Casey Sapio- USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats have been the no. 1 team in the country according to the polls for three weeks now. Heading into conference play, they will show that they are the best team in the country. Against the Washington State Cougars, they allowed seven points in the first half. In the second half, they allowed 18 more. The defense swarmed the Cougars and did not allow them to get up any clean looks.
You could make the argument that “well, it is WSU,” but allowing 25 points in a whole game against a Pac-12 foe means that the Wildcats’ defense is for real. The offense, however, was a different story.
You could make the argument that the Wildcats are undoubtedly the best team in the country, but the inefficient scoring bothers analysts and bloggers like myself. Kaleb Tarczewski led the team with 11 points and was perfect from the floor on his three shots. However, he was the only double-digit scorer on a team full of athletes and shooters.
Freshman Aaron Gordon struggled on offense, but he made up for his subpar performance by grabbing 10 rebounds. It’s this style of play that oils coach Sean Miller’s engine. He loves to play hard-nosed defense and allow his point guard T.J. McConnell to facilitate and attack the opposing team’s defense.
The defense is the reason that the Wildcats are still undefeated this season, but how far can that go if they struggle to score like they did against the Cougars?
John Lloyd is a Pac-12 Basketball Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JohnHLloydIII
