Arizona Wildcats basketball: On Lauri love, ice cream, SpongeBob Squarepants
- Updated
Seen and heard at Vivint Smart Home Arena during Arizona's 69-60 win over Saint Mary's to advance to the Sweet 16.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Mike Schmitz has had a busy couple of days.
The DraftExpress scout and Arizona alumnus arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday for the first-round of NCAA Tournament games, flew to Sacramento, California, at 6 a.m. on Friday to catch more hoops, flew back to Salt Lake on Saturday and will return to California’s capitol on Sunday.
See, both NCAA Tournament sites are filled with highly regarded NBA prospects. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, Saint Mary’s Jock Landale, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell and Creighton’s Justin Patton lead the pack.
Schmitz has been high on Markkanen since before the season. The scout watched plenty of UA games and attended last week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
About that shooting slump Markkanen dealt with late in Pac-12 play … no big deal.
“Not for me, man,” Schmitz said.
He said Markkanen’s struggles have been easy to explain, between his own approach and the UA’s balanced offensive approach.
“He’s not a passive guy, but he likes to play within the flow of the game,” Schmitz said. “I think he doesn’t have a gunner mentality. If he misses a few, he’s going to make the right play and try and get other guys involved.”
Saturday, Markkanen went 15 minutes between his first and second shot attempts, though he did take four free throws during that span. He later picked up the pace. The Finnish freshman finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds and had his best defensive performance of the season, getting two blocks and one steal.
DraftExpress projects Markkanen as the No. 7 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
20:20 — The Wildcats trailed Saint Mary’s for the first 20 minutes and 20 seconds of Saturday’s game. Dusan Ristic’s jumpshot with 19:40 remaining in the game (20 seconds into the second half) gave Arizona a 31-30 edge, its first of the night.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Saint Mary’s Jock Landale only played 14.5 minutes per game last season. He didn’t emerge as a potential starter until the offseason, when starter Dane Pineau suffered an injury.
The biggest reason for his emergence for Saint Mary’s?
Dieting.
Landale cut 40 pounds during the offseason. He entered Saturday’s game weighing 255 pounds.
Landale said sweets were the toughest food to eliminate.
“I’m a big ice cream guy,” he said. “I love my ice cream. That was the toughest thing to me.”
Landale was impressive Saturday, making his first five shots. The Aussie finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Arizona mega-donor Jeff Stevens arrived early Saturday to cheer on Gonzaga. He even sat in the Zags’ section.
There’s a connection there — Stevens’ son was a manager for the Bulldogs.
Stevens upgraded his seats in time for the UA-Saint Mary’s game. The namesake of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility was sitting in the front row for tipoff.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
Saint Mary’s did its best to distract Arizona during free throw attempts.
In the first half, the band sang the theme song to the popular Nickelodeon cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants,” with Markkanen at the line. He made just one of two attempts.
Later, one band member loudly screamed “awkward silence” during another attempt, which missed.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
- Updated
@ScottColemanTNN: “Rawle Alkins, even missing a finger, is a phenomenal basketball player.” — Quoting a UA fan after Alkins returned to the game after exiting early with an injury to his finger.
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- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Mike Schmitz has had a busy couple of days.
The DraftExpress scout and Arizona alumnus arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday for the first-round of NCAA Tournament games, flew to Sacramento, California, at 6 a.m. on Friday to catch more hoops, flew back to Salt Lake on Saturday and will return to California’s capitol on Sunday.
See, both NCAA Tournament sites are filled with highly regarded NBA prospects. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen, Saint Mary’s Jock Landale, UCLA’s Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell and Creighton’s Justin Patton lead the pack.
Schmitz has been high on Markkanen since before the season. The scout watched plenty of UA games and attended last week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
About that shooting slump Markkanen dealt with late in Pac-12 play … no big deal.
“Not for me, man,” Schmitz said.
He said Markkanen’s struggles have been easy to explain, between his own approach and the UA’s balanced offensive approach.
“He’s not a passive guy, but he likes to play within the flow of the game,” Schmitz said. “I think he doesn’t have a gunner mentality. If he misses a few, he’s going to make the right play and try and get other guys involved.”
Saturday, Markkanen went 15 minutes between his first and second shot attempts, though he did take four free throws during that span. He later picked up the pace. The Finnish freshman finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds and had his best defensive performance of the season, getting two blocks and one steal.
DraftExpress projects Markkanen as the No. 7 pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
20:20 — The Wildcats trailed Saint Mary’s for the first 20 minutes and 20 seconds of Saturday’s game. Dusan Ristic’s jumpshot with 19:40 remaining in the game (20 seconds into the second half) gave Arizona a 31-30 edge, its first of the night.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Saint Mary’s Jock Landale only played 14.5 minutes per game last season. He didn’t emerge as a potential starter until the offseason, when starter Dane Pineau suffered an injury.
The biggest reason for his emergence for Saint Mary’s?
Dieting.
Landale cut 40 pounds during the offseason. He entered Saturday’s game weighing 255 pounds.
Landale said sweets were the toughest food to eliminate.
“I’m a big ice cream guy,” he said. “I love my ice cream. That was the toughest thing to me.”
Landale was impressive Saturday, making his first five shots. The Aussie finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Arizona mega-donor Jeff Stevens arrived early Saturday to cheer on Gonzaga. He even sat in the Zags’ section.
There’s a connection there — Stevens’ son was a manager for the Bulldogs.
Stevens upgraded his seats in time for the UA-Saint Mary’s game. The namesake of the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility was sitting in the front row for tipoff.
- Zack Rosenblatt Arizona Daily Star
Saint Mary’s did its best to distract Arizona during free throw attempts.
In the first half, the band sang the theme song to the popular Nickelodeon cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants,” with Markkanen at the line. He made just one of two attempts.
Later, one band member loudly screamed “awkward silence” during another attempt, which missed.
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