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WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY RATING?:
PP: Productivity Points (Points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, FGs made, FTs made added together and then subtracted by missed FGs, missed FTs, personal fouls and turnovers)
MIN: Minutes played overall
PR: Productivity rating per minute played (Productivity points divided by minutes played)
ARIZONA OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY RATING
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My game story: Dakarai Tucker may have forgotten his shirts, but he didn't forget his jump shot – http://t.co/oZAHYa3K0X
— Tony Jones (@Tjonessltrib) March 13, 2014
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Site: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
Tip: 12:06 p.m. MST
Television: Pac-12 Networks (Kevin Calabro/Ernie Kent)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Matt Muehlebach)
National Radio: Sirius 157; XM 190
WHO WILL PASS THE TEST?
T.J. McConnell has 172 assists with only 57 turnovers this season
Ball movement and distribution will be critical because of the kind of defenses these teams play. Utah is second in the Pac-12 with 15.68 assists per game while Arizona is fourth at 15.1. The focus will be on Arizona’s T.J. McConnell, who had six assists with no turnovers in the last meeting won by Arizona 67-63 in overtime. McConnell played 40 minutes. Utah counters with do-everything talent Delon Wright and true point guard Brandon Taylor. Wright and Taylor rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio. McConnell leads the conference with a 3.02 ratio. Wright is at 2.12 and Taylor at 1.79.
FIRST TO 60 WINS
Nick Johnson’s defense against Utah’s potent perimeter players will be crucial again
The game pits the best two defenses in the Pac-12 against each other. The Utes allowed only 64 points a game in the regular season, while Arizona limited opponents to an average of only 58.7 points. Arizona has not allowed an opponent to eclipse the 80-point mark. No Arizona team has accomplished that feat since Fred A. Enke’s 1950-51 team. Utah has allowed that only once when UCLA beat the Utes 80-66 on Feb. 15. The Wildcats shot a combined 41 percent (48 of 116) against Utah in the two regular-season games. They have made 46.7 percent of their shots overall. Utah leads the conference, making 49.7 percent of its shots. But it has made only 42 percent (42 of 100) from the field against the Wildcats. Utah’s Jordan Loveridge, who averages 15.1 points a game, made only 5 of 26 field goal attempts against Nick Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
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REBOUNDING, REBOUNDING … AND DID I MENTION REBOUNDING?
To a player, Utah talked Wednesday about how much of a challenge it will be against Arizona in terms of rebounding, especially the Wildcats’ offensive rebounding ability. Utah has the ability to combat that, ranking second in the Pac-12 in defensive rebounding with 26.4 a game. The Wildcats manhandled Utah on the offensive glass, pulling down 20 in their 65-56 win Jan. 26 in Tucson. Arizona out-rebounded Utah 40-29 overall. Utah coach Larry Krystowiak said Arizona’s physical dominance over the Utes on the glass was similar to smashmouth football, when a team uses a fullback up the middle to gain 3 to 4 yards a possession. “You just have to play hard all 40 minutes against Arizona,” Loveridge told me after Utah beat Washington on Wednesday. “You have to play hard every single play. You have to rebound on offense and defense. They’re tough on the glass. Even if they take a bad shot, they’re still flying in. We have to take that away from them.”
PAC-12 STANDINGS
a-Clinched outright regular-season title
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PAC-12 RPI (ESPN.com)
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My latest at Bleacher Report: Five greatest concerns for the #ArizonaWildcats against Utah in the #Pac12Tourney http://t.co/QwATdEgyP3
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) March 13, 2014
NICK JOHNSON CAREER POINTS RANKING
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ARIZONA FRESHMAN REBOUND RECORD
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TOP FIVE ARIZONA REBOUNDING TEAMS
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ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.COM publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
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