Arizona Basketball

Three things to watch: Arizona Wildcats vs. Weber State Wildcats

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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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ArizonaLogo logo.Weberstate

Tip: 11:10 a.m. MST
Television: TNT (Andrew Catalon/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Matt Muehlebach)
National Radio: Sirius 94; XM 193 (Westwood One broadcast)

CONTROLLING THE GAME BY CONTROLLING THE BOARDS

Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon

Arizona’s two calling cards this season are its defense and rebounding. The Wildcats are now in a single-elimination situation. No tomorrows with a loss. That means all-out hustle and determination prevails. Lapses can turn into an off-season lapse from competition until November. That means rebounding becomes even more of a premium. Arizona has the third-best rebounding team in the program’s history, averaging a margin of 8.5 rebounds a game over the opposition. Aaron Gordon is 13 rebounds shy of reaching Bob Elliott’s freshman rebound record of 278. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson can make history with four rebounds. If that happens, Gordon and Hollis-Jefferson would become the first Arizona freshman duo to each record at least 200 rebounds in a season. Weber State is a good rebounding team with a margin of 3.4 with sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy ranking fifth in the nation with 10.8 boards a game.

NO THREES FOR YOU

Gabe York

Gabe York

Arizona’s coaches and players have each commented about how dangerous of a three-point shooting team Weber State can be, led by freshman guard Jeremy Senglin and senior guard Davion Berry. Senglin and Berry combine to attempt 300 of Weber State’s 549 tries from beyond the arc. They have made 118 for a percentage of 39.3. Arizona’s top two threats from three-point range — Nick Johnson and Gabe York — have combined to make 107 of 286 attempts (37.4 percent). The three-point percentage of Weber State’s other shooters: 42.9 (107 or 249). The percentage of Arizona’s other shooters: 37.9 (83 of 219). The perimeter defense of Johnson, Hollis-Jefferson, York and T.J. McConnell will be critical in denying looks for Weber State’s shooters. Oregon State led the Pac-12 and ranks 19th nationally shooting 39.2 percent from three-point range. Arizona held the Beavers to 9 of 25 from beyond the arc, only 36 percent, in the two games they played this season. Oregon State attempted nearly 15 three-pointers a game but averaged 12.5 tries in the two games against Arizona. Denial is the key.

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CAN T.J. McCONNELL JOIN THIS ESTEEMED GROUP OF FINAL FOUR POINT GUARDS?
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ON GUARD

T.J. McConnell

T.J. McConnell

The old adage of guard play wins championships in the NCAA tournament is true. Look at the point guards when Arizona advanced to the Final Four — Steve Kerr in 1988, Damon Stoudamire in 1994, Mike Bibby in 1997 and Jason Gardner in 2001. That is Arizona’s Mount Rushmore when it comes to Point Guard U. Can McConnell join this group of point guards who became Final Four caliber? He ranks 11th nationally with a assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.07 with 187 assists and only 61 turnovers. With 13 more assists, McConnell will become only the fifth Arizona guard and seventh overall to tally 200 assists in a season. Russell Brown (school-record 247 in 1978-79 and 200 in 1979-80), Stoudamire (220 in 1994-95 and 208 in 1993-94), Reggie Geary (231 in 1995-96) and Mustafa Shakur (215 in 2006-07) are the only players to eclipse the 200-assist mark. Weber State counters with Berry, a do-everything guard who leads the team with 120 assists but has 84 turnovers. Berry leads Weber State in assists and field-goal attempts (331). McConnell is more of a true point guard ranking third in field-goal tries behind Johnson and Gordon.

TOP FIVE ARIZONA REBOUNDING TEAMS
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NICK JOHNSON CAREER POINTS RANKING
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ARIZONA FRESHMAN REBOUND RECORD
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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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