Say what you want about the overall quality of the Pac-12, especially near the end, but at least you could take a breath every now and then. That hasn’t really been the case for Arizona in its debut season in the Big 12.
In the previous two weeks it hosted a pair of Top 15 opponents, one of which it had already lost to, while in between were dangerous road games against an in-state rival and a sharpshooting upstart with the biggest crowd in the conference. Now comes a matchup that, after looking like a potential breather a few weeks ago, is yet another hot opponent.
And that’s with a showdown for first place looming this weekend.
Kansas State (12-11, 6-6) has won five in a row, including wins over Iowa State and Kansas. The Wildcats will be the third consecutive opponent No. 13 Arizona (17-6, 11-1) faces that comes into the matchup on a win streak of four or better.
This will be the UA’s first visit to K-State since 1981 and first meeting overall since 2014.
Here’s what to watch for when the Wildcats and … Wildcats battle in Manhattan, Kan.:
On paper vs. reality
Kansas State is 57th in the KenPom rankings, which is 10th-best in the Big 12. In conference games it is no better than 5th in almost every statistical category. There are no players averaging better than 13 points per game.
But all those numbers are based on K-State’s overall performance this season, which until a few weeks ago was pretty bad. The Wildcats went 6-5 in nonconference play, just like Arizona, but then started 1-6 in the Big 12.
All that changed on Jan. 25 with a 73-60 home win over West Virginia, the start of a 5-game streak that included a shocking 19-point beatdown of Iowa State to end the Cyclones’ long homecourt win streak. In knocking off Kansas on Saturday it shot 50 percent for only the eighth time this season and third in Big 12 play.
“Obviously, they’re really talented,” Lloyd said of K-State. “They got some really talented players, and for whatever reason, they struggled to put it together. That’s not for me to figure out. I’m facing a team that’s won five games in a row and just beat Kansas at home, and we’re going on the road to play where Kansas just played. So I’m assuming it’s going to be an awesome environment and incredibly challenging. But I’m also assuming our guys are going to show up and we’re built for it.”
Arizona is 5-1 on the road in Big 12 play, winning the last three by an average of 11.3 points. K-State is 8-3 at Bramlage Coliseum.
Can Trey play?
Senior Trey Townsend missed the win over Texas Tech while dealing with concussion symptoms after smacking his head on the floor at BYU a few days earlier. His absence moved Carter Bryant back into the starting lineup but also trimmed Arizona’s bench rotation from three to two, with freshman big man Emmanuel Stephen logging a whopping eight seconds of action.
On Saturday night Lloyd said he didn’t know if Townsend would be available for this game. If he is he might not start and his minutes could be limited, but the way Bryant played in his place might have created a bit of a Wally Pipp situation.
Bryant only had four points in 22 minutes, and in four starts he’s scored just 13 points and gone 3 of 11 from the field. But against Texas Tech he did everything else other than score, pulling down six rebounds while adding an assist and a block, and finished with a plus-minus of 22.
The next best on the team was +9.
Lloyd said that when he learned Townsend was out he considered “options” that would have called for Stephen and guard Conrad Martinez to be part of the rotation but the game didn’t play out that way. Those two have been helpful when stepping in of late, usually when Arizona gets into early foul trouble.
“E-Man at Oklahoma State helped us; Conrad at A-State helped us,” Lloyd said. “I love having those pinch hitters and to me that says a lot about a program when your ninth or 10th guy can step in and pitch hit.”
Double (big man) trouble
When Arizona was at its best during Lloyd’s first season it often involved having two bigs on the court together, some combination of Oumar Ballo, Christian Koloko and Azuolas Tubelis. Ballo and Tubelis were on the court together most of the time the following season but last year didn’t see many instances when Ballo and Motiejus Krivas were active at the same time.
A two-big attack was part of the initial plans for this season, with Krivas and Henri Veesaar getting a little run together and each alongside Tobe Awaka before Krivas suffered a season-ending foot injury. The Awaka/Veesaar combo went away after that until Saturday against Texas Tech, when the duo played a combined 8:21 together.
The UA was outscored 22-17 in those minutes but Awaka said afterward that more reps together will translate to better production. Lloyd indicated that pairing could become more common, regardless of Townsend’s status.
Defending the 3
Arizona’s last three opponents have combined to make 34 3-pointers, and the 8.5 allowed per game in Big 12 play is second-most. Then again, that’s coming on 26.8 attempts per game, tops in the league, leading to a 31.7 percent success rate.
Kansas State has three regulars shooting better than 36 percent from 3 in conference games, including 6-10 senior Coleman Hawkins, who is 8 of 16 over the last four games. Arizona has mostly been switching 1 thru 4 on defense but if Hawkins is finding himself out on the perimeter it will require some different rotations, which could lead to open men outside.
K-State is 43 of 96 (44.8 percent) the last four games.