TUCSON, Ariz. -- Following three games in three days last week at the Maui Invitational, the Arizona Wildcats are set to return to McKale Center on Thursday night when they host Georgia Southern. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:06 p.m., and will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. Daron Sutton and Steve Lavin will have the call.Â
Georgia Southern at Arizona
Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7p.m. (MST)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Daron Sutton & Steve Lavin)
Radio:Â Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter:Â @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
OFF THE TOP
- After three games in three days at the Maui Invitational, the Arizona Wildcats will resume mainland play Thursday night with a contest against 5-1 Georgia Southern. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.Â
- Arizona has won 50 straight non-conference home games under coach Sean Miller. The Wildcats are 85-3 in their last 88 games at McKale Center.Â
- The Wildcats are 50-12 in November under Miller.
- Justin Coleman had a standout trip to Maui and was named to the Maui Invitational All-Tournament team. Coleman averaged 20.7 points per game in the tournament, shooting 58 percent from 3-point range. Coleman hit six 3-pointers against Gonzaga, which is the most by an Arizona player since Gabe York went 9 of 14 from 3-point range against Stanford in 2016.
- Coleman is the first Wildcat to average at least 20 points at the Maui Invitational since Khalid Reeves in 1993.
- Brandon Randolph has scored in double figures in each of the team's first six games of the season. He's the first Wildcat to score 10 or more points in the first six games of the season since Gabe York in 2016.Â
- This will be Arizona's first game against an opponent from Georgia since playing Georgia Tech in 1991 in East Rutherford, N.J. It will be just the second game ever against a team from Georgia.
- Arizona shot 83 percent from the free throw line in Maui, connecting on 47 of 57 attempts. The Wildcats are second in the Pac-12 with a .743 free throw percentage.Â
COLEMAN WOWS IN MAUI
In three games at the Maui Invitational, senior guard
Justin Coleman averaged 20.7 points per game and landed on the All-Tournament team. Coleman's 20.7 points per game at the Maui Invitational are the most by an Arizona player since Khalild Reeves averaged 27 a game in 1993. The previous five trips to Maui, no Arizona player averaged better than Nic Wise's 17.3 points per game in 2009. Coleman was extremely efficient in his time in Maui. He was 20 for 35 from the field (.571) and 14 of 24 from 3-point range (.583). He had nine assists to five turnovers and played 99 of a possible 120 minutes in three games in three days. On the season now, Coleman is averaging 13.3 points per game and is 15 of 30 from 3-point range and 11 of 13 from the free throw line.Â
Arizona's Leading Scorers at the Maui Invitational
2018:
Justin Coleman, 20.7
2014: Stanley Johnson, 15.3
2009: Nic Wise, 17.3
2005: Hassan Adams, 15.0
2000: Michael Wright, 16.3
1997: Miles Simon, 17.0
1993: Khalid Reeves, 27.0
TOP 10 OPPONENTS
Not only did Arizona play three games in three days at the Maui Invitational, they played a pair of Top 10 teams in back-to-back games against then No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 8 Auburn. Arizona hadn't played multiple Top 10 teams in their non-conference portion of the regular season schedule since 2007 when the Wildcats played No. 2 Memphis, No. 4 Kansas and No. 9 Texas A&M. Arizona hadn't played two Top 10 teams in November since 2001 when the Cats beat No. 2 Maryland and No. 5 Florida in back-to-back games at the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic in New York.Â
50 STRAIGHT
Arizona's win over UTEP earlier this month marked 50 straight non-conference home wins for the Wildcats. Arizona's last non-conference home loss came in 2011 to San Diego State when the Aztecs outlasted Arizona 61-57. A little more than a week later, Arizona beat Northern Arizona 53-39 and hasn't looked back since. Arizona beat Clemson, Oakland and Bryant in non-conference play to close out pre-conference play in 2011. The Wildcats went 7-0 in home non-conference games last season, notching wins over Northern Arizona, NCAA Tournament darlings UMBC, CSU Bakersfield, Long Beach State, Alabama, North Dakota State and Connecticut. Following the Georgia Southern game, Arizona will play four more home non-conference games against Utah Valley, Baylor, Montana and UC-Davis.Â
JETER STARTS STRONG
Chase Jeter arrived at Arizona prior to the 2017-18 season after transferring from Duke, but had to sit out the season per NCAA rules. In his first six games as a Wildcat, Jeter has been a presence in the paint and a threat down low. Jeter is averaging 11.5 points per game and 7.2 rebounds a contest with a pair of double-doubles. He's scored in double figures in five of the six games, with an early high of 16 points against Cal Poly his second time out. In the first game of the Maui Invitational, Jeter had a career-high 12 rebounds to go with 10 points. He finished the tournament with a 14-point outing against Auburn. Jeter also played 30 or more minutes twice in Maui against Iowa State and Auburn, marking the first two times in his career (including Duke) he played 30 or more minutes.Â
CHASE IN CHARGE
Not only has
Chase Jeter been productive scoring and rebounding, he's also been Arizona's top charge-getter this season. A play Coach
Sean Miller values as much as any in basketball, Jeter has taken nine charges in six games this season. Jeter took four charges in the finale in Maui against Auburn. Jeter has taken at least one charge in every game this season. Jeter has taken more than half of Arizona's charges this season. As a team, the Wildcats have drawn 16 charges, with Jeter drawing nine.
LEE CRASHES THE GLASS
In five games played this season,
Ira Lee has grabbed six or more rebounds three times. In his 27 games last season as a freshman, Lee grabbed six or more boards just twice all season. Lee had a career-high eight rebounds in the season opener versus Cal Poly. He had seven rebounds the next time out against UTEP and had six rebounds in 17 minutes against Gonzaga. Lee also tied a season-high with seven points against Gonzaga. He also had seven points against UTEP. Lee is averaging 15.8 minutes per game after playing 10.2 minutes per game last year.Â
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