Scouting report: No. 10 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 12 Michigan State Spartans
- Updated
Prepare for Friday's season opener against No. 12 Michigan State with Bruce Pascoe's in-depth scouting report.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Matchup: No. 10 Arizona (0-0) vs. No. 12 Michigan State (0-0)
Event: Armed Forces Classic
Location: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu
Time: 5 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
G Parker Jackson-Cartwright (5-11 junior)
G Kadeem Allen (6-3 senior)
G Rawle Alkins (6-5 freshman)
F Lauri Markkanen (7-0 freshman)
C Dusan Ristic (7-0 junior)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
PG “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. (5-10 junior)
SG Eron Harris (6-3 senior)
SF Matt McQuaid (6-4 sophomore)
PF Miles Bridges (6-7 freshman)
C Kenny Goins (6-6 sophomore)
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
The series: The Wildcats and Spartans will get a chance to play the game they were expected to last season in the finale of the Wooden Legacy event, but Arizona never made it there because it lost to Providence in the semifinals, when center Kaleb Tarczewski was lost to a foot injury. Arizona hasn’t played MSU since losing to the Spartans in the third-place game of the 2005-06 Maui Invitational, but the Wildcats lead the all-time series between the two schools 4-2.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
In many ways, the Spartans are a mirror image of what the Wildcats have become — trying to recover from heavy losses and other adversity, yet still in the top 15 in part because of a well-regarded freshman class. The Spartans lost their heart and soul from last season, guard Denzel Valentine, along with two other starters and a surprise NBA departee in forward Dayonta Davis. Then forwards Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter went down with preseason knee injuries and one of the team’s three heralded freshman, guard Joshua Langford, missed both exhibition games with a pulled hamstring. But Langford is expected to play off the bench in Friday’s game, giving the Spartans a long, versatile talent who can make plays on the perimeter and defend a wide variety of players. The Spartans will also debut well-regarded freshmen Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward. Winston, who won Michigan’s Mr. Basketball last season — Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Bridges left the state to play elsewhere — will back up “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr., a sub-6-footer who should be an ideal matchup for Arizona’s Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
There’s a new generation of “Flintstone” at MSU now that Bridges opted to follow Mateen Cleaves and others from his Flint, Michigan, hometown to play for the Spartans, and he may be as good as any of MSU’s recruits ever. Tough, athletic, strong and with a high basketball IQ, Bridges is far from your everyday freshman.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Already having made a name for himself on the European circuit last summer, Markkanen now gets a chance to impress on his new continent. The versatile Finnish big man appeared to shake off some nerves in UA’s second exhibition game, and he’ll have a wide-open chance to exploit MSU’s smaller lineup if he can handle the Spartans’ quickness.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
While all four Armed Forces Classic teams mixed with military while touring Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam this week, the Wildcats had a compelling tie to one of the week’s highlights.
They spent Thursday afternoon touring the USS Arizona Memorial, where the first 48-star United States flag to be flown over the bombed ship has temporarily returned … from the UA Library’s Special Collections.
James Francis, UA’s senior associate AD for external operations, said the flag was sent to the USS Arizona Memorial in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombings.
It is scheduled to remain there until February.
UA also has one of the original bells from the USS Arizona housed in the student union and a USS Arizona memorial plaza is expected to be completed on the campus mall by the end of November.
On the court Friday, the Wildcats will commemorate the event by wearing Nike-designed camouflage uniforms that say “USS Arizona” on the front and “At ’em Arizona” on the back. The Wildcats will also wear “United We Stand” camouflage warmup shirts, while coaches will wear USS Arizona polo shirts.
“At ’em Arizona” was the rallying cry for the ship’s basketball, football and baseball teams, Francis said.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Local basketball junkies and those who could manage to get to Oahu somehow this week were given an unprecedented (and cheap) chance to see high-caliber teams in an event usually played only in front of military.
The Armed Forces Classic, which will also feature Kansas against Indiana in the second game Friday, was moved from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center two months ago. Last year’s Armed Forces Classic, played on a temporary court at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan, was canceled at halftime because of moisture on the playing surface.
The lower bowl of the 10,300-seat Stan Sheriff Center is being reserved for military, but upper-bowl public tickets to see the Final Four-caliber teams are just $30 for both games.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser said about 500 tickets remained as of Wednesday.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
Looks like the oddsmakers are clearly aware of Arizona’s preseason adversity.
The Wildcats’ estimated odds of winning the NCAA title went from 14-1 on Oct. 2 to 16-1 on Thursday, according to Bovada.com, while VegasInsider.com gives the Wildcats only a 32-1 chance of winning it all in Phoenix in April.
However, 5 of 21 VegasInsider.com experts predicted UA would reach the Final Four.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
7: Arizona wins in nine games played on the Hawaiian Islands in the Sean Miller era, including the past six straight (in the 2012 Diamond Head Classic and 2014 Maui Invitational). Miller’s first UA team lost two games in the 2009 Maui Invitational.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
12: Michigan State’s AP ranking, the highest a UA season-opening opponent has had since the Wildcats faced – and beat — No. 2 Maryland at the beginning of the 2001-02 season.
- Bruce Pascoe
- Updated
13,600: Miles that Michigan State players will travel in November, with trips to Honolulu, the Bahamas and New York scheduled.
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- Bruce Pascoe
The series: The Wildcats and Spartans will get a chance to play the game they were expected to last season in the finale of the Wooden Legacy event, but Arizona never made it there because it lost to Providence in the semifinals, when center Kaleb Tarczewski was lost to a foot injury. Arizona hasn’t played MSU since losing to the Spartans in the third-place game of the 2005-06 Maui Invitational, but the Wildcats lead the all-time series between the two schools 4-2.
- Bruce Pascoe
In many ways, the Spartans are a mirror image of what the Wildcats have become — trying to recover from heavy losses and other adversity, yet still in the top 15 in part because of a well-regarded freshman class. The Spartans lost their heart and soul from last season, guard Denzel Valentine, along with two other starters and a surprise NBA departee in forward Dayonta Davis. Then forwards Gavin Schilling and Ben Carter went down with preseason knee injuries and one of the team’s three heralded freshman, guard Joshua Langford, missed both exhibition games with a pulled hamstring. But Langford is expected to play off the bench in Friday’s game, giving the Spartans a long, versatile talent who can make plays on the perimeter and defend a wide variety of players. The Spartans will also debut well-regarded freshmen Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward. Winston, who won Michigan’s Mr. Basketball last season — Kansas’ Josh Jackson and Bridges left the state to play elsewhere — will back up “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr., a sub-6-footer who should be an ideal matchup for Arizona’s Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
- Bruce Pascoe
There’s a new generation of “Flintstone” at MSU now that Bridges opted to follow Mateen Cleaves and others from his Flint, Michigan, hometown to play for the Spartans, and he may be as good as any of MSU’s recruits ever. Tough, athletic, strong and with a high basketball IQ, Bridges is far from your everyday freshman.
- Bruce Pascoe
Already having made a name for himself on the European circuit last summer, Markkanen now gets a chance to impress on his new continent. The versatile Finnish big man appeared to shake off some nerves in UA’s second exhibition game, and he’ll have a wide-open chance to exploit MSU’s smaller lineup if he can handle the Spartans’ quickness.
- Bruce Pascoe
While all four Armed Forces Classic teams mixed with military while touring Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam this week, the Wildcats had a compelling tie to one of the week’s highlights.
They spent Thursday afternoon touring the USS Arizona Memorial, where the first 48-star United States flag to be flown over the bombed ship has temporarily returned … from the UA Library’s Special Collections.
James Francis, UA’s senior associate AD for external operations, said the flag was sent to the USS Arizona Memorial in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombings.
It is scheduled to remain there until February.
UA also has one of the original bells from the USS Arizona housed in the student union and a USS Arizona memorial plaza is expected to be completed on the campus mall by the end of November.
On the court Friday, the Wildcats will commemorate the event by wearing Nike-designed camouflage uniforms that say “USS Arizona” on the front and “At ’em Arizona” on the back. The Wildcats will also wear “United We Stand” camouflage warmup shirts, while coaches will wear USS Arizona polo shirts.
“At ’em Arizona” was the rallying cry for the ship’s basketball, football and baseball teams, Francis said.
- Bruce Pascoe
Local basketball junkies and those who could manage to get to Oahu somehow this week were given an unprecedented (and cheap) chance to see high-caliber teams in an event usually played only in front of military.
The Armed Forces Classic, which will also feature Kansas against Indiana in the second game Friday, was moved from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center two months ago. Last year’s Armed Forces Classic, played on a temporary court at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan, was canceled at halftime because of moisture on the playing surface.
The lower bowl of the 10,300-seat Stan Sheriff Center is being reserved for military, but upper-bowl public tickets to see the Final Four-caliber teams are just $30 for both games.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser said about 500 tickets remained as of Wednesday.
- Bruce Pascoe
Looks like the oddsmakers are clearly aware of Arizona’s preseason adversity.
The Wildcats’ estimated odds of winning the NCAA title went from 14-1 on Oct. 2 to 16-1 on Thursday, according to Bovada.com, while VegasInsider.com gives the Wildcats only a 32-1 chance of winning it all in Phoenix in April.
However, 5 of 21 VegasInsider.com experts predicted UA would reach the Final Four.
- Bruce Pascoe
7: Arizona wins in nine games played on the Hawaiian Islands in the Sean Miller era, including the past six straight (in the 2012 Diamond Head Classic and 2014 Maui Invitational). Miller’s first UA team lost two games in the 2009 Maui Invitational.
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