Tag: Arizona Wildcats

Stanford prepares for another duel in the desert against Arizona Sunday

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Photo credit: azcentral.com

By: Ana Kieu

Ah, the Stanford Cardinal didn’t get the final result that they likely hoped for in Wednesday evening’s conference game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Ariz. But have no fear as the Cardinal prepare for another duel in the desert against the Arizona Wildcats at the McKale Center in Tuscon, Ariz. Sunday at 5:00 pm PT on ESPN2. Be there or be square.

Sad news was that the Cardinal (14-12, 7-7 Pac-12) also came off a two-game sweep at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. against the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins on February 13th and 16th, respectively. So it was likely difficult for them to fathom a large loss 80-62 to the Sun Devils (18-8, 9-5 Pac-12), who currently hold onto a two-game win streak. Anyways, a Cardinal win over Arizona (14-12, 5-8 Pac-12) is completely feasible as the latter is three steps below them in the conference standings as well as the fact that they’re currently on a four-game losing skid. The Wildcats’ last win came on January 31st in a rivalry (and road) game against ASU.

Sure, Stanford recently suffered a loss at the hands of ASU, but there were a couple of silver linings about that miserable game. Senior center Josh Sharma and sophomore forward Oscar da Silva combined for 32 points in a losing effort for the Cardinal. It was just that ASU looked good and Stanford was unable to go on a shooting streak. Well, at least in my humble opinion. By the way, I was covering San Jose State vs. Colorado State that night. But I did check out parts of the game on my laptop. That’s better than nothing, right?

But you have to keep in mind that the Cardinal’s still without the services of their leading scorer and sophomore forward KZ Okpala, who remains day-to-day with an injury. Moreover, the Cardinal just put on a 2-of-21 shooting performance against ASU, which was downright terrible to say the least. ASU’s win evened the season series between the two schools. Stanford defeated ASU, 85-71, in the first meeting on January 19th at Maples Pavilion.

The Cardinal men’s basketball Twitter tweeted out “Right back to work tomorrow. Another opportunity awaits on Sunday.” There’s a chance that they’ll rebound and pick up a win at Arizona, but until then, we’ll see how things go.

Prediction: Stanford picks up a 95-70 win over Arizona.

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris and Michael: Cal Bears has now lost 11 straight conference games and are 0-4 in the Pac-12 this season

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Photo credit: @CalMBBall

On the Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris and Michael:

The Cal Bears have not had a winning Pac-12 conference game this season. Now at 0-4 and the attendance at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley has been low with all the screaming Arizona Wildcats fans in attendance last Saturday. Also how Cal played on the hardwood in their 87-65 loss.

The one good thing is Cal plays Washington State next at Pullman on Tuesday night. Pullman is a tough place to get to and a tough place to get a win. Even when WSU is not playing well, they defend their home floor pretty well. This is not going to be a cake walk for Cal.

Morris and Michael do the Cal Bears podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears basketball podcast with Morris Phillips: Cal’s struggle on offense equates to another Pac-12 loss to Arizona

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photo by: azcentral.com

On the Cal Bears podcast with Morris:

#1 The Cal Bears (5-11) were no match for the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday night, getting whipped 87-65 at Haas Pavilion

#2 Arizona went eight minutes without a field goal, but Cal was still behind 14-10.

#3 The Bears just couldn’t get anything going shooting 34.5. Bears head coach Wyking Jones didn’t say much in the postgame presser about the offense

#4 Jones was focused on the defense trying to patch holes in the leaky boat as the Wildcats had an offensive free for all.

#5 Winless in the Pac-12 conference at 0-3, the Bears take on Washington State University on Thursday at 7 pm.

Morris does the Cal basketball podcast each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Home Not Hospitable: Cal’s struggles at Haas continue in 87-65 loss to Arizona

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — Hard to believe, but the Arizona Wildcats went more than eight minutes without scoring a field goal on Saturday night at Haas Pavilion.

Didn’t matter much, the Cats led 14-10 when the drought started, and they still led 22-17 when it ended.

The statistical oddity said a lot more about the lackluster hosts than it said about Arizona.

Cal saw its shooting grow colder than the visitors in their 87-65 loss to Arizona that kept the Bears (5-11, 0-4) winless in the Pac-12. The 11th consecutive loss in conference play for the Bears left few positives. In fact, after Cal shot a miserable 34.5 percent for the game, coach Wyking Jones had little to say about his team’s offense.

That’s because Jones was so preoccupied with his team’s dismal defense that allowed 87 points despite Arizona’s drought, the Bears’ offense got a pass.

“We have to improve our sense of urgency on the defensive end,” said Jones. “It’s a major, major problem for us right now. We’re an athletic team. We’re a quick team. We’re undersized, so we shouldn’t be getting taken off the bounce the way we’re getting taken off the bounce or opening up the floor for guys to kick out to wide-open shooters.”

The 12th double-digit home loss in Wyking Jones’ 48 games as head coach was a definite low point right down to the smaller Arizona contingent of fans making more noise than Cal’s supporters. But fortunately for Cal, the schedule eases with a game at similarly challenged Washington State up next, a chance to break the losing skid.

But the Bears need significant improvement if they envision hanging with the Cougars in Pullman.

Justice Sueing paced Cal with 27 points, but he was the only Bear to score in double figures. Cal’s other four starters combined to miss 29 of their 38 shots. Connor Vanover started at center and missed all six of his shot attempts inside the arc. Vanover’s only makes? A pair of 3-pointers, and an inadvertent tip-in at the buzzer before halftime–for Arizona as the 7’3″ center attempted to secure the defensive rebound off Brandon Williams’ miss.

That basket was credited to Arizona’s Chase Jeter, who led the Cats with 23 points, nine rebounds, and was part of a huge run that took Arizona from up five at the end of their first half drought to 12 at halftime, and 26 with 5:48 remaining.

At one juncture, Arizona scored at least one point on 21 of 23 possessions. How could Cal’s defense be so porous?

“Effort is the biggest thing. We keep going back to the fact that we’re young but we’re a lot more than what we’re showing, and we all know that,” Sueing said. “It’s disappointing to see us work so hard, especially with shooting and defense being the emphasis in practice.”

Arizona (13-4, 4-0) isn’t the only Pac-12 team that’s undefeated in conference play, and Cal not the only team looking for it’s first win, but the two are first and last in the standings. Arizona has won six straight overall, and holds a half-game lead over Washington and UCLA, both at 3-0.

The Bears are 0-4, a half-game behind 0-3 Washington State. The two teams see each other on Thursday at 7 pm in Pullman, WA.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey Friedman: With Arizona’s developed offense, Stanford got outpaced

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

On the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Joey:

#1 The Arizona Wildcats (12-4) have really stepped up their offensive game and it helped in their 75-70 win against the Stanford Cardinal (7-8) on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.

#2 KZ Okpala topped Stanford scorers with 29 points and Deajon Davis had 15 points.

#3 Brandon Randolph had 17 points, topping five Wildcat scorers on Wed in double figures.

#4 The Cardinal are struggling with the Pac-12 at 0-3. In early conference play, it can get late early.

#5 Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said the team is going to improve and get better.

Joey does the Stanford podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Friday

Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington: The Sean Miller story was the biggest distraction on Stanford’s road trip

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zimbio.com photo file: Arizona Wildcats’ head coach Sean Miller made his return to the bench last Thursday against Stanford. Miller has denied that he offered to pay Wildcats’ Deandre Ayton $100,000 to come play for the school.

On the Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington:

Stanford’s timing to be at the University of Arizona last Thursday was all the rage in the news and sports media world. UA is under FBI investigation and the Wildcats head coach Sean Miller, who is accused in a wiretap, according to ESPN; that he offered Deandre Ayton $100,000. Miller did not coach last week Saturday against Oregon, but his return to the bench Thursday was one for the books.

Before the media scrum who were trying to get a quote from Miller reporters even from major news organizations were covering the Miller story and it was Miller’s first game since the story broke and all reporters wanted to know if Miller did offer Ayton $100,000. Miller put out an statement saying that the allegations were false and concocted. That he was being defamed by ESPN and that he never offered any money to Ayton. Ayton also said that he never got an offer of any kind from coach Miller.

Daniel has details of Stanford’s trip to Arizona last Thursday which was a media circus on the podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Stanford falls to #14 Arizona by just two points in close 73-71 loss

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Photo: @StanfordMBB

By Alexandra Evans

PALO ALTO — After beating #16 Arizona State on Wednesday, the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team took on the #14 Arizona Wildcats, to whom they fell ,73-71, in front of a packed Maples Pavilion Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Stanford’s five-game winning streak was snapped by Arizona.

In a back-and-forth game among two Pac-12 leaders, Stanford failed to exceed Arizona. The Cardinal trailed by a maximum of 10 points at one time in the first period.

The Cardinal stepped up in the second period and even managed to exceed the Wildcats by more than 10 points. This was first facilitated by a jumper from Reid Travis four minutes in, and then the Cardinal were ahead 11 points after Dorian Pickens got a 3-pointer just over 10 minutes in. However, the latter team managed to take the lead again with 38 seconds left in the game, only exceeding them by one point.

It came down to the final shot (Rawle Alkins’ go-ahead layup with 38 seconds left in regulation), but the Cardinal came up just two points short in a 73-71 loss to the Wildcats.

“It was a battle and outside the first six, eight, ten minutes of the game we joined the battle and competed at a high level,” said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase. “There were a lot of positives that we’ll take away. Obviously there a lot of things we can learn from as well but at the end of the day I think we competed at a high level.”

Travis led the Cardinal in points with 20, and Allonzo Trier exceeded the Wildcats with 21 points.

“Winning on the road is hard, and I give Stanford a lot of credit,” said Arizona head coach Sean Miller. “Stanford’s resiliency was impressive. They scored 42 points on us (in the second half), and they had their starting point guard the entire second half.”

“Stanford’s game plan was good,” Miller added. “They have some big bodies, Humphrey’s a senior, a very good player; Reid Travis is not only one of the better players in our conference, but in college basketball.”

Next: Stanford will take on the USC Trojans in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 24 at 6:00 pm PT.

Boilermakers give fans a reason to cheer as they escaped with a 38-35 win over Wildcats

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Purdue Boilermakers quarterback Elijah Sindelar (2) holds the Foster Farms Bowl Championship trophy after the game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Purdue Boilermakers on December 27, 2017, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. (Photo by David Dennis/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

By Jeremy Kahn

SANTA CLARA — What a thrilling finish at the 16th annual Foster Farms Bowl between the Purdue Boilermakers and Arizona Wildcats. Elijah Sindelar threw a 38-yard to Anthony Mahoungou with 1:44 remaining in the game, as the Boilermakers came back to defeat the Wildcats 38-35 before an announced attendance of 28,436 at Levi’s Stadium.

After the Boilermakers led the Wildcats 31-14 at the half, the Wildcats came all the way back and even took the lead with 3:21 remaining in the game, as Khalil Tate threw his bowl record fifth touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 35-31 lead.

Sindelar did not falter under the pressure of the big lights, as he drove the Boilermakers 75 yards for the game-winning score. It was the first bowl win by the Boilermakers since the 2011 Motor City Bowl over the Western Michigan Broncos at Ford Field in Detroit.

By finishing the season with a 7-6 record, the Boilermakers finished with their first winning season since 2011.

Sindelar threw for a school bowl record tying four touchdowns, and broke the Foster Farms Bowl record by throwing for 396 yards on the evening.

Mahoungou topped the 100-yard plateau with 118 yards receiving, and Gregory Phillips also topped the 100-yard plateau with 149 yards receiving.

Tate was amazing for the Wildcats, as he threw for 302 yards, and a Foster Farms Bowl record five touchdowns. However, his interception on the final series of the game clinched the win for the Boilermakers. Tate gained just 58 yards on the ground on 20 carries.

With the victory, the Big Ten is now 3-1 against the Pac-12 since the arrangement between the two Power Five Conferences began in 2014.

NOTES: Boilermakers head coach Jeff Brohm ended his first year in West Lafayette with a 7-6 record.

As for the Wildcats, their record ended with the same 7-6 record under fifth-year head coach Rich Rodriguez.

Including his time at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona, Rodriguez falls to 6-21 against Big Ten opponents.

Quarterbacks on display in Foster Farms Bowl; Boilermakers’ Elijah Sindelar vs. Wildcats’ Khalil Tate

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AP File Photo: Arizona Wildcats quarterback Khalil Tate (14) looks to pass just out of reach of Arizona State Sun Devils linebacker Alani Latu (44) during the college football game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils on November 25, 2017 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — When the Arizona Wildcats and the Purdue Boilermakers meet in the Foster Farms at Levi’s Stadium, it is going to be a good one.

The one player that the Boilermakers will be keying on will be Wildcats quarterback Khalil Tate, who is now a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 2018.

Tate played little in the first four games of the season, as he rushed for 86 yards and passed for 41 yards. Once he finally got on the field as a starter against the Colorado Buffaloes in week 5, Tate went nuts.

In that game, Tate ran for 327 yards and went 12-of-13 for 154 yards passing with a touchdown and did not throw an interception in a huge 45-42 Wildcats victory.

Over the next five games, Tate continued his torrid pace, as he rushed for a total of 1,207 yards in those six games and the Wildcats went 5-1 during that stretch.

Unfortunately, the season did not end well for Tate, as the Wildcats ended up losing their last two games and fell out of the Pac-12 South race.

On the other sideline, this is the first season for head coach Jeff Brohm, who actually played for the San Francisco 49ers in the late 1990s.

Brohm led the Boilermakers to a 6-6 record and 4-5 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers won their final two games just to get bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2012 season.

Like the Wildcats, the Boilermakers changed quarterbacks. However, it was due to an injury to David Blough, who was sharing the position with Elijah Sindelar.

Blough suffered a season-ending ankle injury on November 4. Brohm turned the reins and quarterback position over to Sindelar. Over the final three games of the season, the Boilermakers won two of them, including a win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, who were ranked 25th at the time. Sindelar threw seven touchdowns and one interception in those final three games.

Markell Jones finally got the running game, as he rushed for 217 yards in a huge win over the Indiana Hoosiers.

Sac Kings Podcast: Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star talks lottery pick Lauri Markkanen

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

Pascoe

Bruce Pascoe is a Senior Sports Reporter for the Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com. In that capacity, he had the opportunity to get up close and personal with Arizona Wildcat Lauri Markkanen who is projected to be a top 10 NBA Lottery pick.

Markkanen card

Many of the Mock Drafts have the big Finnish power forward going the Sacramento Kings with their number 10 pick in the draft. Since the big seven-footer from Finland could be one of the next members of the rebuilding Kings, we thought you would like to know more about him.

Bruce and I talk about:

  • His character
  • How Markkanen has adjusted to life in the USA
  • How involved his family is in his career
  • His strengths and weaknesses on offense
  • Markkanen’s defense
  • His ability to handle adversity
  • and more

Bruce has covered the Arizona program for years and has a real some insights that I am sure you will enjoy. It will be 15 minutes well spent.

I also got Bruce to comment on the rumors that Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller might be interested in the vacant head coaching job at Ohio State where he was once an assistant coach.

Hope you enjoy the show.