Cats Head to Southern California to Take on USC

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Arizona Wildcats will open a three-game road trip Thursday night at USC, before traveling to UCLA and Arizona State.

Coach Sean Miller's team is coming off an 82-71 win over Oregon State and is 5-1 through six conference games. The game will be televised by FS1 with Joe Davis and Doug Gotlieb on the call.

Arizona at USC
Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. (MST)
TV: FS1 (Joe Davis and Doug Gotlieb)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown

OFF THE TOP

Arizona will head to Southern California for its second conference road trip of the season. The Wildcats will play at USC on Thursday night, before heading to UCLA for a Saturday night affair. The Wildcats have won five straight against the Trojans and eight of the past 10.
The Wildcats set season-highs in 3-pointers (13), offensive rebounds (21) and steals (nine) last time out against Oregon State.
Senior guard Justin Coleman scored his 1,000th career point Saturday against Oregon State. He now has 1,012 career points. Coleman also had a career-high five steals against the Beavers.
Arizona's bench has outscored its opponent in eight straight games and has only been outscored five times this season.
Sophomore Brandon Randolph is averaging a team-best 15.4 points per game after averaging 3.7 as a freshman last year. His scoring increase of 11.7 points per game is second-best by a Power 5 Conference player this season.
Freshman guard Brandon Williams is coming off his second-career 20-point game, and is averaging 13.8 points per game in six conference games. He has connected on nine of his last 15 3-pointers. For the season, Williams is second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.1.
The Wildcats lead the Pac-12 in free throw percentage at .752.
Senior Ryan Luther had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Oregon State for his first double-double in an Arizona uniform. The Pittsburgh transfer is averaging 6.4 points per game.
Arizona has 13 or more assists in five of six conference games, after having five such games in 13 non-conference affairs.

IMPROVEMENT FROM 3-POINT RANGE
In 13 non-conference games this season, Arizona shot .326 from 3-point range, connecting on 93 of 285 attempts. The Wildcats had one player -- Justin Coleman -- average better than 40 percent from deep. The senior went 18 of 43 for a .419 mark. However, in six conference games it's been a different story. The Wildcats are shooting .397 from deep, which ranks third in the Pac-12 in conference games only. Senior Dylan Smith has led the way, hitting on 11 of 21 shots from deep, while Brandon Williams is 9 for 19 for a .474 mark. Williams went 0 for 4 in his first conference game and has since connected on 9 of 15. Brandon Randolph, Justin Coleman and Ryan Luther are all averaging at least one 3-pointer per conference game. Last game, against Oregon State, Arizona went 13 of 27 from deep. The 13 makes were the most in a conference game since Arizona went 18 of 36 against Stanford on March 5, 2016. Arizona's season percentage is now at .347, after starting conference play at .326.

CONNECTING AT THE LINE
Arizona has moved to the top of the conference in free throw percentage. The Wildcats are shooting .752 from the line and lead Cal by three percentage points. Like they have done from the 3-point line, the Wildcats have been even better from the free throw line in league games. The Wildcats are 88 for 111 (.793) from the line in six conference games. Brandon Randolph (15-15) and Ira Lee (10-10) have yet to miss, while Brandon Williams is shooting 80 percent, having knocked in 24 of 30 attempts. Arizona has had a better free throw percentage than each of its last five conference opponents. The Wildcats were 15 of 19 from the line last time out against Oregon State.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
An area of the game that has become a calling card for Arizona this season is its defense. The Wildcats are third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense at 66.0 points per game. In conference games only, the Wildcats are second in the league, giving up 67 points per game. Arizona has held its opponent to fewer than 60 points in four of its last nine contests. Furthermore, Arizona is ranked 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency at 93.8 per KenPom.com. The Wildcats have also thrived at forcing turnovers by the opponent. The Cats have a +3.4 turnover margin, which is tops in the league. The next closest is USC at 1.9.

Adjusted Defensive Efficiency Under Sean Miller

Year AdjD National Rank

2018-19 93.8 19th

2017-18 100.4 83rd

2016-17 95.1 29th

2015-16 95.8 29th

2014-15 87.5 3rd

2013-14 86.4 1st

2012-13 93.5 32nd

2011-12 94.9 37th

2010-11 97.8 67th

2009-10 108.4 83rd

*Source: KenPom.com

SMITH AND LUTHER PICK UP THE SLACK
In Arizona's most recent contest against Oregon State, Chase Jeter exited after four minutes after taking a hard fall on his back. In his absence, Dylan Smith and Ryan Luther picked it up. Luther registered his first double-double in an Arizona uniform, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Pittsburgh graduate transfer played 30 minutes off the bench and went 6 for 12 from the floor. Smith, who started at the power forward spot, scored 13 points in a season-high 35 minutes. Smith went 3 for 5 from deep and is 11 for 21 from 3-point range in six conference games. It's a far cry from how Smith opened the season. The redshirt junior from Mobile, Alabama started the season 4 of 18 from 3-point range in the first six games of the year. Additionally, all four 3-pointers came in one game.

BENCH PRODUCTION
Arizona's bench outscored Oregon State's 25-9 on Saturday, continuing a season-long trend. The Wildcats have outscored their opponent's bench in eight straight games. Arizona has trailed in bench points in just five games this season, outscoring the opponent 13 times and tying once. Arizona's bench is averaging 19.2 points per game on the season. Ryan Luther led the charge off the bench last game with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

1,000 AND COUNTING
Senior Justin Coleman notched his 1,000th career point against Oregon State. The Birmingham, Alabama native began his career at Alabama before transferring to Samford and eventually Arizona for his senior season. Coleman had 14 points against the Beavers and now has 1,012 points in his four-year career. Coleman had one of his best games of the season against Oregon State. He played 35 minutes and added five assists, four rebounds and a career-high five steals to his 14 points.

DROPPING DIMES
Arizona's assist production has picked up in conference play, something coach Sean Miller attributes to better shot selection. The Wildcats have at least 13 assists in five of six conference game. Arizona posted 17 assists against Oregon State in its most recent games. In Arizona's 13 non-conference games, the Wildcats had 13 or more assists just five times total. Senior Justin Coleman and freshman Brandon Williams are leading the way for Arizona in conference play. Coleman has 23 assists, while Williams has 21. Dylan Smith, Ryan Luther and Brandon Randolph are all averaging at least an assist per game in the early going of conference play. Randolph has 10 assists in six conference games. He had 11 in 13 non-conference games.

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