Arizona Basketball Preview: Wildcats vs. Sun Devils part 2

Jan 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley reacts after bein after being ejected for his second technical foul during the second half against the Arizona Wildcats at Wells-Fargo Arena. The Wildcats won 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley reacts after bein after being ejected for his second technical foul during the second half against the Arizona Wildcats at Wells-Fargo Arena. The Wildcats won 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona basketball is in FIRST place in the Pac-12 conference and ranked No. 12 after beating USC. Time to kick some Sun Devil butt for the second time on Wednesday.

The Wildcats (21-5) defeated the USC Trojans (18-7) Friday night at McKale Center 86-78. Stanley Johnson, Rondae HollisJefferson, and T.J. McConnell were in attendance for the second game against the So Cal teams at McKale.

Class of 2016 recruit Rawle Alkins and his mother were in attendance and were treated to quite the show. To top it off, there was a marriage proposal right after the game on center court at McKale, they were there to congratulated these huge Wildcats fans and happy couple.

Aaron Gordon couldn’t make it; he was shaking up the NBA world winning the All-Star Dunk Contest in Toronto. Oh yeah, he tied with Zach LaVine in the Dunk contest. Oh wait, he was cheated and came in second place. In any case, Gordon put himself on the map and brought back excitement with LaVine to the NBA Dunk contest.

More from Zona Zealots

Arizona faces the Arizona State Sun Devils for a second time this season and the ZonaZoo is going to be prepared to nag the crapola out of ASU’s head coach Bobby Hurley. The goal is to make sure he blows his top again and gets ejected. The Dog Pound during the U-Dub game taunted our beloved coach Miller with photo’s of him yelling at Kaleb Tarczewski in the Oregon game. It seems like fair game.

The Trojans and the Oregon Ducks handed Arizona first place in the conference of champions. USC, now ranked fifth in the Pac-12, falling out of the AP top 25 is feeling a tad bit better than ASU. ASU sits at No. 11 in the Pac-12 with a 14-12 record. The Curtain of Distraction may work, but the team still needs to win the game on offense.

Jan 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats center Kaleb Tarczewski (35) and Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller react after a technical foul to Tarczewski during the second half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Wells-Fargo Arena. The Wildcats won 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats center Kaleb Tarczewski (35) and Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller react after a technical foul to Tarczewski during the second half against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Wells-Fargo Arena. The Wildcats won 94-82. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Allonzo Trier

coming back into the starting line-up has given the team more threats on offense, and it seems confidence has returned to the team.

Ryan Anderson

,

Gabe York

, and Trier along with

Mark Tollefsen

all showed up against the Trojans and scored in double digits, Anderson scoring another double-double.

The last time the two teams played, the Wildcats won after ASU coach Bobby Hurley was hurled out of the arena after being ejected, yelling and complaining all the way to the locker room. The question is, how will the Pac-12 refs call this game? Wildcats fans would probably prefer the refs from the USC game instead of the UCLA game; Hurley probably doesn’t want any of them.

Oregon was upset by Stanford and Cal playing away games; it seems to be a trend among Pac-12 teams to play crummy while traveling. Arizona needs to win this game to stay in first place.

Prediction: ASU will play the Wildcats like it was the only game they had to play this season, but they will be playing at a full arena of Wildcats fans all clad in red, making their lives miserable for 40 minutes. Arizona will be too much to handle at home for the Devils, and they will win. 97-78.

Here’s more information on where you can catch the game on Wednesday:

Date: Wednesday, February 17th

Time: 6:00 p.m. PST, 7:00 p.m. MST

Location: Tucson, Arizona at McKale Center (14,545)

Line: Arizona  -13

Television: ESPN2

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network Arizona Wildcats (Try TuneIn Radio), KTKT, KCUB 1290 AM The Source, K-Hit 107.9, Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, KHYT 107.5 FM

Team Records:

  • Arizona 21-5: Defeated USC. Lost five games to No. 8 Providence, UCLA, USC, CAL, and Oregon. Currently 1st in the Pac-12.
  • ASU 14-12: Lost to UCLA Sunday night 78-65. Currently 11th in the Pac-12.

Last Meeting: Saturday, January 3rd in Tempe,  Arizona 94 ASU 82

Tickets: Here

More wildcats: Aaron Gordon shocks the world in the best NBA Dunk Contest ever!

Arizona Possible Starting Lineup:

PG Parker Jackson-Cartwright

SG  Gabe York

SF Allonzo Trier

PF Ryan Anderson 

C  Kaleb Tarczewski

Schedule

Schedule