Scouting report: Arizona State vs. No. 12 Arizona

Game info 

Matchup: ASU (14-12, 4-9 Pac-12) at No. 12 Arizona (21-5, 9-4) 

Time: 7 p.m. Wednesday 

Location: McKale Center 

TV: ESPN2

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM 

Probable starters for Arizona 

Probable starters for Arizona State 

ASU offense vs. Arizona defense 

Since losing six of their first seven in the Pac-12, the Sun Devils have made a push to get in the league’s top 10, recently taking Washington to overtime during a loss in Seattle, then beating WSU and USC before losing to UCLA on Sunday. They do it in large part by taking a league-high 42.3 percent of their shots from beyond the three-point arc, and hitting them at a 35.7 rate. Tra Holder is the Sun Devils’ top threat, shooting 45.1 percent from three, and much of the offense goes through him. He’s a good driver who can pull up for a three at any point, while Kodi Justice is hitting threes at a 42.4-percent rate in conference games. Since UA beat ASU on Jan. 3 in Tempe, Obinna Oleka has emerged as the Sun Devils’ second-best player behind Holder, a versatile forward who can drive, shoot and rebound well. He had 14 points and 13 rebounds against UCLA on Sunday. 

The scout says 

“When they put Tra Holder and Andre (Spight) and (Kodi) Justice in there you’re talking about three guys with the ability to come in and shoot threes. They can make tough threes — off the dribble or cut so it’s having awareness and being close to the three-point shooter is a huge deal. Holder, off the dribble, he’s very shifty with the ball. You have to respect his drive but as you’re going back, he stops and pops. Blakes can still be a three-point shooter. He’s a really serious threat off the dribble, especially as a left-hand driver. Spight in junior college had seven games where he hit five or more threes and he just did that against UCLA (5 of 7).” — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Sun Devils. 

ASU defense vs. Arizona offense 

The Sun Devils play a rugged man-to-man most of the time, sprinkling in some 2-3 zone, but have only the 10th most efficient defense in the Pac-12 (allowing 107.8 points per 100 possessions). They allow the highest overall field-goal percentage of any Pac-12 team in conference play (49.5 percent) and give up 38.1 percent from three-point territory while allowing an average of 78.2 points a game. The weakness is especially glaring inside the arc, where Pac-12 teams average 54.2 percent against them, the worst two-point defense percentage in the league. Their strength defensively is keeping opponents off the glass; other teams convert offensive rebound opportunities only 25.7 percent of the time. ASU blocks only 2.6 shots a game, but center Eric Jacobsen averages 1.1 himself, and four Sun Devils (Holder, Oleka, Blakes and Justice) have double-digit steals over ASU’s 13 conference games. 

The scout says 

“They play really, really hard. They mirror the mentality of their coach. They’re tough. … How do they have success against us? It’s if they come in and hit 10, 11, 12 threes and then, on our end, we don't take advantage of their poor two-point field-goal defense.” — UA assistant coach Mark Phelps, who scouted the Sun Devils. 

Respect for Hurley(s) 

While UA coach Sean Miller praises the job first-year ASU coach Bobby Hurley is doing — “he’s created an identity that will be there for years to come,” Miller said — there’s another Hurley he may respect even more.

That would be Bob Hurley, Sr., the longtime coach of New Jersey prep powerhouse St. Anthony.

“I saw something the other day that he’s won over 20 state championships,” Miller said, and the number is actually 27. “I mean, are you kidding? Do you know how hard that is to do in the state of New Jersey?

“He’s as tough minded as any guy who coaches the game, cares a lot about his players. Takes guys from tough backgrounds, and teaches them the values of hard work and academics in a Catholic school environment. The number of kids he’s gotten their education paid for with a scholarship is remarkable.”

Miller’s father also did pretty well at the high school game. John Miller won over 600 games and four state championships at Blackhawk High outside of Pittsburgh — but he never did have to face St. Anthony, even in a tournament.

“No, and I’m gonna tell you St. Anthony would beat Blackhawk by about 50 points,” Miller said. “A couple of those (Blackhawk) teams would have given them a run for their money, but I would have to say that St. Anthony would have had their way with Blackhawk over the years.” 

Basketball osmosis 

While Bobby Hurley played professionally and then dabbled in horse racing, Sean Miller began coaching immediately after his playing career ended at Pitt in 1992, latching on as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin for the 1992-93 season.

The way Miller described it on a Pac-12 teleconference call last week, it was his destiny after years of watching his father build that powerhouse at Blackhawk.

“We all are a product of the home we grew up in and the passion and love for the game in the Miller house, I would put second to none,” Miller said. “We as a family learned to love the game of basketball and looked at it from his perspective, that it’s a fundamentals game, it’s a players game and it’s a game that is tremendous.

“I think you just kind of gain that passion to do what you love, love what you do, and he embodied all of those qualities. He was a great coach in his own right… so we all learned an awful lot from him, my brother (Archie) and I in particular.” 

Stanley stays 'home' 

Stanley Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell all showed up at McKale Center during the NBA All-Star break.

Then, when it was over, Stanley Johnson was still there.

“I was worried that he wasn’t going to leave,” Miller said. “I walked in the locker room and he was playing video games. You forget Stanley’s 19 years old. He’s at a place where he’s comfortable. He’s at a place where he had a wonderful experience. A lot of his friends went to school here, not just ones on the team, but away from the court as well.”

Miller said Johnson wanted a workout while he was in town, so the Wildcats threw him into the skills portion of their practice on Monday.

“It was good to see him,” Miller said. “It’s remarkable to look at his body and see physically how strong he is.

“It’s always great for our guys to see him working and how he goes about it, what his shot looks like, how fast he is. I think he passed the test.” 

Red and Gold 

Arizona assistant Mark Phelps has a streak of Sun Devil blood, having served as Herb Sendek’s top assistant during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons before he was hired as Drake’s head coach.

But once the Wildcats went into Wells Fargo Arena last Jan. 3 for his first game in the rivalry on the Arizona side, Phelps said other emotions took over.

“I was wondering how it would feel,” Phelps said. “I think what happens, for me anyway, is you’re so involved in who you’re a part of. With the intermingling and relationships with the staff and players, it’s so much more than a job. In so many ways, it’s all about us.”

And for Phelps, that “us” is now Arizona. 

Big picture 

Maybe UCLA has been a traditional rival of UA’s in basketball, and ASU in all sports, but Miller said that’s not really the way he looks at it.

“As I’m getting older as a coach, you tend to kind of shy away from a rivalry,” Miller said, “because if you’re truly a program that tries to do special things, if you have postseason ambitions, and you want to compete for a Pac-12 regular-season championship, every game is important.

“With ASU, it’s easily understood. We share the state and the Pac-12. But for us, or me, to make it bigger than it needs to be doesn’t make sense. Because I’m here to tell you there’s no more pressure on our team with ASU than there was this weekend against ‘SC. And there wasn't more pressure against UCLA than ‘SC. Every game seems to hold its importance.”

Besides, Miller added, Pac-12 teams might face each other three times a year in basketball but only once (or not at all) in football, making a rivalry focus less practical in basketball.