Tucson Citizen.com

Steve Rivera Ventures

Wise to the rescue again in UA’s victory over Cal

by on Jan. 31, 2010, under Sports

Wise mug

Mr. Big Shot.

That’s Arizona senior Nic Wise.

There have been a few in Arizona’s recent past. Salim Stoudamire? Clutch.

Jason Gardner? As tough as they come and he was huge in late-game situations. Damon Stoudamire? I’d take him anytime. Mike Bibby? The list continues.

And it continues with Wise, who has had an unbelievable season in late-game situations. For a season’s entirety, I’d have to think he could have done better (pointswise, at least) but it’s about finding the winning situation and taking advantage of it. So, my evaluation may have been a bit premature. Wise continues to amaze as he did against visiting California on Sunday afternoon in UA’s 76-72 victory at McKale Center.

When he drove the lane and scored (getting fouled in the process) against Cal’s Jerome Randle, he gave UA a 74-72 lead and UA never trailed again.

“We practice that every day,’’ said Wise, who is averaging 16 points per game. “They look for me to take that shot. And I wouldn’t want to put that burden on somebody else.’’

Burden? Heck, it’s become second nature. Ask North Carolina State about it. He hit the driving lay up to win that one. He did the same against Lipscomb.

Wise, Man!

“He’s just really good,’’ said Cal coach Mike Montgomery. “He’s the best guy we’ve played so far.’’

He was clutch on Sunday, giving UA the eventual game winner again. And he had a complete game, going 8 for 16 from the floor. He went 9 for 9 from the free throw line. He also had three steals.

“One of the things Nic really has in his favor is experience,’’ said UA coach Sean Miller. “He’s the heart and soul of our team. In November and December we weren’t able to win unless we played great.’’

Miller said UA is now at a point where UA can win without him playing great. On Saturday, Wise was great, scoring a career-high-tying 30 points in a near must-win situation.

“Nic has been fantastic from start to finish,’’ Miller said of Wise’s season. “Believe me, I can’t explain to you where we’d be without him, not only in games but in practice. Having him here has allowed some of our other players to develop. Some of the improvement that’s been made is a credit to Nic’s leadership.’’

More coverage from the TucsonCitizen.com sports network:

Anthony Gimino: So, can we consider Derrick Williams a top 150 freshman now?

Scott Terrell: Nerve Rack: Big win happily returns Arizona fans to worrying ways

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • Dorie Pickinpaugh

    We were enjoying the UA/Cal  game when Fox Sports interrupted with 4 minutes left in the game and went to the Clemson game. We were understandably torqued! What a lousy thing for them to do!!

  • wilburrocks

    Nic’s contribution are way beyond points scored. He is a very complete player, not selfish and also not afraid to shoot the ball. It’s great to see Nic having a great year. He follows a long line of great point guards but since Kerr is probably the most important to the program as we’d be no where close to this good without him

  • Barrel Cactus

    Nice game! Keep the winning streak going Wildcats!

  • Carolyn Classen

    Steve, in your blog title you must mean “Wise to the rescue (not recue?). Glad the Cats won.

    • Anthony Gimino

      Thanks, Carolyn… it’s fixed.

  • http://tucsoncitizen.com Andy Morales

    I think he learned his lesson from the UNLV game where he threw up a wild 3 pointer rather than taking it to the basket.
     
     

  • http://steveriveraventures.com steve rivera

    Thanks Carolyn. And I agree with all of you. Nic has done a very good job this year. What struck me today as he spoke to the media how improved he is when talking to the group. He used to be so soft spoken and full of one word answers. He’s more polished on and off the court. It’s good to see.

  • Pingback: Nerve Rack: Cats’ big win happily returns Arizona fans to worrying ways - UAsports.net

  • Bruce Lerner

    Nic is coming off his best game of the season.  He has played many outstanding games this season.  However, I still question the media asking him questions on if he was glad he stayed vs. left during this last  off season. He was not and still is not on any NBA radars.  Yes, he still had the ability to play basketabll overseas; however, how many college players leave a season early to play in Europe unless their grades are an issue?  

  • Onward&Upward!

    This is going to sound  crazy but I think ASU’s 4 game win streak helped Arizona to it’s 4 game win streak.  Wise, Horne and Fogg saw what leadership Glasser, Kuksiks and Abbott were providing that team from Tempe and decided it could mean the difference between winning and losing the rest of the way.  Leadership is an interesting thing. 

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