Arizona

Arizona women’s basketball gets hot from outside, defeats UNLV

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

Arizona women’s basketball gets hot from outside, defeats UNLV

During most of the Adia Barnes era, Arizona women’s basketball has scored primarily via the fastbreak. On Tuesday night in McKale Center, it was via the 3-point shot. The Wildcats (4-0, 0-0) went 9 for 17 from distance in a 75-66 victory over UNLV (2-1, 0-0).

The game certainly didn’t start that way. The two teams missed their first five 3-pointers with the Rebels going 0-3 and the Wildcats 0-2. Then, things started to heat up from outside for both teams.

UNLV connected on 5 of 8 long-distance shots in the second quarter after going 0 for 5 in the first. UA’s 0 for 2 start was followed by 4 of 6 made 3s in the first half. The Wildcats maintained that through the end of the game but the Rebels fell back into their slump to finish 7 for 23 from 3-point range.

Lauryn Swann led the way for Arizona. The freshman guard came off the bench to score 19 points in just under 19 minutes with all of her scoring coming in the second half. She went 6 for 6 before missing her first shot of the night, finishing 8 for 9 from the floor. She hit both of her shots from distance and went 1 for 2 from the free-throw line. She also had an assist.

“I just feel like the energy throughout the whole game while I was in was just contagious, and I just fed off that, so got to thank my teammates for that,” Swann said.

Swann said she felt like the shot she missed was going to go in, too. As for whether she had ever gotten on that kind of run, there’s “a first time for everything,” Swann quipped.

Swann wasn’t the only one. Montaya Dew was 2 for 2, with both shots coming from outside. She has now hit three shots in her first season on the court with the Wildcats. All three shots have come from 3-point distance. Jada Williams was 3 for 6 from beyond the arc and Paulina Paris hit 2 of her 3 long-distance shots.

When all was said and done, Arizona had hit 52.9 percent of its outside shots and 53.3 percent of its 2-point shots. That helped three Wildcats reach double digits in scoring. In addition to Swann’s 19 points, Williams had 15 and Breya Cunningham had 12.

“Lauryn Swann, who was huge tonight, did not play in the first half,” Barnes said. “As a freshman, she could have hung her head. Came out firing, doing what she does, and just really proud of what she did. Without her doing that, without Jada making big shots, without Breya carrying us for most of the game and playing smart with foul trouble, we don’t win this game.”

Skylar Jones narrowly missed the double-digit mark with nine points to go with her team-high five assists. She also had four rebounds, two steals, and one block.

“I love the fact that in the past, if she wasn’t making shots, she wouldn’t have done anything else,”Barnes said. “So I’m proud. She made her free throws, she got rebounds, she got five assists and two steals. So she’s figuring out how to do other things. It’s not all predicated on scoring. And Sky would not have been able to do that last year.”

Cunningham paced the Wildcats early. She had eight points, four rebounds, and one steal in the first quarter.

“They know that Breya is the dominant down there, so they’re going to double down and stuff,” Williams said. “So just working our butts off to make sure that we hit those shots. And kind of been in a drought a little bit, so everyone’s been in the gym a little extra. But I think when we can shoot, it gives the bigs more openings. And then we can shoot, it makes us open too, and it opens up the floor a lot more, instead of they can’t pack the paint.”

As Barnes alluded to, Cunningham picked up two fouls in the first half, one on a moving screen. It was a concern for the Wildcats because fellow frontcourt starter Isis Beh picked up three fouls in the first 20 minutes. She also had one on the offensive end of the court.

“We have goals for the post group for nobody to foul out this season,” Cunningham said. “So, had us a little nervous the first half, but we pulled through.”

She and Beh both ended the game with four fouls, but the other stats for Cunningham were far more important. Once again, she closed in on a double-double with nine rebounds to go with her 12 points. She added three steals and an assist to her totals.

“Breya and Isis both, we need them tremendously—defense, offense, communication,” Williams said. “Breya is a good post presence. When they get downhill and stuff, she’s always there to block or just reject stuff. So her and Isis are two big keys to the team, and when we don’t have them out there, it hurts us.”

The Wildcats once again struggled with turnovers, committing 21 that led to 20 UNLV points. Many of them were of the bad pass variety where the Rebels just had to put their hands in the air when Arizona went to pass inside.

“We will not win a lot of games in the Big 12 if we don’t correct that,” Barnes said.

Arizona also played deep into the shot clock on a number of occasions. Jones, Beh, and Williams all hit shots or got fouled with the clock about to expire.

The two teams stayed close in the first quarter with Arizona nudging in front 16-15 after the first 10 minutes. UNLV came back to outscore the Wildcats by five points in the second quarter, going into the locker room with a four-point lead. The two teams played an even 14-14 third period.

Arizona trailed by four going into the fourth quarter but outscored the Rebels 29-16 over the final 10 minutes to secure the victory. It was revenge for last season when the Wildcats lost to UNLV by 19 in Las Vegas.

“It felt good because they kicked our butts,” Barnes said. “They whooped us up and down around the floor last year. I mean, decisively. We had a better team last year, but we had a lot going on, and we did not play better. So we had a lot more talent. Think about how much the scoring we lost from that team. We’ve lost…like 97 percent of our scoring…and (have) a much better team (this year). So that tells you a lot.”

The Wildcats now take a break after playing four games in nine days. They next take the court when they travel to Chicago State on Saturday, Nov. 16.

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Arizona

Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend

Published

2 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend

TEMPE, AZ (AP/AZFamily) — The Arizona State Sun Devils are set for a huge matchup this weekend when they host the BYU Cougars at Mountain America Stadium.

Saturday’s game in Tempe will have massive implications in the Big 12 Conference with multiple teams chasing a title game appearance.

A win over the 14th-ranked Cougars would massively boost title game hopes for the 21st-ranked Sun Devils. Ticket prices have been soaring for the highly anticipated conference game.

Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham joined Good Morning Arizona on Thursday to talk about the team’s expectation-busting season. Watch the full interview in the video player at the top of this page.

Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

Game of the week

No. 14 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 14 CFP) at No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2, No. 21), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

League newcomer Arizona State has a three-game winning streak and BYU is coming off its first loss. The Cougars, after losing at home to Kansas, still control their own destiny in making the Big 12 championship game. They can clinch a spot in that Dec. 7 game as early as Saturday, if they win and instate rival Utah wins at home against No. 22 Iowa State.

Arizona State was picked at the bottom of the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, but already has a five-win improvement in coach Dillingham’s second season.

The undercard

No. 16 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 16 CFP) at Kansas (4-6, 3-4), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

Coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are in prime position to make the Big 12 title game in their return to the league after 13 seasons in the Pac-12. If BYU and Utah win, Colorado would be able to claim the other title game spot with a win over Kansas. The Buffs have a four-game winning streak.

The Jayhawks need another November win over a ranked Big 12 contender while trying to get bowl eligible for the third season in a row. Kansas has won consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history, knocking off Iowa State before BYU.

Impact players

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 14 consecutive games, while receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel both have more than 800 yards receiving. San Jose State is the only other FBS team with a pair of 800-yard receivers. Becht has 2,628 yards and 17 touchdowns passing for the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), who are still in Big 12 contention.

Inside the numbers

Oklahoma State goes into its home finale against Texas Tech with a seven-game losing streak, its longest since a nine-game skid from 1977-78. The only longer winless streak since was an 0-10-1 season in 1991. This is Mike Gundy’s 20th season as head coach, and his longest losing streak before now was five in a row in 2005, his first season and the last time the Cowboys didn’t make a bowl game. … Baylor plays at Houston for the first time since 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. The Cougars won last year in the only meeting since to even the series 14-14-1. … Eight Big 12 teams are bowl eligible. As many as six more teams could reach six wins.

Repeating 1,000

The Big 12 already has four 1,000-yard rushers, including three who did it last season. UCF’s RJ Harvey is the league’s top rusher (1,328 yards) and top scorer with 21 touchdowns (19 rushing/two receiving). The others with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons are Texas Tech career rushing leader Tahj Brooks (1,184 yards) and Kansas State’s DJ Giddens (1,128 yards). Cam Skattebo with league newcomer Arizona State has 1,074 yards.

Devin Neal, the career rushing leader at his hometown university, is 74 yards shy of being the first Kansas player with three 1,000-yard seasons. Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 again.

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Arizona

What BYU coach Kalani Sitake said about Arizona State game

Published

10 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

What BYU coach Kalani Sitake said about Arizona State game

BYU’s stock plummeted this week.

After suffering a 17-13 loss to Kansas — their first loss of the season — the Cougars dropped from No. 6 to No. 14 in the College Football Playoff Rankings and into a tie with Colorado for first place in the Big 12.

And now they’re 3.5-point underdogs to Arizona State (8-2) in arguably the biggest game on the college football schedule this weekend. The winner will be in the pole position for a berth in the Big 12 championship game; the loser will be all but eliminated.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake knows anything can happen in the Big 12, and the Cougars are still very much alive for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

“You look at the conference, there’s a lot of parity … anyone has a shot,” Sitake said during his weekly press conference.

Here is a snapshot of what Sitake said ahead of BYU’s game with Arizona State:

Sitake on ASU Coach Kenny Dillingham

“Kenny Dillingham is a really good coach. I have a lot of respect for him and the way he coaches his team. You can tell he’s got a great connection with his players, and he’s a local kid so he’s from that area. He grew up an ASU fan and knows what that program can do. … I think he did it the right way bringing in a lot of local staff. … I know a lot of guys on his coaching staff. They’re really good coaches, good men.

“Looking at the talent that they have, it’s a difficult matchup. You have to be ready. We’re going on the road. We already know the time for that game and that it will be a little better weather than what we have here [in Provo]. Looking forward to the matchup. I think the goal is for us, like we said every week, stay humble, stay hungry and find ways to get better.”

Sitake on ASU Quarterback Sam Leavitt

“Really good player. He comes from a good family. He’s super athletic. He can run, he’s got an accurate arm. I think he’s got a great football IQ. He’s dangerous. He’s got a lot of football to play. I think he he saw some opportunities over there at ASU and you look at him, he’s thriving in it. He’s going to be a difficult matchup for us for sure. But man, it’s good to see good young men that you know are from amazing families get what they want. He’s doing some really cool things and he’s going to be doing really good things for a long time becauase I think he’s only a freshman right now. The sky’s the limit for him. Hopefully we just don’t see that great ‘sky limit’ performance this weekend.”

Sitake on BYU’s Recent Offensive Struggles

“There’s a fine line between it all … the key to execution is just eliminating the mistakes. There shouldn’t be any mistakes. Whether it’s alignment issues or technique issues or even running the wrong route or not doing the correct assignment. So all that should be cleaned up. But there’s also some room for improvement where you can actually install some stuff. You want to have a foundation of stuff that you’re good at and that you could lean on, but that’s the stuff that everybody knows is coming. So we have to have that and you have to have a little bit of install that gives you the favorable matchup, depending on who you’re going against.”

“That’s what we’re trying to get done. Obviously it’s worked quite a bit, and the offense they’re getting in the red zone. We’ve just got to score touchdowns. It’s hard to get in the red zone and only kick field goals. Even though you have a good kicker like Will Ferrin you’re going to need to score points and score touchdowns and finish the drives. It gives you a little bit more motivation and a little bit more ‘umph’ when you’re trying to get it done, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

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Arizona

Five Takeaways: Arizona defense Wednesday press conference (TCU)

Published

17 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Press Room

Five Takeaways: Arizona defense Wednesday press conference (TCU)

Fresh off breaking its five-game losing streak last week, Arizona heads back on the road this week to take on one of the most potent passing attacks in the country in TCU.

The Wildcats are coming off one of their most complete defensive performances this past week and figure to be challenged more against the Horned Frogs who head into this week boasting the No. 6 passing offense in the country. They will challenge the banged up Arizona secondary that has had many younger players step into key roles as the season has progressed. We’ve seen improvement across the board from them as they’ve seen more reps on the field.

Here are five takeaways from coach Brett Arce as well as Owen Goss and Dominic Lolesio during Wednesday’s press conference.

Dominic Lolesio getting into the starting lineup

The injuries continue to pile up on the defensive side of the ball for Arizona that has led to lots of new players stepping into roles they may not have expected to be in at the start of the season.

Redshirt freshman Dominic Lolesio saw the field more last week in what was one of the more complete defensive performances of the season by Arizona. Lolesio recorded five tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss.

“That’s just the standard,” Lolesio said. “We practice that all week. Our thing is to swarm to the ball and play together and have fun. I mean doing it all week in practice and then being able to go out and do it on Friday felt really good.”

Despite the injuries that have come up for Arizona, the next man up stance remains the same for the team.

“I feel like everyone is just as ready as the next man up,” Lolesio said.

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