ARIZONA WILDCATS EDITIONE ARIZONA DAILY STAR | SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2020 | PAGE AB1 E X T R A Editor: Ryan Finley | 520-573-4312 | [email protected]

NO. 25 ARIZONA 75, ARIZONA STATE 47 MESSAGE RECEIVED

KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR Arizona guard dunks to end a fast break in the Wildcats’ 75-47 win over visiting Arizona State on Saturday night at McKale . UA hadn’t played a game in 14 days. Rested UA runs ASU off court in 28- win

By Bruce Pascoe — a miss — after Miller said before in double figures with Mannion ARIZONA DAILY STAR UP NEXT the game that he could make the PAC-12 STANDINGS and Dylan Smith adding 10 points Stop taking silly shots. Feed • Who: No. 25 Arizona (11-3, 1-0) case that anyone shooting 32 per- Team Conf. Overall each, while 10 total players scored. Zeke. Don’t foul so much. Re- at No. 4 Oregon (12-3, 1-1) cent should never take such a shot Colorado 1-0 12-2 They were fast, but not too fast bound. • When: 7 p.m. Thursday (Green was hitting 32.5% from 3). Stanford 1-0 12-2 for Miller’s liking. Play for Arizona, not yourself. • TV: ESPN or ESPN2 Instead, Green picked up his USC 1-0 12-2 “We want to play at a fast tem- On and on and on came Sean • Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM points where he gets them the Arizona 1-0 11-3 po … it makes sense with Nico Miller’s messages, to the media best, on the break. He scored eight Oregon 1-1 12-3 and the team that we have,” Miller and to his team over a long two- of his 12 points after halftime Utah 1-1 10-4 said. “But one of the things that week break that started after the freshman big man responded with while UA took advantage of many Washington State 1-1 10-5 we’ve gone through is you can Wildcats lost three of four games 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and fast-break opportunities: He went UCLA 1-1 8-7 play at a fast pace, and sometimes to finish nonconference play. 11 rebounds. uncontested coast-to-coast after Oregon State 0-1 10-3 shoot yourself in the foot. Taking But in a 75-47 win over ASU Miller’s messages were sent, he rebounded a missed Sun Devil Washington 0-1 10-4 challenged 3s, and ignoring some- at McKale Center on Saturday in and received. , and later made a fast- Arizona State 0-1 9-5 body that’s very efcient around their Pac-12 opener, at least for “Yeah. Definitely,” guard Josh break after 0-1 6-8 the post (in) Zeke. one night, the Wildcats turned Green said. “When you have stole the ball and threw it to him. “I think that it’s up to us to mostly into that team. someone like Zeke as the four After that play, Nnaji then cre- Saturday’s games: Arizona 75, ASU make good decisions. You have to While they hit just 4 of 15 man, not many people are his size, ated his own , stealing the 47; Washington State 79, UCLA 71, take the good early opportunity 3-pointers, the Wildcats avoid- height or strength, so it’s a big ball from Remy Martin, the guy OT; Oregon 69, Utah 64 but when we didn’t take that to- ed taking many of the ill-advised factor for us guards in getting him who led the Sun Devils to a season Sunday’s games: Oregon State at night, we ran better ofense, and shots Miller had been upset about, inside. It creates for our a whole sweep of the Wildcats last year, Colorado, 4 p.m. (ESPNU); USC at we were more balanced. And we hitting 47.6% overall while scor- ofense — obviously he’s gonna then dunking it in to give UA a 63- Washington, 8 p.m. (FS1) have a team of guys on ofense that ing efciently on the break and bully his player down and if they 37 lead with 7:24 left. can do a lot of things.” through inside. double, it brings it out for the pe- That was pretty much how it While the Wildcats fouled more Arizona scored 25 fast-break rimeter players.” went all night. The Wildcats were over a month, and increased pro- than Miller would like — Green points and gave Nnaji the ball so Green responded by collect- motivated and efcient, getting duction from freshman center even picked up a second-half he could take more shots than any ing 12 points and seven rebounds forward Stone Gettings back from Christian Koloko. other UA player, and the efcient while taking only one 3-pointer head injuries for the first time in Overall, UA had four players See BASKETBALL, AB2 Cats play with energy and toughness after break, wreck Sun Devils

or two weeks — Arizona’s Martin had just five points when longest in-season break the Wildcats expanded their F without a basketball game lead to 30 points on Saturday. since 1944-45 — the Wildcats sat Ordinarily, Martin is one of the and stewed, troubled by an unex- Pac-12’s leading players, a ball of pected December decline, its only basketball fire. victory in 34 days coming against Greg Hansen But on Saturday all the fire Nebraska-Omaha. came from ’s team. What was this, 1983? And have you ever seen a more Even Ben Lindsey’s ill-fated, its ability to shoot straight — the awe-inspiring alley-oop dunk 4-24 UA team of 1982-83 had a Sun Devils entered Saturday’s than the one from UA freshman better December, winning three game ranked No. 279 nationally Christian Koloko as Arizona built times before losing at home to in 3-point shooting and 203rd in its lead to 30 points? Illinois Wesleyan and efectively foul shooting. It was that kind of a redemptive igniting a search that led to Lute And just like that the Sun Dev- night at McKale. Olson. ils missed their first six foul shots Miller used the unusually long This time the UA’s December — who ever does that? — went 1 break as a trouble-shooter. He descent didn’t trigger a search as for 9 from 3-point distance and made clear what he expected from much as it led to a resolve that it trailed 36-17 at halftime. each of his seven first-year play- couldn’t play much worse than it So frustrated was ASU coach KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR ers — “clarifying roles,” he said — did in losses to Baylor, Gonzaga Bobby Hurley that he snapped his Arizona center Chase Jeter tries to force his way along the baseline and one of those corrections was and St. John’s. hands together to call a time- against Arizona State forward Romello White in the first half. getting freshman Zeke Nnaji more It led to a collective commit- out with 51 seconds left in the involved in the ofense. ment that if nothing else it could half, exasperated. It wasn’t that night than ASU were the New coming of the bench. We didn’t Even Miller admitted he play harder and smarter, start to Arizona played so well, it’s that England Patriots. really have in inside presence.’’ “probably could’ve done a better finish, than it did in December. the UA’s energy and toughness “When we go 3 for 21 from the No inside game. No outside job” running more of his club’s Into this trap walked Arizo- — two elements often missing in 3-point line, this is what we’re game. No chance. ofense through Nnaji in the first na State, itself reeling from a December — kicked in. looking at,’’ said Hurley, who After scoring 58 points against 13 games, but better late than 40-point loss to St. Mary’s, a bit Arizona won 75-47. The only was impressed by Arizona’s size. Arizona in a rare two-game sweep shy on size and worried about team in America to have a worse “They had an army of big guys last year, Sun Devils guard Remy See HANSEN, AB2 ARIZONA WILDCATS EDITIONE ARIZONA DAILY STAR | SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2020 | PAGE AB2 E X T R A Editor: Ryan Finley | 520-573-4312 | [email protected] SEEN AND HEARD AT MCKALE CENTER Dalen Terry in town Future Wildcat Dalen Terry was in attendance for Arizona-ASU and sat behind the UA’s bench. The 6-foot-7-inch Terry is a four-star wing from Tempe and a senior at Phoenix Hillcrest Prep. Terry was Arizona’s first commit and signee of the 2020 recruiting class. Sean Miller normally has high-priority recruits in attendance for games when McKale Center is rocking. Last year, Nico Mannion and Josh Green were in the same seats as Terry’s. A one-on-one with Walton The UA honors an active duty solider or a veteran every game, an introduction that invariably leads to a standing ovation from the McKale Center faithful. Even by those standards, Saturday’s introduction of Gwen Niemi was special. The 99-year-old Ofcer Candidate School graduate pushed a walker to midcourt and, as the cheers rose, appeared to become emotional. Then she did a little dance, walked from midcourt to press row and found ESPN analyst Bill Walton. She leaned in whispered something in his ear, and got a broad smile. Niemi graduated from college at the age of 21 when she heard that the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was starting, according to Star archives. In 1942, Niemi applied for Ofcer Candidate School and was one of the first 200 women to make it through. She served in many cities, achieving the rank of captain, before requesting a discharge in 1946. “After the war was over, they had less and less need for women,” she told the Star in 2018. After leaving the military, she moved to Tucson, KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR where she taught physical education at the University Arizona’s Josh Green, left, and Chase Jeter get tangled up with Arizona State’s Kimani Lawrence, center, as they try to control a of Arizona for four years before starting a family. in the second half. UA visits No. 4 Oregon on Thursday night in a game that could go a long way in deciding the Pac-12 race. So what did she say to Walton? As they say in the military, it’s classified. recording four assists on their NO. 25 ARIZONA 75, Gettings received a warm No mask for Stone BASKETBALL first seven baskets, shooting 7 ARIZONA STATE 47 round of applause and then FG FT Reb When Arizona forward Stone Gettings checked into Continued from Page AB1 for 12 to that point. ASU Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS pulled down a rebound and hit the game on Saturday, fans at McKale Center made After regaining his starting Martin 34 7-19 3-6 0-3 1 2 20 a turnaround jumper on UA’s Lawrence 29 3-9 2-3 3-5 0 1 8 him feel welcome. technical along with ASU’s role following a second-half Verge 28 3-10 2-2 1-2 1 1 8 next possession. House 27 1-7 1-3 1-4 0 4 3 After all, it was the first time Gettings played for the Jaelen House after the two benching in UA’s Dec. 21 loss White 23 0-3 0-2 0-5 0 3 0 “It was awesome,” Mill- Cherry 17 0-2 0-2 0-4 0 5 0 Wildcats since sufering a facial fracture injury against held an apparently inappro- to St. John’s, guard Dylan Mitchell 17 1-1 0-0 0-3 0 3 2 er said of Gettings’ return. Penn in the Wooden Legacy Tournament on Nov. 29. priate conversation at the end Smith started the new trend of Edwards 15 1-5 0-1 0-2 0 2 2 “Stone means a lot to our team Graham 10 2-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 4 Gettings is now up to five weeks in his rehabilitation of a play — the Wildcats out- efciency. With the ball inside Christopher 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 because he’s a diferent style Totals 200 18-59 8-19 6-30 2 22 47 and it was a possibility he had to wear a protective rebounded ASU 49-35 and the arc but no easy shot open, Percentages: FG .305, FT .421. 3-Point Goals: of player. He’s a big guy that mask, famously worn by former Detroit Pistons star also helped hold the Sun Dev- he dished to Nnaji as he raced 3-21, .143 (Martin 3-8, Cherry 0-1, Edwards 0-2, skilled. … I thought during the Lawrence 0-3, Verge 0-3, House 0-4). Team Richard Hamilton. ils to just 30.5% shooting. along the baseline, and Nnaji Rebounds: 6. Blocked Shots: 5 (Lawrence game it meant a lot having him 4, Graham). Turnovers: 14 (Martin 5, Cherry Getting finished with five points and five rebounds in Then again, ASU just wasn’t put it in. 3, Mitchell 2, House, Lawrence, Verge, White). back because he does a lot of UA’s 75-47 rout Saturday. shooting well at all. It was 8 The Wildcats continued Steals: 4 (Martin 2, Edwards, House). Technical good things for our team.” Fouls: House, 13:22 second. for 19 from the uncontested careful play throughout the Miller turned more often Mannion vs. House, again FG FT Reb land known as the free-throw middle of the first half and, Arizona Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS to freshman center Koloko Arizona’s Nico Mannion and ASU freshmen Jaelen line and just 3 for 21 from 3. with just under four minutes Green 34 5-10 2-3 2-7 2 4 12 over Ira Lee of the bench in Nnaji 27 7-11 3-4 2-11 0 2 17 House are quite familiar with one another. The two As such, the Sun Devils left to play, were shooting 12 Mannion 26 3-9 3-3 0-2 7 2 10 the second half. Koloko had Baker 24 1-4 1-2 0-2 4 2 3 Phoenix natives squared of three times in high school, never really challenged to win for 23 from the field with only Smith 23 4-6 0-0 0-2 1 4 10 six points and five rebounds Mannion with Pinnacle and House with Shadow a third straight game against five turnovers while outre- Jeter 18 2-5 2-4 3-9 0 3 6 through in his first seven min- Gettings 17 2-5 0-0 0-5 1 0 5 Mountain. the Wildcats after sweeping bounding ASU 18-11. Hazzard 13 1-4 0-0 0-3 0 1 2 utes played, including dunks Koloko 11 4-7 0-2 3-6 1 0 8 In a game for the ages, defending Class 6A cham- them last season for the first Arizona received a scare late Lee 7 1-2 0-4 0-0 1 0 2 in each half. pion Pinnacle and defending 4A champion Shadow time in a decade. in the first half when Mannion Totals 200 30-63 11-22 10-47 17 18 75 Miller said he plans to play Percentages: FG .476, FT .500. 3-Point Goals: Mountain went down to the wire in their last game in The win moved UA to 11-3 bruised his knee in a collision 4-15, .267 (Smith 2-4, Gettings 1-2, Mannion 1-3, Koloko in every game and see Baker 0-1, Nnaji 0-1, Green 0-2, Hazzard 0-2). November 2018. overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12, with ASU’s Rob Edwards, Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 6 (Green how it goes from there. With House hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to give in which the Wildcats will missing the last four minutes 3, Koloko 2, Jeter). Turnovers: 12 (Mannion 4, Koloko and all his 10 contrib- Green 2, Smith 2, Baker, Gettings, Jeter, Nnaji). Shadow Mountain the lead. Mannion got the inbounds next face predicted conference before halftime, but he re- Steals: 6 (Baker 2, Green 2, Nnaji 2). Technical uting players, Miller said he Fouls: Green, 13:22 second. pass and snuck past House to get to the top of the key. winner Oregon on Thursday turned to play 14 minutes in Arizona State 17 30—47 has done probably a better job He hoisted a shot from the top of the key and rattled in Eugene. the second half and Miller said Arizona 36 39—75 over the Christmas break in home the game-winner with a second to go. ASU dropped to 9-5. he was fine. clarifying roles. Maybe the two will have another moment like that While there were dips in While Mannion was limited Wildcats for practices after “It’s something I wished I later this season. UA’s efort, the Wildcats’ slightly, the Wildcats received Christmas break while wear- might have been able to do a lead never dipped below dou- forward Gettings back for the ing a mask but was cleared to little bit earlier,” Miller said. Faces in the crowd ble-digits after the first 15 first time since he sufered play without a mask for Satur- “But the guys know what to McKale Center brought out recognizable former UA minutes of the game. a concussion and fractured day’s game. do, what’s expected, and I athletes. Sitting eight rows behind ASU’s bench was for- Arizona took a 16-9 lead cheekbone against Penn on Upon entering eight min- think they’re trying to become mer UA standout and All-Pac-12 women’s golfer Haley over the first eight minutes, Nov. 29. Gettings rejoined the utes into Saturdays’ game, a better team.” Moore. She helped the Wildcats take down Alabama to win a national championship in 2018 and — more re- cently — led Arizona to a third-place finish in the NCAA championships last year. Moore will make her LPGA debut from Jan. 23-26 in HANSEN the Gainbridge Championship in Florida. Continued from Page AB1 Ex-McDonald’s All-American and UA star and former Brendon Lavender never, right? were shown on the McKale Center video board and Hurley described Nnaji’s received a loud ovation from UA fans. Bayless played 17-point, 11-rebound night as for the Wildcats in the 2007-08 season and was “ridiculous,” a term meant as named to the All-Pac-10 Second Team before a 10-year a compliment. The Sun Devils NBA career, which placed him in the McKale Center don’t have an inside source ring of honor. like Nnaji, and that’s going to Lavender averaged 3.4 points in 12.1 minutes per be trouble for ASU in the final game of Arizona’s bench from 2008-12. Of course, 17 Pac-12 games. Cleveland Indians manager Terry “Tito” Francona was A lot of college basket- also in his courtside seats. ball teams don’t easily make in-season adjustments; the D-Will active on Twitter most difcult variable in the Former Wildcat standout Derrick Williams is currently basketball is getting high playing professional ball overseas for Fenerbahce Beko school superstars to share the in Instanbul, which is in the Turkish Basketball League ball and play as one. On Sat- and EuroLeague. This season, Williams is averaging urday, the Wildcats aced that 11.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 27.2 minutes test for one of the few times per game. since opening the season. After a championship season with Bayern Munich in Miller said he was worried Germany, Williams had a chance to return to the U.S., about his team being recep- but declined according to him. tive of a new way of basket- “Just to let people know, I turned down NBA ofers to ball, but he could probably come to Fenerbahce Beko. I love it so far. There will be see it coming together in the better days in 2020,” Williams tweeted. extended practice time since Williams was a former No. 2 overall pick by the losing to St. John’s. and he revealed on Twitter “It was a good lesson for his confusion when he was drafted due to the number our team — that we have to of power forwards already on roster. play the right way,’’ he said. “I remember it like it was yesterday when Minnesota “Winning is incredibly hard. picked me and I’m thinking ‘So they have (Kevin) Love, To our team’s credit, we’ve Anthony Randolph, Mike Beasley and me at the four. taken these 14 days between Didn’t add up to me,” he tweeted. games and worked hard, got- ten better. We’ve had a great He said it attitude.’’ “At Arizona, you gotta dunk it. That’s why you come Freshman Josh Green KELLY PRESNELL / ARIZONA DAILY STAR here, right? So you can dunk that.” seemed to find a new motor Arizona forward Ira Lee shoulders his way by Arizona State forward Taeshon Cherry in the second — Miller on ASU’s five chasedown blocks in the first against the Sun Devils. He half. Lee had two points in seven minutes in the Wildcats’ blowout victory. half, which prevented easy fastbreak baskets for was in the go-go-go mode, Arizona not as a wreckless freshman sions seem to have made him And, two, the league schedule players on the Oregon Trail, but as a triggerman to the more sure of himself. He was gave Arizona a rivalry game playing the Ducks and Beavers The big number UA’s up-tempo pace. Green as good as anybody on the in Week 1, which meant only without being fully prepared. only attempted nine shots floor Saturday, except maybe one game and extra time to But this time it all worked 10-1 and scored 12 points, but he Nnaji. prepare. out for Arizona. Arizona’s record in Pac-12 home openers under Sean had two steals, blocked three Arizona’s unusually long “It’s a long break, but I do The Sun Devils were Miller after Saturday’s win. The last time Arizona host- shots and was a problem for holiday break was a result of think we took advantage of it,” vulnerable and the Wildcats ed ASU to begin conference play was in the 2017-18 the Sun Devils, start to finish. two things: One, Miller does he said. were aching to make up for season when the No. 17 Wildcats knocked of undefeat- In the first 13 games, Green not want to play non-confer- Maybe in another season lost ground, lost pride and ed No. 3 Sun Devils 84-78. was, as many freshmen, a bit ence games over the holidays, the schedule doesn’t work out lost time. — Justin Spears and Alec White inconsistent. The extended preferring to spend that time that well. Maybe you open On Saturday, they found post-Christmas practice ses- on prep work for the Pac-12 the season taking seven new themselves.