No. 19 Arizona still leery of banged-up NMSU
No. 19 Arizona has cruised through three games but is expecting a difficult test when it hosts New Mexico State on Sunday in Tucson, Ariz. "New Mexico State will be one of the most difficult games we play all season," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "Their toughness, their quickness, how hard they play ... they take great pride in those areas. It will be an amazing test and we have to be ready to go." The Aggies (2-1) are coming off a 30-5 season in which they lost by a point to fifth-seeded Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. While returning a veteran squad, New Mexico State isn't as dangerous as it could be because standout senior point guard AJ Harris is out after last month's surgery on a fractured finger. Another returning starter, senior guard Clayton Henry, is also out because of a torn thumb ligament, and guard Terrell Brown, last season's leading scorer at 11.3 points per game, has been limited due to a strained hip flexor/groin injury. He is averaging 7.5 points in two games this season. Meanwhile, Arizona (3-0) is overflowing with depth, aided in Thursday night's 87-39 beatdown of San Jose State by the return of sophomore guard Devonaire Doutrive, who was suspended for the first two games due to an unspecified violation of team rules. He scored a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench, as Miller was able to utilize 10 players for at least 14 minutes each, with an 11th player seeing eight minutes of action. While the rotation will narrow in closer games, the deep roster figures to be a season-long hallmark of the Wildcats. "We have a lot of guys who can play," Miller said. "That should allow us to be really good in the second halves of games, which has already shown up. "It should make us a durable team throughout the long course of a season. On different nights, we're not just dependent on one or two guys. We can strike from a lot of different areas. And as I say that, it's really a puzzle and it takes more time to get it right." Doutrive is a potential starter, although Miller suggested he is not ready to make any changes to a lineup that features three freshmen, including power forward Zeke Nnaji. He was the first winner of the Pac-12's new Freshman of the Week award, and he followed up with 26 points while making all eight shots from the field on Thursday night. He is averaging team-highs with 21.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and is shooting 81.3 percent (26 of 32). The other two starting freshmen -- point guard Nico Mannion and wing Josh Green -- are tied for second on the team in scoring at 12.7 per game. NMSU, whose loss came at UTEP on Tuesday, is coming off a 79-63 home victory over Southern on Friday. Trevelin Queen is averaging a team-high 18.3 points, having made 8 of 16 shots from 3-point range. "We have a long way to go, and it's not going to get any easier," coach Chris Jans said in the Las Cruces Sun News. "Some of these guys that are hurt aren't going to be walking through the door, and it is what it is. We have to continue to get better and figure out exactly how we need to play." --Field Level Media |