UA-UCI postgame: On RHJ's role, the dunk and free throws

Entering less than four minutes into the Wildcats’ 71-54 win over UC Irvine, Hollis-Jefferson wound up the game’s leading scorer (19 points) with six rebounds, a block and the dunk of the game (or month, or season) – a one-handed slam over 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye.

In other words, it worked out pretty well. Hollis-Jefferson kept the other starters happy in the lineup while his production hardly suffered as a sixth man.

But Sean Miller says the decision to play Hollis-Jefferson off the bench again – a role that may become permanent -- was actually made after the Wildcats’ win over Cal State Northridge.

In that game, Miller played Hollis-Jefferson in an effort to keep the rhythm going after he didn’t start Hollis-Jefferson for UA’s season opener on Nov. 14, he said, because of a shoulder injury that forced Hollis-Jefferson to miss practice the day before.

When the two sat down to talk about the role, Miller said he didn’t have to “sell it,” and found Hollis-Jefferson willing to be a sixth man again.

“There are a lot of these guys who will talk the talk and say ‘sacrifice,’ and beat their chest when things are going well,” Miller said. But “there aren’t a lot of kids who would come off the bench if you’re him."

Miller said one reason Hollis-Jefferson is playing well so far this season is because he isn’t “caught up in himself” and has a team mindset.

“In basketball, you’ve got to play at both ends,” Miller said. “There’s a lot going on. You can’t be an effective player when you’re in your own world and Rondae, he embodies a lots of the qualities you want to have in a program on and off the court.

“He’s unselfish and the bigger the game, the more he rises up. For him to come off the bench and say that, that means a lot to our team.”

All this is not to say Hollis-Jefferson lacks confidence. Not only did he tell his teammates he was going to dunk on the 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye, but he also told Ndiaye himself.

Then he did it.

“He told us at some point in the game he was going to dunk on him,” Gabe York said. “I always get hyped for situations like that. That was definitely a big-time play.”

If you haven’t seen the dunk already, or even if you have, it’s definitely worth checking out here.

If Arizona had shot free-throws Wednesday the way it did in its first two games, the Wildcats would have beaten Irvine by only a basket or two.

“We made 29 (of 34) and I feel we needed every one of them,” Miller said.

The Wildcats made just 56.7 percent in wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Cal State Northridge. They shot juset 65.9 percent last season, leading to a few near eye-rolls when Miller said recently they were a better free-throw shooting team that they were showing in games.

“Maybe you guys haven’t believed me because we weren’t good a year ago,” Miller said. “Last year we had to overcome that so many times. But tonight we were ourselves from the line. I know we were better than we showed. I hope this is a constant theme for us because I think we can get there a lot.”

Bottom line Wednesday was that Arizona beat the Anteaters the same way they beat most of their opponents last season: With defense and rebounding.

UCI shot just 37 percent from the field and, despite having one of the most sizeable front lines UA will see this season, was outrebounded 40-30 by the Wildcats. Arizona had 13 offensive rebounds and scored 18 second-chance points.

“As our offense grows and develops, we have to be dominant defensively and that’s what won the game tonight,” Miller said. “Every team that is successful has to have an identity, something they can hang their hat on, and it can’t be different every night – some nights you look really skilled and the next night you do this. There has to be some consistency.

“We’ve talked a lot about our dominant defense and rebounds. If you look at our team, a lot of talent is in those two areas and that can’t be compromised. We have to be on it.

“You saw (UC Irvine is) a team that executes very well on offense. When we would break down or have individual assignments broken down, the result was a great (UCI) shot. When you play against an offense like that it challenges you.”

Part of the credit for beating Irvine, Miller said, goes to Cal Poly Pomona, UA’s exhibition opponent on Nov. 9.

UCI “played a very good zone,” Miller said. “I’m really glad a couple of weeks ago we played Cal Poly Pomona because in that game, they played 40 minutes of zone and we got some quality work. Believe me I think there’s a lot of carryover from that game, going into a game like this. With that zone, you have to really execute.”

McConnell tied his career high of six steals, set against Charlotte in 2010-11 when he played for Duquesne, while the Wildcats had 11 overall.

The Wildcats don’t look to excessively gamble out of their pack-line defense, but some clear opportunities were there against UCI.

“I think it starts with ball pressure,” McConnell said. “When Gabe and Rondae and Elliott heat up the other guards, it’s easy for people like myself to jump the passing lanes and get steals. … and Kaleb (Tarczewski) did a phenomenal job on, you know, a mammoth of, you know he’s 7-6 (Ndiaye). So it was an all-around team effort on defense."

Offensively, McConnell (4 for 11) and York (1 for 6) had some struggles, but York said struggling is more bearable on a team that has so many other scoring options.

“It’s never discouraging when you’re playing for Arizona,” York said. “You know somebody’s going to step up.”

Our full coverage from Wednesday: A game story, sidebar, seen-and-heard notes, Greg Hansen's column and a photo gallery.

The box score and play-by-play sheets are attached as PDFs.