Men's basketball scouting report: No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 14 FAU, 1 p.m. Saturday

No. 4 Arizona (9-1) vs. No. 14 Florida Atlantic (9-2)

T-Mobile Arena; Las Vegas | 1 p.m. | Ch. 11 (FOX) | 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

PROBABLE STARTERS

FLORIDA ATLANTIC G Nick Boyd (6-3 sophomore)

G Brandon Weatherspoon (6-4 senior)

F Alijah Martin (6-2 junior)

F Johnell Davis (6-4 junior)

C Vladislav Goldin (7-1 junior)

ARIZONA

G Kylan Boswell (6-2 sophomore)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-6 senior)

F Keshad Johnson (6-7 senior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 senior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona beat Florida Atlantic 75-62 in the teams’ only previous matchup, in the 2008-09 season opener at McKale Center, when the Wildcats turned to Russ Pennell to take over as interim head coach after Lute Olson announced his retirement.

Game agreement: FAU and Arizona are meeting in a one-off, made-for-TV game that will be carried nationally on Fox. Terms of the game have not been disclosed (a public records request to Arizona for the game contract has not been fulfilled).

FAU overview: A 20-game winning streak that started with a win at Florida last season put the Owls on the college basketball radar, and they haven’t left since. FAU, which moved this season from Conference USA into the American Athletic Conference, lost three regular-season games last season but won Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles, then kept going all the way to the Final Four, where they finally lost to San Diego State on an overtime buzzer-beater.

With all five starters and nearly everyone else back from that team, FAU has lost to Bryant and Illinois so far this season but beat Butler, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech to win an MTE at Disney World while running the nation’s ninth-most efficient offense.

As they did last season, the Owls create offense by surrounding four versatile guards around Russian 7-footer Vladislav Goldin, ranking in the top 20 as a team in both 3-point percentage (38.4) and 2-point percentage (58.6). They take 38.3% of their shots from beyond the arc and get to the free-throw line at an above-average rate, though they make only 68.1% of their free throws.

Individually, Goldin leads the Owls in scoring (15.1) and rebounding (7.0). Guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin, both of whom tested the NBA Draft last spring, are FAU’s top two perimeter threats. Davis takes about a third of his shots from 3-point range and is hitting them at a 48.8% rate so far this season. Especially aggressive on both sides of the floor, Davis averages 14.5 points a game while Martin averages 12.8, an athletic guard who can find creative ways to the basket. Martin also takes an average of 6.3 3-point attempts a game but makes only a third of them. Both Davis and Martin also average 1.7 steals per game.

Starting small forward Brandon Weatherspoon is equally comfortable inside and out, taking half of his shots inside the 3-point arc and shooting 55.6% there while also hitting 15 of 39 3s (38.5%). He is making only 55.6% of his free throws, however.

The Owls’ defensive efficiency ranks only 41st but their athleticism and aggressiveness help limit opponents to just 47.4% shooting from two-point range while they record a steal on 11.6% of opponents’ possessions (ranking 59th nationally).

A breakout player in FAU’s run last season, guard Nick Boyd, returned last Saturday against St. Bonaventure after missing the previous seven games with a lower-leg injury.

He said it: “They didn’t necessarily lose any valuable pieces. Goldin as the five-man is the leading scorer, leading rebounder. He’s a go-to guy in the post — big physical, tough kind of guy. He’s their rim protector and he causes problems. Then they play four guards, and they’re not afraid. They hoop. They just kind of get after you and just hoop.

“You talk about Goldin, you talk about Davis, who’s a tremendous scorer and Martin’s a really good scorer for them as well. (Jalen) Gaffney, Weatherspoon and Boyd, (Bryan) Greenlee. They just keep rolling them out there. That’s why they’re so efficient on the offensive end of the floor. They know what they want to do and they make it happen.

“They all are a threat to make shots from 3, and they’ve got guys who put the ball on the deck and get to the basket or penetrate and pitch it. They’re not afraid to share the basketball, and they’re a very confident bunch — tough, hard-nosed kids that just kind of get after you.

“They’ll get (3s) in transition, they’ll get them in the half-court sets. They like to shoot 3s, and they like to drive the ball to the basket to create, or they’ll throw it inside to the post and let (Goldin) score.

“Defensively, they’re quick and they’re active and you’ve got to be able to handle their pressure. (Goldin) is a rim protector. (They play) straight man and they’ll switch with those four guards, they fly around. I think a big part of it is how active they are on the defensive end.” — UA assistant coach Steve Robinson, who scouted the Owls.

Key players

FAU – Johnell Davis

Conference USA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season, Davis actually moved into the Owls’ starting lineup in late February to essentially give them four guards on the floor, a move that wound up helping power their Final Four run. After testing the NBA Draft, Davis has returned to become FAU’s second leading scorer (14.5) and rebounder (6.9) while hitting 48.8% from 3 and 77.8% from the line.

ARIZONA — Keshad Johnson

Johnson has drawn praise for his ability to switch and cover just about any player out of the power forward spot, but the Owls will test him with quick perimeter players in their four-out system. Johnson knows FAU, collecting five rebounds and two assists against the Owls, though taking only two shots, in the national semifinal last season.

Sidelines

Birthday week

After playing Alabama at the Footprint Center on Wednesday, the Wildcats stayed in Phoenix for a practice Thursday before traveling to Las Vegas.

That meant UA coach Tommy Lloyd’s 49th birthday ended up in a city built around parties, but it wasn’t immediately clear what sort of celebration he had.

Lloyd declined to say if he had a birthday bash planned when asked about it during his weekly news conference earlier this week — “I’ve got a game on Wednesday,” he said — but he did receive a present, at least: Arizona’s 87-74 win over Alabama.

Taking advantage of winter break, the Wildcats also had a chance to work out on the Phoenix Suns’ practice court earlier this week and practiced at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, when they had a full day in Las Vegas.

Good timing

Facing Alabama in Phoenix also worked out pretty well for Arizona’s recruiting efforts, because Glendale Dream City was between games and just ended its academic fall period on Wednesday.

As a result, UA signee Emmanuel Stephen of Dream City sat about 12 rows off the court, saying he had a chance to speak with the current Wildcats before the game.

Dream City coach Kyle Weaver, sitting in a corner of the Footprint Center near the UA bench, said both Stephen and fellow UA signee Jamari Phillips have played well in his system. Weaver said Stephen has been averaging 6.5 blocks so far and also spoke highly of another Arizona target he is coaching, 2026 guard Ikenna Alozie.

Full steam

Boyd’s return gives the Owls nine players averaging 6.9 points a game or more. But while Boyd started all but one game last season and the first three of this season, May said he wasn’t sure if he would start him on Saturday.

Either way, Boyd will bring another scoring-minded guard on the floor against the Wildcats. He had seven points and three rebounds in his return from injury on Dec. 16 against St. Bonaventure.

“He was a little bit rusty but I thought he played really well in the second half,” May said. “He was able to get downhill to the rim and finish a couple times and then, like every any defense, they reacted to that and were able to get Vlad a few dunks.

“He was obviously a little bit tender and sore, but he said he felt good.”

Numbers game

3 — FAU’s rank in minutes continuity, the percentage of a team’s minutes (80.0) played by the same players from last season to this season.

5 — Out of 363 Division I teams that didn’t have a single player enter the transfer portal last spring, including FAU.

9 — FAU’s rank in adjusted offensive efficiency, with the Owls scoring 118.5 points per 100 possessions.

— Bruce Pascoe