Scouting report: No. 18 Arizona Wildcats vs. New Mexico Lobos
- Updated
Wildcats resume long rivalry with Lobos.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Matchup: New Mexico (7-4) at No. 18 Arizona (10-2)
Location: McKale Center
Time: 7 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
G Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior)
G Kobi Simmons (6-5 freshman)
G Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman)
F Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman)
C Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
G Jordan Hunter (5-11 sophomore)
G Elijah Brown (6-4 junior)
F Sam Logwood (6-7 junior)
F Tim Williams (6-8 senior)
C Obij Aget (7-1 senior)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The series: The once-fiery and regularly contested Arizona-New Mexico series has been idle since 1999-2000, when the Wildcats lost a two-point game at McKale Center right before Christmas break that season. The teams split six games throughout the 1990s, with Arizona winning once in Albuquerque and New Mexico winning the 1999-00 game in Tucson.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Strong at home as usual, the Lobos have struggled away from the Pit, losing even to in-state rival New Mexico State 84-71 on Dec. 10. While they average 76.9 points a game, some of their opponents find it easy to score even more: New Mexico’s defensive efficiency ranks only 183 of 351 Division I teams, with it allowing opponents to shoot 45.1 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range.
Offensively, the Lobos rely on the two-man attack of forward Tim Williams and guard Elijah Brown. Brown can be a prolific scorer but he takes more than half of his shots from 3-point range but hits them at only a 27.5 percent rate. He’s also turnover-prone. Williams is the Lobos’ leading scorer and rebounder. Williams has limited range but he’s shooting an efficient 63.1 percent from the field. Jordan Hunter took over point guard for Neal’s son, Cullen, who transferred to Ole Miss, while big wing Sam Logwood is a third-year starter. Inside, South Sudan native Obij Aget can be a defensive presence around the rim, but he averages just 18 minutes.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The Lobos’ leading scorer and rebounder has only shot one 3-pointer this season but hardly needs to. He's shooting 63.8 shooting percentage and has three double-doubles already this season.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Not only will Allen need to shake off a rough game against Texas A&M, his leadership might be needed to keep the Wildcats focused on their last game before Christmas break, when many of them have trips home planned.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
"Williams and Brown are as good of an inside-outside combination as (from) any team we’ve played. They’re deep, they play 9 or 10 every game. They have five frontcourt players and five guards. They may have had their ups and downs in nonconference play but every team hits their stride. And you know what? I’m sure this is a game they would love to hit their stride in right before Christmas, heading into the beginning of the new year, so we have to be ready and focused.”
UA coach Sean Miller
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
During his weekly news conference Monday, Miller said again that injured guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright is ahead of schedule and that he hoped to get his “whole team” back at some point.
By “whole team,” that presumably means guard Allonzo Trier, who has missed 12 games with his NCAA eligibility issue — although, as always, nobody wants to comment on that. UA prefaces nearly every press conference with the warning that Trier questions can't be answered, while two NCAA officials declined to comment in any form when asked by the Star about Trier.
Regardless of Trier, though, PJC may be on the earlier rather than later end of the 4-8 week timetable typically given to those who suffer high ankle sprains, as Jackson-Cartwright did on Nov. 30.
Miller said it’s even possible – though hardly certain -- that Jackson-Cartwright could return for UA’s Pac-12 opener on Dec. 30 at Cal, which would be just after the four-week mark.
“I don’t believe it’s in the cards for him to be out eight” weeks, Miller said. “What the actual time is we’ll find out more and more.”
Overall, Miller characterized UA's missing-persons picture this way:
“Obviously, we need some good fortune to stay away from injury, and hopefully we can welcome our whole team back at some point,” Miller said. “You feel like you deserve that. Kadeem Allen deserves that. It would be nice to walk out there and not have to come to you guys (media) at the end of the game and talk about surviving foul trouble and some of the things we currently have to do in our situation.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Asked during his news conference if freshman typically arrive in college with a higher basketball IQ these days, Miller said “no” and went on a long discussion on about one-and-dones.
“I think freshmen come to college basketball with more unrealistic expectations than ever before,” Miller said. “That statement is the most obvious that a college basketball coach can make, that nobody truly understands the process that’s going to be required to achieve what they want to achieve.
“The one-and-done model is completely upside down in any area of civilization. You don’t become a lawyer (by going) to law school for a year.”
Miller went on to compare career tracks in several professions, but said he wasn’t frustrated over the fact that the NBA appears to be keeping the one-and-done rule in its new collective bargaining agreement. That rule states players must be 19 and a year removed from their high school class graduating year.
In fact, Miller said he is trying to help those seeking a one-year exit to the pros, as several of his players already have.
“It is what it is,” Miller said. “We’re recruiting five players a year. We take inventory every day.”
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
That Cullen Neal took the grad transfer route from New Mexico to Ole Miss after last season was hardly a surprise in this day and age of fluid rosters throughout college basketball.
Except that his dad is New Mexico’s head coach.
But, as the point guard of a team barely over .500 last season, Cullen Neal found himself a frequent target. So much so that he sat down with University of New Mexico police last February to discuss the vague death threats he was getting on social media.
“I just think the dynamics didn’t work out and it ended up being a decision that was made for all parties involved,” Craig Neal said. “But he’s moved on, we’ve moved on and he’s enjoying his season there so far.”
The stats would indicate as much. Cullen Neal is averaging 12.4 points a game so far this season, comparable to his scoring production at New Mexico, but is shooting a higher percentage across the board.
But while he's also playing for one of Craig Neal’s longtime coaching friends in Andy Kennedy, that doesn't make it all good on a personal level.
Because, without his son around every day, dad's still hurting a bit.
“It’s been very difficult,” Craig Neal said.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
0 Arizona games covered so far this season by television analyst Bill Walton, who will make his Wildcat “season debut” tonight on a Pac-12 Networks broadcast.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
1 New Mexico win this season in five games away from The Pit, against Cal State Northridge in the Wooden Legacy event.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
5 Wins in six games immediately before Christmas break for the Wildcats under Sean Miller (UA played through Christmas at the Diamond Head Classic in 2012-13).
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
100 Seasons since Arizona and New Mexico first played each other, with the Lobos winning 28-19 on Feb. 1, 1917 in Albuquerque. They have met 125 times.
- Bruce Pascoe
The series: The once-fiery and regularly contested Arizona-New Mexico series has been idle since 1999-2000, when the Wildcats lost a two-point game at McKale Center right before Christmas break that season. The teams split six games throughout the 1990s, with Arizona winning once in Albuquerque and New Mexico winning the 1999-00 game in Tucson.
- Bruce Pascoe
Strong at home as usual, the Lobos have struggled away from the Pit, losing even to in-state rival New Mexico State 84-71 on Dec. 10. While they average 76.9 points a game, some of their opponents find it easy to score even more: New Mexico’s defensive efficiency ranks only 183 of 351 Division I teams, with it allowing opponents to shoot 45.1 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range.
Offensively, the Lobos rely on the two-man attack of forward Tim Williams and guard Elijah Brown. Brown can be a prolific scorer but he takes more than half of his shots from 3-point range but hits them at only a 27.5 percent rate. He’s also turnover-prone. Williams is the Lobos’ leading scorer and rebounder. Williams has limited range but he’s shooting an efficient 63.1 percent from the field. Jordan Hunter took over point guard for Neal’s son, Cullen, who transferred to Ole Miss, while big wing Sam Logwood is a third-year starter. Inside, South Sudan native Obij Aget can be a defensive presence around the rim, but he averages just 18 minutes.
- Bruce Pascoe
Not only will Allen need to shake off a rough game against Texas A&M, his leadership might be needed to keep the Wildcats focused on their last game before Christmas break, when many of them have trips home planned.
- Bruce Pascoe
"Williams and Brown are as good of an inside-outside combination as (from) any team we’ve played. They’re deep, they play 9 or 10 every game. They have five frontcourt players and five guards. They may have had their ups and downs in nonconference play but every team hits their stride. And you know what? I’m sure this is a game they would love to hit their stride in right before Christmas, heading into the beginning of the new year, so we have to be ready and focused.”
UA coach Sean Miller
- Bruce Pascoe
During his weekly news conference Monday, Miller said again that injured guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright is ahead of schedule and that he hoped to get his “whole team” back at some point.
By “whole team,” that presumably means guard Allonzo Trier, who has missed 12 games with his NCAA eligibility issue — although, as always, nobody wants to comment on that. UA prefaces nearly every press conference with the warning that Trier questions can't be answered, while two NCAA officials declined to comment in any form when asked by the Star about Trier.
Regardless of Trier, though, PJC may be on the earlier rather than later end of the 4-8 week timetable typically given to those who suffer high ankle sprains, as Jackson-Cartwright did on Nov. 30.
Miller said it’s even possible – though hardly certain -- that Jackson-Cartwright could return for UA’s Pac-12 opener on Dec. 30 at Cal, which would be just after the four-week mark.
“I don’t believe it’s in the cards for him to be out eight” weeks, Miller said. “What the actual time is we’ll find out more and more.”
Overall, Miller characterized UA's missing-persons picture this way:
“Obviously, we need some good fortune to stay away from injury, and hopefully we can welcome our whole team back at some point,” Miller said. “You feel like you deserve that. Kadeem Allen deserves that. It would be nice to walk out there and not have to come to you guys (media) at the end of the game and talk about surviving foul trouble and some of the things we currently have to do in our situation.”
- Bruce Pascoe
Asked during his news conference if freshman typically arrive in college with a higher basketball IQ these days, Miller said “no” and went on a long discussion on about one-and-dones.
“I think freshmen come to college basketball with more unrealistic expectations than ever before,” Miller said. “That statement is the most obvious that a college basketball coach can make, that nobody truly understands the process that’s going to be required to achieve what they want to achieve.
“The one-and-done model is completely upside down in any area of civilization. You don’t become a lawyer (by going) to law school for a year.”
Miller went on to compare career tracks in several professions, but said he wasn’t frustrated over the fact that the NBA appears to be keeping the one-and-done rule in its new collective bargaining agreement. That rule states players must be 19 and a year removed from their high school class graduating year.
In fact, Miller said he is trying to help those seeking a one-year exit to the pros, as several of his players already have.
“It is what it is,” Miller said. “We’re recruiting five players a year. We take inventory every day.”
- Bruce Pascoe
That Cullen Neal took the grad transfer route from New Mexico to Ole Miss after last season was hardly a surprise in this day and age of fluid rosters throughout college basketball.
Except that his dad is New Mexico’s head coach.
But, as the point guard of a team barely over .500 last season, Cullen Neal found himself a frequent target. So much so that he sat down with University of New Mexico police last February to discuss the vague death threats he was getting on social media.
“I just think the dynamics didn’t work out and it ended up being a decision that was made for all parties involved,” Craig Neal said. “But he’s moved on, we’ve moved on and he’s enjoying his season there so far.”
The stats would indicate as much. Cullen Neal is averaging 12.4 points a game so far this season, comparable to his scoring production at New Mexico, but is shooting a higher percentage across the board.
But while he's also playing for one of Craig Neal’s longtime coaching friends in Andy Kennedy, that doesn't make it all good on a personal level.
Because, without his son around every day, dad's still hurting a bit.
“It’s been very difficult,” Craig Neal said.
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McKale Center likely won't be full for New Mexico tonight.
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