Arizona hosts Cal, hopes to stay atop Pac-12
No. 9 Arizona is back in first place in the Pac-12, but coach Sean Miller was not all that happy after his team's most recent victory.
The Wildcats (22-3, 11-1 Pac-12) are coming off a closer-than-expected 74-67 home win over Stanford in a game that was tied with less than two minutes to go. The Cardinal had a 42-16 advantage on points in the paint and had a plus-eight edge on second-chance points.
Arizona will try to do better in Saturday's game against Cal (18-6, 9-3), which tips off at 10 p.m. ET from McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
"We have a number of players who can't guard their man," Miller said after Wednesday night's game.
"There's constant dribble-drive, and that's part of why they get second shots. When the dribble is going into the paint and they're beating their man, we have to help. And when we have to help and the shot goes up, you're not in good block-out position.
"We have to guard the ball."
The Wildcats, which fell into a first-place tie in the conference following a 27-point loss at Oregon last Saturday, are all alone at the top again after the Ducks lost at UCLA on Thursday night. Oregon is 10-2 in conference play, while UCLA and Cal are tied, one game behind the Ducks.
The Bears won at Arizona State on Wednesday night 68-43, holding the Sun Devils to 25.4 percent shooting, going almost exclusively to a zone defense. Although Cal coach Cuonzo Martin prefers man-to-man, expect to see lots of zone against Arizona, which has struggled against that look in recent weeks.
Cal has won five consecutive games and eight of its past nine.
The Bears led by 13 against Arizona in the teams' first meeting of the season, but the Wildcats rallied to a 67-62 victory in the conference opener in Berkeley.
"They did a great job in the second half, came out aggressive, very assertive, made plays," Cal coach Cuonzo Martin said of Arizona this week. "We just didn't play well down the stretch and they did."
Cal sophomore forward Ivan Rabb had 16 points and 16 rebounds in the first meeting, when Arizona guard Allonzo Trier was still under an NCAA suspension for testing positive for a banned substance. Trier is averaging 15.5 points in six games since his return. He went 12 of 12 from the free throw line against Stanford.
Freshman forward Lauri Markkanen averages a team-high 15.6 points for Arizona and is shooting 47.5 percent (57 of 120) from 3-point range, despite a recent slump. He is just 4 of 20 from the field in the past three games.
"I don't know any player who hasn't had a streak where they haven't shot the ball great," Trier said after Wednesday's game. "Because he shot it so well, and then he doesn't shoot it spectacularly you guys act like it's the end of the world. But it's not. It's not to say he won't come out Saturday and have a big game."
Rabb leads Cal with 15.2 points per game. Wing Jabari Bird averages 14.2, and freshman point guard Charlie Moore averages 14.0 points and 3.8 assists. Guard Grant Mullins hit six 3-pointers against Arizona State and is making 42.5 percent (48 of 113) for the season.
In other words, there is a lot for Arizona to guard.
"We have guys who think they are NBA players, but they can't guard the ball," Miller said. "Not only are you not getting picked, but you are not getting invited to camp. Nobody is going to take a chance on a guy who can't guard the guy in front."
