Top-ranked Arizona will not have played in a week when the Wildcats host Oklahoma State on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
It will be the first game since the unbeaten Wildcats (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) achieved the best start in program history with an 87-74 win at Arizona State.
They will attempt to break the school record of 22 straight victories, achieved from 1914 to 1917.
“I’m looking forward to having a little break in our schedule, but I’m also cognizant that we got to keep getting better,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “We got to make sure we stay sharp and have great rhythm.
“We got a tough couple games coming up. You got Oklahoma State coming, and then turn around and you got to play at Kansas (on Monday). Not easy.”
The Cowboys (16-6, 4-5) are coming off a 99-92 win over No. 16 BYU at Stillwater, Okla., behind a season-high 30 points from Anthony Roy.
The victory was the first of the season against a Quad-1 opponent for Oklahoma State, which some NCAA tournament prognosticators label as a team on the bubble.
Upsetting BYU prompted fans to storm the court.
“It was a heck of a night,” second-year coach Steve Lutz told reporters. “Obviously, we were able to get our first Quad-1 win against a team that I think can play for a national title. I’m proud of the guys. I think they did a fantastic job.
“They’ve done a much better job over the last couple weeks of being a good basketball team rather than a good group of individuals, and that’s paying dividends for us right now.”
After losing four of five games, including two defeats against Iowa State, Oklahoma State has won the last two games at Utah and against BYU.
Roy, a senior guard playing for his fourth program, leads the Cowboys with 18.2 points per game.
Formerly of San Francisco, New Mexico State and Green Bay, Roy is shooting 46.5% from the field and 44.8% from 3-point range.
Rebounding will be a concern for Oklahoma State, which has only one player averaging more than five per game — 6-foot-10 center Parsa Fallah (6.3).
Arizona deploys 6-8 power forward Tobe Awaka (9.8 rebounds a game), 7-2 post player Motiejus Krivas (8.3) and 6-8 forward Koa Peat (5.6).
The Wildcats are third nationally in rebounding margin at plus-13.1. Oklahoma State is No. 141 at plus-2.5.
Arizona counters Oklahoma State’s productive perimeter game that includes Roy and point guard Kanye Clary (5.0 assists and 2.1 turnovers a game) with Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley.
Burries leads Arizona with 15.3 points per game. Bradley averages 4.5 assists to go with only 1.7 turnovers.
The Wildcats’ steady backcourt play is a significant reason Arizona has yet to lose.
“We value steadiness,” Lloyd said. “A lot of people talk about momentum, momentum, momentum. I understand what momentum is, but I think there’s way more value in being steady and consistent.
“From there, you’re going to get opportunities to create momentum. If you’re just worried about panic and having momentum, you really don’t have any substance to what you’re doing. We talk about just staying steady, steady, steady.”
–Field Level Media
