Red-hot Arizona braces for stern test from Utah (Jan 05, 2017)
No. 17 Arizona is a more complete team than it was through most of its non-conference schedule. So, too, is Thursday night's opponent, Utah.
The Wildcats (13-2, 2-0 Pac-12) have won seven in a row and got back point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright last week from a high ankle sprain. Utah (10-3, 1-0) is coming off a 76-60 home win over Colorado and is a more dangerous squad since adding post David Collette and guard Sedrick Barefield at the semester break.
Collette, a transfer from Utah State, and Barefield, from SMU, have played in five games and have combined to average about 30 points per game.
"I look at them as one of the top four teams in our conference," Arizona coach Sean Miller said.
"If you think about the firepower Utah just added, you almost have to judge them only on the games that those two guys played. Both guys have a chance to be all-conference players."
The Wildcats, who opened conference play with a road sweep of Stanford and California, have eight available scholarship players with Jackson-Cartwright's return. He had missed six full games because of the injury. Jackson-Cartwright played a total of 42 minutes over the weekend, with 10 assists and three turnovers, although he made just 1 of 7 shots from the field.
"He didn't have any setbacks over the weekend," Miller said. "But I think his conditioning will continue to come back and his confidence shooting the ball will continue to develop. We're happy to have him back, for sure. We played a long time without him."
Arizona is still expected to be without guard Allonzo Trier, who has not played this season because of an unspecified eligibility issue. The school has not announced a timetable for a potential return.
Collette is averaging 15.4 points and is shooting 65.4 percent from the field. Forward Kyle Kuzma averages 14.4 points and 9.8 rebounds, helping the Utes to a plus-10.1 rebounding edge, which is the eighth-best mark in the country. Kuzma returned against Colorado after missing most of three games with an ankle injury.
Barefield is averaging 14.2 points per game.
With a lot of lineup shuffling, Utah has six players averaging in double-figure points, although coach Larry Krystkowiak would like to see more consistent guard play.
"I haven't been pleased with our assist-to-turnover ratio and I think some guys are putting their heads down," he said. "We have some scoring-minded guards, and even sometimes our posts get a little bit thirsty for scoring points."
Arizona is led in scoring by a trio of freshmen -- power forward Lauri Markkanen (15.8), wing Rawle Alkins (12.7) and guard Kobi Simmons (12.5). Center Dusan Ristic has been hot, hitting 41 of 63 shots (65.1 percent) in the past seven games, increasing his scoring average to 11.2 points.
This will be the only meeting of the season between the teams in an unbalanced conference schedule. The Wildcats will not make a return trip to play at Utah and Colorado. The Utes snapped a 12-game losing streak against Arizona last season with a 70-64 victory in Salt Lake City.
