Three things to watch: Arizona Wildcats vs. UCLA Bruins

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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
[table sort=”desc”]
Player,Pos,G,S,PP,MIN,PR
Nick Johnson,SG,33,33,732,1065,.687
Aaron Gordon,SF,33,33,622,1015,.613
Brandon Ashley,PF,22,22,371,609,.609
Kaleb Tarczewski,C,31,30,519,873,.594
R. Hollis-Jefferson,SF,33,5,484,823,.588
T.J. McConnell,PG,33,33,516,1052,.490
Gabe York,SG,33,8,265,697,.380
AVG 5-9.9 MIN,,,,,,
Jordin Mayes,PG,29,1,41,164,.250
Elliott Pitts,SG,19,0,32,171,.187
AVG 1-4.9 MIN,,,,,,
Chris Johnson,PF,4,0,5,6,.833
Jacob Hazzard,PG,12,0,21,28,.750
Matt Korcheck,PF,20,0,47,90,.522
Erik Conklin,F,7,0,6,17,.353
Trey Mason,SG,10,0,7,22,.318
Drew Mellon,F,6,0,2,12,.167
Zach Peters,C,10,0,-6,29,-.207
TOTAL TEAM,,,,3583,6675,.537
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#Pac12 commissioner #LarryScott says any belief he is shunning #ArizonaWildcats basketball is misinformed. He supports all 12 institutions.

— David Kelly (@DavidKellyTNN) March 15, 2014

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Tip: 3:02 p.m. MST
Television: Fox Sports 1 (Aaron Goldsmith/Sean Elliott)
Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Brian Jeffries/Matt Muehlebach)
National Radio: Sirius 157; XM 190

CAN ARIZONA WIN GAME IN THE 70’S?

Nick Johnson’s offense will be as important as his defense against UCLA

Arizona has shown they can win most challenges. They preserved 72-70 at Michigan on Dec. 15. They beat UCLA 79-75 on Jan. 9. Both games were on the road. Arizona coach Sean Miller prefers that the Wildcats limit UCLA’s scoring opportunities, but if the Bruins are able to score at a rate not to his liking, Arizona has the firepower with Nick Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Gabe York and ever-improving scorer T.J. McConnell. Arizona leads the Pac-12 allowing only 57.6 points a game while UCLA leads the league averaging 82 a game. This is the kind of opponent Arizona will welcome as a challenge. Arizona followers would have been more concerned if Arizona was playing a low-scoring offense with defensive principles.

WHAT ARE THE MOST INTRIGUING MATCHUPS?

UCLA’s Kyle Anderson presents matchup challenges with his size

Because of Kyle Anderson’s size advantage over McConnell (6’9″ vs. 6’1″), it will be interesting to see if Miller extends Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (6’6″) to Anderson. Norman Powell against Gabe York will be a key matchup of two athletic players with different styles. Powell is more of a slasher. York has a perimeter presence. York will also draw Bryce Alford. A lot of switching will happen. Miller will likely match Johnson with Jordan Adams, UCLA’s most significant offensive threat, particularly from the perimeter. Expect Arizona to go inside often with Kaleb Tarczewski and Aaron Gordon going against the Wear twins (David and Travis) and Tony Parker

Arizona will be tested by Adams, Alford, Powell and Anderson from three-point range. UCLA is shooting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc. They have attempted 543 shots from there (making 213). Arizona has attempted 60 fewer. The Wildcats’ defense through the first 33 games have allowed opponents to try 14.1 shots from three-point range. UCLA is attempting 16.5. Look for Miller to try to limit UCLA’s open looks with switching defenses off ball-screens. Arizona will be put to the test more than what it saw from Utah and Colorado here. Limiting UCLA to 35 percent from the field will be as impressive as the field goal percentages Arizona allowed Utah (25.5) and Colorado (29.4 percent).

PAC-12 RPI (ESPN.com)
[table=”desc”]
RPI,Team,D1 W-L,SOS,1-50
1,Arizona,30-3,7,11-2
16,UCLA,25-8,32,7-5
29,Oregon,23-9,15,4-6
31,Colorado,23-11,9,5-8
41,Stanford,21-12,16,5-9
43,Arizona St.,21-11,57,4-7
59,California,19-13,36,4-10
76,Utah,19-11,103,4-8
100,Washington,17-15,60,4-7
101,Oregon St.,16-15,69,4-7
169,USC,10-21,40,2-12
218,Washington St.,9-21,65,1-11
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TOP FIVE ARIZONA REBOUNDING TEAMS
[table=”desc”]
Margin,Team,Avg,Opp,Games
19.3,1950-51,59.5,40.2,30
9.7,1976-77,46.7,37.0,27
8.7,2013-14,38.9,30.2,33
8.3,1975-76,47.2,38.9,33
8.1,1998-99,41.7,33.6,29
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NICK JOHNSON CAREER POINTS RANKING
[table=”desc”]
Rank,Player,Years,Points
25,Mustafa Shakur,2004-07,1318
26,Ivan Radenovic,2004-07,1300
27,Nic Wise,2007-10),1285
28,Link Richmond,1944-49,1246
No. 29,Nick Johnson,2011-14,1245
No. 30,Derrick Williams,2009-11,1227
No. 31,Ed Nymeyer,1956-58,1225
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ARIZONA FRESHMAN REBOUND RECORD
[table=”desc”]
Rank,Player,Season,Rebs
1,Bob Elliott,1973-74,278
2,Aaron Gordon,2013-14,257
2,Al Fleming,1972-73,257
4,Michael Wright,1998-99,254
5,Derrick Williams,2009-10,219
6,Channing Frye,2001-02,214
7,Kaleb Tarczewski,2012-13,212
8,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,2013-14,188
9,Brandon Ashley,2012-13,186
10,Chase Budinger,2006-07,179
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#Pac12 all-star team in China will be up to coaches. Craig Robinson will work collaboratively w/them & will train in U.S. before leaving

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) March 15, 2014

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ARIZONA SCHEDULE/PRODUCTIVITY RESULTS
[table sort=”desc”]
Date,Opponent,Results,TeamPR,Productivity Leader,Pos,PP,MIN,PR
March 14,Colorado,63-43 (W),.505,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,23,28,.821
March 13,Utah,71-39 (W),.565,Nick Johnson,SG,23,26,.885
March 9,@Oregon,64-57 (L),.380,Aaron Gordon,PF,28,33,.848
March 5,@Oregon St.,74-69 (W),.470,Nick Johnson,SG,35,33,1.061
March 2,Stanford,79-66 (W),.605,Aaron Gordon,SF,39,32,1.219
Feb. 27,California,87-59 (W),.730,Nick Johnson,SG,38,31,1.226
Feb. 22,@Colorado,88-61 (W),.720,Aaron Gordon,PF,35,27,1.296
Feb. 19,@Utah,67-63 OT (W),.391,Gabe York,SG,20,36,.556
Feb. 14,@ASU,69-66 2OT (L),.356,Kaleb Tarczewski,C,22,45,.489
Feb. 9,Oregon St.,76-54 (W),.575,T.J. McConnell,PG,25,30,.833
Feb. 6,Oregon,67-65 (W),.455,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,31,34,.912
Feb. 1,@California,60-58 (L),.430,Kaleb Tarczewski,C,34,35,.971
Jan. 29,@Stanford,60-57 (W),.400,Nick Johnson,SG,24,33,.727
Jan. 26,Utah,65-56 (W),.435,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,16,24,.667
Jan. 23,Colorado,69-57 (W),.525,Brandon Ashley,PF,24,31,.774
Jan. 16,ASU,91-68 (W),.675,Nick Johnson,SG,23,27,.852
Jan. 12,@USC,73-53 (W),.520,Brandon Ashley,PF,28,31,.903
Jan. 9,@UCLA,79-75 (W),.570,Gabe York,SG,16,18,.889
Jan. 4,Washington,71-62 (W),.580,Nick Johnson,SG,34,36,.944
Jan. 2,Washington St.,60-25 (W),.510,Kaleb Tarczewski,C,20,22,.909
Dec. 23,NAU,77-44 (W),.660,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,30,27,1.111
Dec. 19,Southern,69-43 (W),.535,Aaron Gordon,SF,28,29,.966
Dec. 14,@Michigan,72-70 (W),.530,Kaleb Tarczewski,C,23,26,.885
Dec. 11,N.M. State,74-48 (W),.555,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,22,23,.957
Dec. 7,UNLV,63-58 (W),.450,T.J. McConnell,PG,29,35,.829
Dec. 3,Texas Tech,79-58 (W),.570,Brandon Ashley,PF,32,28,1.143
Nov. 29,Duke,72-66 (W),.590,Kaleb Tarczewski,C,21,28,.750
Nov. 27,Drexel,66-62 (W),.505,Nick Johnson,SG,31,36,.861
Nov. 19,Rhode Island,87-59 (W),.685,Nick Johnson,SG,39,26,1.500
Nov. 18,Fairleigh Dickinson,100-50 (W),.890,Nick Johnson,SG,30,20,1.500
Nov. 14,@San Diego State,69-60 (W),.490,Nick Johnson,SG,29,31,.935
Nov. 11,Long Beach State,91-57 (W),.790,Brandon Ashley,PF,28,21,1.333
Nov. 8,Cal Poly,73-62 (W),.565,Rondae Hollis-Jefferson,SF,20,21,.952
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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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