Since the calendar turned to 2025, Arizona has played at least one game every four days, alternating between a weeknight and a Saturday. That’s also the case this week, but after surviving an overtime battle with No. 3 Iowa State on Monday night, the Wildcats had a little extra time to “recover and build back up” before getting back in action, as Tommy Lloyd put it afterward.
“We were able to basically take a couple days off from being on the court,” Lloyd said Friday. “The second day we did some film and stuff like that, but as far as on the court, we gave the guys a little more time off this week than normal. Hopefully that’ll bode well, but we’ll see. The true indicator will be tomorrow.”
The extended break ends early Saturday, with the UA heading up Interstate 10 to face rival ASU in a game that will tip at 11 a.m. MT on CBS.
The game in Tempe will serve as the end of the first half of the Big 12 schedule for Arizona. The Wildcats (14-6, 8-1) are tied for second place, one game behind No. 6 Houston and a game ahead if No. 3 Iowa State and No. 22 Texas Tech. The UA has three games remaining against that trio, two at home, as well as trips to No. 11 Kansas, Baylor and BYU, with the BYU game coming Tuesday.
As tough as it’s been to this point for Arizona, it’s only going to get tougher. And while ASU (12-8, 3-6) has struggled in league play this game can’t be overlooked.
“We have a rival on Saturday, and we all know how those games can go,” Lloyd said. “And we’ve had some battles with Arizona State.”
Here’s what to watch for when the UA heads to McKale North (AKA Desert Financial Arena) where it has won the last four meetings:
Caleb carryover?
With 2.2 seconds left in regulation Monday, Caleb Love was 5 of 18 from the field and 1 of 10 from 3. He then sank a 55-footer to force overtime and hit two more 3s in the extra session and ended up with 22 points.
It was Love’s 21st game with at least 20 points for Arizona, seventh this season. The Wildcats are 6-1 in those games, the lone loss in overtime to West Virginia in November, and they’re 12-2 when he scores at least 10 compared to 2-4 when he’s in single digits.
Knowing which kind of game Love is going to have is anyone’s guess, since there’s been no pattern to it this season. Using the “game score” metric on SportsReference, which considers 10 an average performance, Love hasn’t had consecutive above average games since having three in a row at the end of December.
Since then his game scores have been as follows: 4.4, 3.2, 13.2, 5.2, 4.0, 25.3, 8.8, 10.3. Arizona has only lost one of those (the 4.0 at Texas Tech, when Love was 3 of 13 from the field and missed all five 3-point attempts) but having him be closer to his Pac-12 Player of the Year form than not never hurts.
“Maybe this is a catalyst that kind of kicks him down a really successful path to kind of end his college career,” Lloyd said. “I think he’s very deserving of that, and I think that would be great for our team, if he could do that. But more importantly, I think would be great for him.”
An injury depleted opponent
ASU regularly plays eight guys, just like Arizona has since Motiejus Krivas suffered a season-ending foot injury in December. But while the Wildcats’ main rotation group has remained healthy, the same can’t be said for the Sun Devils.
Only five of those eight regulars have played every game, and that number might be one fewer on Saturday depending on the status of leading scorer BJ Freeman. The senior guard played only four minutes in the first half at Colorado on Tuesday before suffering an injury that led him to be in street clothes for the second half.
That was on top of freshman forward Jayden Quaintance, who leads the Big 12 in blocks, sitting out with an ankle injury. Additionally, freshman guard Joson Sanon—who had been committed to Arizona before flipping to ASU last May—has only appeared in five of nine conference games and his numbers are way down from the ones he put up before getting hurt.
“I’m planning on them all playing, that’s my preparation,” Lloyd said. “I’m assuming they’re all going to be playing against us.”
Ball control
Arizona recorded 13 steals against Iowa State, part of 18 forced turnovers that led to 22 points. Jaden Bradley had seven steals, two off the school record and most by a Wildcat since TJ McConnell in 2015.
More swiping could be in store for Arizona’s defense, as ASU does not take care of the rock. The Sun Devils are averaging 14.8 turnovers in Big 12 play, giving it away 22.3 percent of the time, and senior forward Basheer Jihad has a conference-worst 65 turnovers (nobody on Arizona has more than 41).
ASU doesn’t force many turnovers, instead leaning more on forcing bad shots. It’s allowing 42.4 percent shooting in Big 12 play, including only 28.6 percent from outside.
Avoiding the letdown
Monday’s win marked the sixth time under Lloyd that Arizona has beaten a Top 5 team, most of any school over the last four seasons. The high of such a victory is indescribable, and it’s also difficult to maintain and carry over to the next opponent.
Just ask the 2022-23 Wildcats, who five days after knocking off No. 2 UCLA to win the Pac-12 Tournament was shocked by Princeton in the first round of the NCAA tourney.
That it’s ASU certainly will help in terms of remaining focused, even though the only Arizona natives on the roster are walk-ons Will Menaugh and Grant Weitman.
“I don’t think you have to overdo it, but I also think you know you gotta let guys know what this game means to the state of Arizona,” Lloyd said. “A lot of our players are from other states, other countries, so they might not know, have a full grasp on the rivalry for people that have lived here their entire lives. So you just want to let people know this is a meaningful game, and it should be treated as such.”