would need Colorado to lose to Stanford or Utah on the road to clinch the 4-seed.

Totally plausible, given that the Buffaloes just lost to Cal by 14.

The emphasis on the NBA Draft was a bad touch

Seeing how poorly played this game was, it was amusing the majority of the first half consisted of ESPN analyst Mike Schmitz chopping it up about Arizona and USC’s NBA draft prospects and how they will translate to the next level.

But it aptly sums up what the upper levels of college basketball are about these days. Instead of the focus being on the game at hand—you know, one that had major Pac-12 title implications (and NCAA Tournament implications if you’re USC)—it was centered on what these players will do once their college careers are over.

That is a bad thing for the sport. It just propagates the idea that college basketball is a farm system for the NBA, not a sport that is (or at least used to be) special because of the tradition and connection these teams and players have to their universities.

Thursday’s game was hard to watch as it is, but it’s even harder to take in when the broadcast is essentially telling you that whatever happens on the court is secondary to the NBA Draft.

In fairness to ESPN, that is what happens when prospects only go to college because they cannot enter the NBA out of high school. The one-and-done rule cannot be changed soon enough.

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