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T.J. McConnell
Quick notes about tonight’s Arizona-California game:
— I contacted former Arizona basketball media relations director Richard Paige, now at Wabash College in Indianapolis, to see if he remembered the last time a Wildcat starting backcourt went without a turnover on the road. Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell went a combined 68 minutes without a turnover in Arizona’s 60-57 victory Wednesday night.
Paige did some quick research and found that since Arizona’s title season of 1996-97, no starting backcourt went the whole game without a turnover. And for some reason playing at Stanford brings out the best in Arizona’s guards. According to Paige, Mike Bibby and Miles Simon each had only one turnover at Stanford in 1998 and Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudamre each had only one in 2003.
Nick Johnson
Fittingly, each of those teams — 1997-98 and 2002-03 — spent some time as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
— I posted an informal poll at this site’s Facebook page and received a small sample (23 votes as of this morning) of opinion regarding Arizona’s best backcourt. The Damon Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves backcourt had the most votes (eight), followed by the Bibby-Simon combination.
Hard to argue against Stoudamire-Reeves. They combined for 3,774 points and 1,059 assists in their careers, the only tandem to reach the 3,000-point, 1,000-assist plateau. They also had 361 career steals, far better than any other backcourt.
— Arizona was 21-0 through the month of February, which is one game better than the Wildcats’ 20-1 November-through-January start in 1987-88, the Wildcats’ first Final Four season. Arizona’s only loss at the point was a two-point setback at The Pit in New Mexico. The Wildcats started February with a loss in the Bay area, but at Stanford on Feb. 4, 1988, not at Cal.
— How tough has Sean Miller made Arizona? Since his hire in 2009, the Wildcats lead the Pac-12 with 29 true road wins. Arizona is 5-0 in true road games this season. The Wildcats are in the midst of a nine-game Pac-12 regular-season winning streak (before the Pac-12 tourney) that dates back to last season.
PAC-12 RPI (ESPN.com)
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NO. 1 ARIZONA (21-0, 8-0) at
CALIFORNIA (13-6, 4-3)
Tip: 8:36 p.m. MST
Television: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson/Dan Belluomini/Ashley Adamson)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/TBD)
National Radio: Sirius 91; XM 91
Rankings: Arizona – No. 1 AP Top 25/No. 1 USA Today Coaches Poll; California – Not ranked in either.
ARIZONA BEST STARTS
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Shooting down the argument that losing would be good for #ArizonaWildcats before NCAA tourney http://t.co/TOuu1uJNIE via @bleacherreport
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) January 31, 2014
LONGEST WINNING STREAK
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PAC-12 STANDINGS
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Aaron Gordon is 7 of 7 on dunks in past three games, 4 of 28 on all non-dunk attempts.
— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) January 31, 2014
ARIZONA OVERALL PRODUCTIVITY RATING
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Asked Sean Miller today if he could see coaching as long as Cal's Monty (67 yrs old). 'No way, no way. It's just a different day and age'
— Greg Hansen (@ghansen711) January 31, 2014
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#Pac12 Ref Tracker: No rhyme or reason to conference officiating assignments to this point … http://t.co/3iJnX2Xynh
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 1, 2014
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 21-0 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. Arizona’s free-throw ranking (279th) is the lowest of the season with a percentage of 66.2.
Arizona junior guard T.J. McConnell leads the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.93).
Cal forward Richard Solomon, a one-time Arizona recruiting target, leads the Pac-12 with 10.7 rebounds per game and 204 rebounds overall. Cal guard Justin Cobbs keeps things under control for the most part. The Golden Bears lead the conference with fewest turnovers (214).
Cal’s greatest weakness is three-point shooting defense. They Golden Bears rank 257th nationally allowing opponents to shoot 36 percent beyond the arc.
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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