Arizona Basketball is off to a stupendous start leading the nation

Arizona Basketball is baaaaacckkkk! Still undefeated and traveling to Illinois to fight the Illini, Arizona Basketball is getting a lot of attention.

Signs that Arizona Basketball (8-0, 1-0) is outdoing the limiting predictions from sports announcers and writers are everywhere. Take Jeff Goodman for example, he just said that he felt the Deandre Ayton/Sean Miller $100K payment was incorrect and very damaging reporting by ESPN Mark Schlabach. Duh, there was no recording, no evidence other than hearsay, which is why Miller wasn’t fired for quite awhile, there was no proof, or no cause. Why is Goodman talking about this now? Because Arizona’s stats can make anyone giddy about the team.

The No. 11 ranked Arizona Wildcats, after beating Wyoming 94-65, rose to the top spot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Net Rankings. These rankings are used for placement in the NCAA National Tournament.

LSU (8-0), Shareef O’Neal’s team, comes in at No. 2, and fellow Pac-12 foe USC (9-0) comes in at No. 9 just behind Tommy Lloyd’s former team, Gonzaga. Duke (7-1) is No. 10, while is UCLA (7-1) is No. 30.

Note: The No. 11 ranking is the highest ranking since the Jan. 29, 2018 poll when the Cats ranked No. 9.

But wait, there’s more!

According to the Pac-12 weekly press release Arizona is topping the charts:

1. This week Arizona ranks No. 1 in Scoring (91.5 ppg) and Scoring Margin (33.0 ppg), 2nd in Field Goal Defense (32.5 FG%), 4th in Assist/Turnover Ratio and 6th in blocks/game (7.3 bpg).
2. Arizona has the 3rd fastest offensive pace in the country.
3. Part of ARIZONA’s unbeaten start is its unselfish play as the Wildcats currently lead the nation with 23.5 assists per game.
4. Per KenPom.com, Arizona also ranks first in the nation in assist rate – assisting on 73.8 percent of made field goals (141-of-191).
5. The Wildcats also top the country in average scoring margin (+33.8), rank second in field goal percentage defense (32.5%) and third in points per game (91.5 ppg).

According to Arizona Basketball:

• Dalen Terry is No. 2 Nationally in Assists/Turn Over Ratio at 29/5
• Kerr Kriisa is No. 4 Nationally in Assists/Turn Over Ratio at 37/7
• Arizona is No. 1 in Defensive Rebounds/Game at 33.7 rpg
• Arizona is No. 7 in Rebound Margin +12.7 rpg

Not done yet… here are some season highlights in the Wildcats young season:

KEY NON-CONFERENCE WIN – ARIZONA 80, No. 4 Michigan 62 (Las Vegas, Nev.)

POWER 6 OPPONENTS (Pac-12 is 3-8) – ARIZONA 80, No. 4 Michigan 62 (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year – in the running: Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year – in the running: Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona

PAC-12 PARTICIPATION IN TOURNAMENTS – Arizona is one of three Pac-12 teams to win a tournament over the Thanksgiving weekend. Arizona won the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas, Utah won the Daytona Beach Sunshine Slam, and USC won The Wooden Legacy.

Arizona Head Coach Tommy Lloyd has installed “Play for your team” mentality and it is working. Oh boy, if you haven’t caught a game lately, it looks like a highlight reel.