"Tell them … tell the team to bear down"

Wise ends turbulent UA career with two games at McKale

We have been alerted that the ZonaZoo will try this chant tonight. Of course, the UA will have to be the “Winning Team” for this to take place:

Analysis by Javier Morales

Where: McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz. (14,545)

When: 8:30 p.m. (Tucson time)

Who’ll be there: Fox Sports Network will televise nationally with Barry Tompkins and former UCLA player Marques Johnson calling the action. You can also listen to Brian Jeffries and Matt Muehlebach live on the radio on the IMG College/Wildcat Radio Network (which provides free access on Yahoo! sports).

Pregame and Postgame Shows: John Schuster, Brad Allis and Rob Lantz break down the game and answer your calls at the KCUB 1290-AM feed.

Injuries/Personnel developments: UA freshman forward Kevin Parrom will not play this weekend because of a stress fracture in his foot and he may be out for the rest of the season. The M*A*S*H unit that is UCLA includes Nikola Dragovic (shoulder and ankle), Reeves Nelson (eye) and Brendan Lane (ankle). They are banged up but are expected to play. Senior forward James Keefe is out for the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury that required surgery Wednesday. Former LSU signee J’mison Morgan, a 6-10 sophomore center, will not play because he violated unspecified team rules.

Bet you didn’t know …: In the last four-plus years in Pac-10 play, UCLA coach Ben Howland is 30-13 (.698) on the road (30-8, excluding Seattle) and 36-9 (.800) at home.

They said it: “It really made me feel terrible. Coach (John) Wooden’s health has not allowed him to be with us much this season, but he was here Saturday with his championship ‘70 team watching us play zone defense, turning over the ball and not winning. I remember looking at video later that night and seeing Coach Wooden sitting there, and it really hurt me.” — Howland regarding Saturday’s loss to last-place Oregon at Pauley Pavilion

Sidelines: From The Arizona Daily Star’s Bruce Pascoe

Matchups

BACKCOURT

When asked this week if he would have played for four different coaches in four years in college, UA coach Sean Miller said: “I wouldn’t have.” The press room broke out into laughter, but by the sound of Miller’s voice, he was not joking. Nic Wise, who plays his last two games at McKale Center this weekend, said he wants to be remembered most for his loyalty. “I stuck with this program through all of the turmoil because I love this program,” Wise said. “Tucson is my second home.” Wise’s career is not ending the way he would have liked, but the senior guard, who scored 26 points and outplayed Darren Collison last season against UCLA at McKale, should be one of the most respected players to wear an Arizona uniform for all that he’s endured. The only other substantial player that comes to mind that is similar is Brock Brunkhorst, who was recruited by Fred Snowden and played for Snowden, Ben Lindsey (in the 4-24 season) and Lute Olson. At least Brunkhorst experienced the UA’s first NCAA tournament under Olson in his last season with the Cats in 1985. Ironically, Wise will possibly be part of the UA’s first team to not participate in the NCAA tournament since that time. Advantage: Arizona. The Cats match up favorably with Wise, who should play re-energized and Kyle Fogg (who torched UCLA for 25 points in the first meeting). UCLA is formidable with Malcolm Lee and Michael Roll (who combined for 43 of the Bruins’ points against Oregon last Saturday), but against the Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion they shot 10 of 25 from the field and had eight turnovers with only four assists.

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Plus, this week’s Litany o’ Links

HOW STRONG IS THE RIVALRY THESE DAYS?		LOOK BACK: MOMO JONES’ 16-FOOT GAME-WINNER
THE LAST GO-AROUND AT PAULEY		OOH AAH MAN AT MCKALE THIS WEEKEND?

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The Orange County Register takes a look back at the top UCLA players of the last decade

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The Wall Street Journal chimes in about the UA being one of 12 teams out of 30 with the most NCAA tournament wins that will possibly not be in the Big Dance this season

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The Oregonian offers a list of notable quotes from the week

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The L.A. Times reports about UCLA’s rash of injuries late in the season

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The Washington Post does not show an East coast bias by writing the Pac-10 will get at least two teams in the NCAA tournament

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The Houston Chronicle’s feature on Josh Pastner last week includes a bit about the former UA guard and assistant coach writing a recruiting letter to Loren Woods’ unborn son

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Former UA forward Chase Budinger, who started this week for the Rockets, is one of the 10 most underrated rookies in the NBA, according to BleacherReport.com

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Jones’ off-balance bank shot thing of beauty for struggling Cats

RELATED LINK: Steve Rivera of TucsonCitizen.com touches on the resiliency of Arizona’s young team when it appeared down and out

By Javier Morales

Khalid Reeves and Sean Rooks — two New York City-born players — move over. The kid from Harlem, Lamont “MoMo” Jones, matched their game-winning shots with another buzzer beater at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion.

Furthermore, somewhere Salim Stoudamire is smiling, and once Mike Bibby learns what Arizona did at Stanford, he likely will think back to his first experience in the Bay area and appreciate what the young Wildcats did at Cal and Stanford this weekend.

Six years ago, it was Stoudamire who turned the ball over at Stanford, leading to Nick Robinson’s miraculous last-second 35-foot shot that ripped the gut out of the Cats and their fans. In Arizona’s NCAA title season of 1996-97, Bibby as a freshman was swept on the road against Cal and Stanford, experiencing one of his worst games against the Cardinal with only six points. He posted only three against the Golden Bears.

This Stanford team is nowhere the same as the Cardinal teams Stoudamire and Bibby played, but then again, Arizona is unlike the Cats of old in this grind-it-out season.

The play of Jones and fellow freshman Derrick Williams added another chapter of storybook endings in this hotly contested rivalry in which 18 of the last 23 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less.

This was Reeves revisited, when he drove the length of the court in 1992 and scored at the buzzer to beat the Cardinal in Maples. Reeves hails from Queens. Jones used that big-city confidence to bank in a jumper from about 16 feet as time expired for the pivotal 71-69 victory Saturday night. Williams set up Jones’ shot by blocking an attempted layup by Jack Trotter with six seconds left.

Read the rest of this entry at TucsonCitizen.com

47.4 percent scoring contribution tops major-college programs

By Anthony Gimino and Javier Morales

On second thought, maybe we should not be all that surprised about the UA freshmen accounting for 94 percent (32 of 34 points) of the Wildcats’ scoring in the second half against Oregon on Thursday. The heavy contribution of newcomers follows suit from two previous major coaching changes within the program. When Fred Snowden was hired from Michigan in 1972, he brought along with him the Kiddie Korps duo of freshmen Eric Money and Coniel Norman from Detroit. Money and Norman scored a majority of the Cats’ points as freshmen, including Money’s 37 points in his first collegiate game. In Lute Olson’s case, the newcomers in his first season of 1983-84 who contributed the most were junior college transfers (Pete Williams and Eddie Smith), although freshmen guards Michael Tait and Steve Kerr were often key contributors.

With Sean Miller, the bulk contributions of the newcomers goes beyond two individuals. Miller can rely on Pac-10 Freshman of the Year candidate Derrick Williams along with a committee of versatile forward Solomon Hill and New York City products Lamont “MoMo” Jones and Kevin Parrom. Ukrainian big man Kyryl Natyazhko has not been as advanced as his freshmen counterparts — although he was one of the higher rated prospects coming in — but he had his best game against the Ducks with four points and five rebounds in 11 minutes. … According to StatSheet.com, only two other major-conference Division I schools have at least five freshmen and no more than two upperclassmen (juniors and seniors) like Arizona. They are Iowa (which like the Cats has five freshmen, one junior and one senior) and Washington State (which has eight freshmen, no juniors and one senior). The Wildcats depend on their freshmen far more than the Hawkeyes and Cougars — or any other major-college program for that matter. The UA frosh account for 47.4 percent of the team’s scoring (34.2 points per game out of 72.1 overall). Iowa’s percentage is 34.2 (24.3 points per game out of 70.9) while Wazzu’s mark is 33.2 (25 points per game out of 75.2). With such an influx of talent, and a brand new coaching staff, Arizona realistically should not be in line for postseason play. But with six games remaining, the Cats still have a chance. …

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Jones leads group of UA freshmen in productive night vs. Oregon

By Steve Rivera
Excerpt from TucsonCitizen.com

MoMo Jones had to be humbled to get better.

It happens to all of us. Humility is a good thing. It opens eyes. It opens minds. It opened Jones’ ability to play better basketball.

It happened when Arizona faced UCLA back in early January when Jones was suspended for a game by head coach Sean Miller. Then came a meeting with Miller.

Then came the gradual progression of a potential star.

“I just humbled myself in going to the gym every day,’’ Jones said. “I got my mind right. I had to have the mindset that my teammates needed me and I didn’t want to let my teammates down.’’

Jones said senior Nic Wise has been a big help by being a “big brother’’ and if Jones could help Wise go out “with a bang’’ he’d help in any way.

Thursday night was a pretty good showing. Jones had 11 points and a team-high-tying six rebounds in Arizona’s 70-57 win at McKale. In fact, Arizona’s freshmen combined for 32 of Arizona’s 34 second half points.

How good will Arizona’s freshmen be?

“We’re going to be very good,’’ said Jones, whose reaction and voice tone said it all.

Read the rest of Rivera’s report at TucsonCitizen.com

Cats look to avenge last-second loss to Cougs last month

Analysis by Javier Morales

Where: Friel Court (11,671)

When: 6:30 p.m. (Tucson time)

Who’ll be there: Fox Sports Northwest will be there with Washington State announcers Greg Heister and Craig Ehlo (former Cougar and NBA player) calling the action. You can also listen to Brian Jeffries and Matt Muehlebach live on the radio on the IMG College/Wildcat Radio Network (which provides free access on Yahoo! sports).

Pregame and Postgame Shows: John Schuster, Brad Allis and Rob Lantz break down the game and answer your calls at the KCUB 1290-AM feed.

Injuries: None reported by either school.

Common non-conference opponents: None.

Bet you didn’t know …: Washington State in its game notes inadvertently refers to Nic Wise as leading the “Sun Devils” with 15.6 points a game. Even though it’s a mistake, some ardent UA fans probably think of it as sacreligious.

They said it …: “If he can get 15 (3-point attempts) up Saturday, I’m fine with that.” — WSU coach Ken Bone concerning leading scorer Klay Thompson in an interview with the Spokesman-Review.

Matchups

BACKCOURT

Which were the only programs that really wanted guard Reggie Moore when he attended Rainier Beach High School in Seattle a couple of years ago? Fresno State and Santa Clara were the first to offer scholarships. Moore actually signed a letter of intent with Fresno State but requested out of it to attend prep school at the Brewster Academy in New Hampshire last season. UA coach Sean Miller and the rest of the league’s coaches wish Fresno State could have sealed the deal. As it stands now, Moore is a legitimate All-Pac-10 player candidate and potential freshman of the year along with Arizona’s Derrick Williams. Moore had 20 points and three assists — the most important a pass to to DeAngelo Casto for the game-winning shot — in WSU’s 78-76 win in Tucson last month. Moore and sophomore Marcus Capers form one of the best backcourts in the league despite their youth, combining for 21.4 points and 8.7 assists per game. Advantage: With the game in Pullman, Moore and Capers get the nod over Wise and Kyle Fogg, although Wise and Fogg have the maturity to bounce back from a subpar performance at Washington on Thursday.

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Los Angeles combo guard visits UA campus this weekend

By Anthony Gimino and Javier Morales

The visit of Los Angeles Westchester’s Jordin Mayes this weekend falls in line with the UA’s recruitment of him all along, although other highly regarded point guards Josh Selby and Ray McCallum have gained notoriety. UA assistant coach Archie Miller has been the lead recruiter for Mayes since the summer when Mayes was rated as high as No. 48 by Rivals.com. He currently is rated No. 106. Why the drop? I contacted Josh Gershon of GOAZCATS.com, who broke the story about Mayes visiting this weekend. Gershon has some keen insight about Mayes’ recruitment and the guard’s overall skills. This is the assessment Gershon provided me as to why Mayes slipped in Rivals.com’s rankings: “Jordin Mayes looked like a really good prospect as a rising junior but I don’t think he made enough strides from his junior to senior seasons as his peers, which is the biggest reason for the drop. Also, he didn’t participate in camps that could have helped prove himself, such as the NBPA Top 100 or LeBron Skills Academy, so the few games he did play in front of Rivals.com were weighted more.”
Another explanation from what has been reported by others: Mayes is a combo guard who was more accustomed to the off-guard position heading into this season. He is required to be more of a ball-handler this year and that has affected his scoring and overall production. In Westchester’s 55-51 win against Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony’s on Dec. 18 at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., Mayes was 3 of 11 from the field with five turnovers and two assists before fouling out. Gershon told me that Mayes is “a good shooter, a good ball handler and a good passer, but not great in any area, so there’s no position he stands out at. He does have a good basketball IQ and generally makes good decisions with the ball.” Once Mayes plays at the next level, he will be demanded as a freshman to be more in command of players older than him, especially at Arizona where he can play significant minutes from the start. “In AAU, he often deferred to teammates rather than attempting to put the game on his shoulders,” Gershon continued. “He’s a good athlete and has a lot of physical upside, so the key for him is going to be how the strength he’ll gain in a college weight program will improve his game. Right now he’s good in most areas but it remains to be seen where his game can go with college coaching and strength training.” … One thing to consider: The Mayes family, originally from Portland, has a friendship with former UA players and cousins Damon and Salim Stoudamire so they understand the Wildcats’ tradition well. You will notice in the YouTube video with this post that he wears No. 20, which Damon Stoudamire wore at Arizona. Mayes has an appreciation for the program and realizes its potential perhaps more than Selby and McCallum. Also, if Mayes commits to Arizona over Oklahoma and Boston College, it will show that that UA coach Sean Miller and his staff can recruit the West coast as well as the East coast. Mayes would become the first of potentially many California recruits the UA coaches scouted and signed after their arrival. Solomon Hill of Los Angeles Fairfax and Derrick Williams of La Mirada, Calif., signed with the UA last spring without going through the recruiting process with Miller. …

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