Arizona labelled Tier 2 Big XII contender by national college basketball writer

Arizona is a tier two Big XII title contender in Isacc Trotter of 247Sports' article "Midseason Big 12 basketball tiers: Title contenders, dark horses, bubble-bound and basement-dwellers" posted on Thursday. Arizona enters its game on Saturday versus Colorado 6-1 in the Big XII tied for second with Iowa State.

Houston leads the Big XII with a 7-0 conference record. Iowa State is at Arizona in a critical game on Monday night in the race to win the Big XII. Trotter names Houston and Iowa State as the sole tier one Big XII title contenders. Arizona, Kansas and Texas Tech are the three Tier two Big XII title contenders.

Baylor and West Virginia are Trotter's Tier Three teams, followed by Cincinnati, BYU, Arizona State, Central Florida, TCU and Utah in tier four and Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Colorado in tier five. Going by Trotter's tiers, Arizona has not played a tier one team yet and is 0-1 versus tier two with a loss at Texas Tech.

Arizona is 2-0 versus tier three with a win versus Baylor and at West Virginia, 3-0 versus tier four with a win at Cincinnati and versus Central Florida and TCU and 1-0 versus tier five with the win at Oklahoma State on Tuesday. Arizona has eased into its Big XII schedule which gets much more difficult beginning on Monday night.

"A team that looked out of sorts in November has found its stride. Arizona is 8-1 in its last nine games and has the sixth-best offense in the country in that timeframe, per Bart Torvik. (Arizona) has clearly figured out...its offensive flow, tweaked rotations and improved role allocation...There's another level this group can get to defensively... if (and when) the offensive lulls pop up again. Arizona's defense is limiting shot attempts at the rim at a high level (17th-best nationally)...Arizona's first-shot defense has been good to great, but it has to clean the glass at a higher level if it wants to compete for a Big 12 banner...Arizona has allowed opponents to corral over a third of their misses in four of seven games. "

Isaac Trotter, 247Sports

Arizona is averaging 82.4 points per game and allowing 67.4 during the last nine games. Texas Tech outscored Arizona 13-0 in the last five minutes of a 70-54 win last Saturday in the Wildcats' only loss in the last nine games. Arizona is shooting 50.2 percent from the floor and has held opponents to 39.2 during the last nine games.

Arizona's 34.8 three-point percentage over the past nine games is better than its season average of 32.4 percent. Arizona is holding opponents to 29.3 percent on three-point attempts in the last nine games. The Wildcats have a rebounding margin of 34.7 to 29.4 over the last nine games.

Playing in a far more physical Big XII than the Pac-12 was, Arizona is showing the ability to be tough on defense and rebounding. The biggest problem has been offensive rebounding. Arizona is allowing 10.3 offensive rebounds in the last nine games. Limiting offensive rebounds is the final step in a defensive possession.

Guards Jaden Bradley, K.J. Lewis and Caleb Love are stellar defenders who have set the foundation for Arizona's defense as Nagel illustrated. Backup forward Henri Veesaar has also helped limit attempts at the rim by averaging 1.0 blocks per game. Over the last nine games, Veesaar is averaging 1.5 blocks per game.

Veesaar and Emmanuel Stephen who played limited minutes with Arizona in foul trouble at Oklahoma State, are the only players in the Wildcats' rotation over 6'8. Tobe Awaka leads Arizona averaging 7.4 rebounds per game at 6.8. Awaka is the most physical player on Arizona.

The offensive lulls have occurred too often. Arizona needs more consistency from Love. Love has six games scoring in single digits this season, including three in the last five games. Arizona has been balanced offensively but needs Love to be the go-to player down the stretch to raise their game to another level.