Yesterday afternoon the Wildcats defeated Colorado 91-87, a day after losing a night game to Wisconsin 61-65.
The loss to an experienced Badgers was tough but expected. It was impressive to see Arizona bounce back and beat Colorado on short notice. The young Wildcats are playing hard and looking extremely athletic so far at the Maui Invitational.
Tonight Arizona plays Vanderbilt in the fifth-place game.
Some observations so far…
1. The team’s only senior, point guard Nic Wise is the real deal. He is averaging 21 points and almost five assists per game in Maui. Quality competition only makes him play better. He has no problem taking big shots and making them late in games.
2. Brendon Lavender needs to be more consistent. Against Wisconsin the sophomore guard played 19 minutes, attempted only two shots, recorded no assists, picked up two fouls and had as many turnovers as rebounds with one.
On day two against Colorado he looked more like the player Arizona needs him to be. He went 6/9 shooting including 3/6 from three point range for a season high, 16 points. He was all over the box score with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
3. Jamelle Horne is coming into his own. The junior forward is averaging 13 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, two assists in Maui. His 7/9 shooting from three point range in Hawaii should give him confidence going for forward.
Things to watch for …
1. Forward Derrick Williams is by far the furthest along of any of the freshman. His Maui numbers reflect that. He is averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, a block and 13 free throw attempts in the last two games. Watch him while you can, he isn’t staying four years.
2. Freshman forward Solomon Hill is a work in progress but it’s fun to watch. His seven points and six rebounds per game in Maui is nothing to call the NBA about but the Wildcats will be counting on him to play big. He doesn’t have a block this season but he finally broke into the steal column against Wisconsin. As he becomes more comfortable playing defense at the college level the swats should fallow.
3. The Wildcats desperately need one of their young big men to step up and give them team size. So far it hasn’t been 6’10” freshman center Kyryl Natyazhko. In his last two games Natyazhko has a total of six points, one rebound, no blocks, no steals, seven fouls, and two turnovers. As the biggest guy in the eight man rotation need Natyazhko to get it together if the Wildcats want to compete all season.
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