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How hungry is Johnny Dawkins for a win over Arizona?
The former Duke All-American and NBA player is 0-7 against Sean Miller’s Arizona teams since winning his first two games against the Wildcats in 2008-09, the season in which Russ Pennell and Mike Dunlap served as interim coaches.
Since 2000, before Arizona’s current seven-game winning streak, the Wildcats held only an 11-10 advantage against Cardinal coaches Mike Montgomery and Trent Johnson. That was when Stanford contested UCLA as Arizona’s primary hoops rival.
Compounding Dawkins’ frustration is Stanford’s inability to advance to the NCAA tournament in his first five years. A victory over No. 1 Arizona would be the highlight of Dawkins’ head coaching career and remove him temporarily from the hot seat.
As it stands right now, Washington State’s Ken Bone is on the hottest seat in the Pac-12 but Dawkins is not far behind based on his overall results.
Arizona’s longest winning streak against Stanford is 15 games from 1989-95, all against Montgomery before the sage coach turned things around. …
PAC-12 RPI (ESPN.com)
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NO. 1 ARIZONA (20-0, 7-0) at
STANFORD (13-6, 4-3)
Tip: 7:05 p.m. MST
Television: ESPN2 (Dave Pasch/Bill Walton)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Matt Muehlebach)
National Radio: Sirius 91; XM 91 / ESPN Radio (Dave Flemming/Miles Simon)
Rankings: Arizona – No. 1 AP Top 25/No. 1 USA Today Coaches Poll; Stanford – Not ranked in either.
ARIZONA BEST STARTS
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LONGEST WINNING STREAK
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PAC-12 STANDINGS
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ARIZONA OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY RATING
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ARIZONA’S STRENGTHS VS. QUESTION MARKS
Per NCAA national statistic rankings out of 345 Division I teams
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Arizona is No. 1 and 20-0 despite deficiencies with total steals, free-throw shooting and number of three-pointers made. Arizona is solid with its rebounding, defense in particular in the lane and overall shooting percentage. The Wildcats are taking smart shots and scoring off of offensive rebounds by taking advantage of their size inside. Two free-throw categories have emerged as a concern: Made and attempted. The Wildcats have missed 160 free throws with 317 made, which ranks 171st nationally.
Arizona junior guard T.J. McConnell leads the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.83). Stanford’s frontcourt duo of Dwight Powell and Josh Huestis combine for 16.1 rebounds and 25.1 points a game in conference play.
ARIZONA AS NO. 1 TEAM
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WILDABOUTAZCATS.net publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report, Lindy’s College Sports and TucsonCitizen.com.
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