USC forward Nikola Vucevic claims the Trojans lost Saturday to Arizona because they played like the opposite sex (US Presswire photo/Kirby Lee)

More random thoughts while wondering when that huge mug shot of Alex Jacobson will be added to those of Arizona coach Sean Miller and the rest of the Wildcats in the Zona Zoo at McKale Center. …

>> Comments by USC post player Nikola Vucevic suggesting that the Trojans lost 82-73 because they “played like women” were made at least 10 minutes after a cool down period following the game. He had enough time to think clearly enough that such a comment was unnecessary. “I felt like we played like women,” Vucevic told reporters. “We didn’t play hard at all. Every single one of us just played like women.” Is this 2011 or 1971? Comments like that are so outdated and unwarranted in this day and age, especially when women’s basketball is covered more by the national media than ever before. Wonder how much grief Vucevic will get from USC women’s coach Michael Cooper and some of the Trojans’ women’s basketball players? Maybe not much. After all, it was Cooper, who a few minutes after beating UCLA — not losing to the Bruins — last year told the media: “My opening statement is [expletive] UCLA.” Classy. USC athletic director Pat Haden must make a stand about Vucevic’s comment, much like Arizona should expect the same from Greg Byrne if one of UA’s athletes made a similar statement. …

>> Not being in the hallway interviewing USC coach Kevin O’Neill myself, I don’t know the full extent of how he reacted to one of his former players — Jamelle Horne — pointing at him and smiling in the first half after making an acrobatic shot while getting fouled. But according to reports, O’Neill said he did not see Horne point at him and then finished by saying, “I’m still waiting for his NBA career to take off.” Both Horne’s action and O’Neill’s comments were uncalled for Saturday. It’s no secret they did not get along when Horne was a freshman and O’Neill was the interim coach. Horne and his parents were not keen on the idea of O’Neill becoming the full-time coach at Arizona and they contemplated a transfer if that happened. Horne, now a senior, supposedly took issue with how he played sparingly under O’Neill. Also, O’Neill is not one to hold back his comments about players in practice. …

>> UCLA and USC mostly utilized man-to-man defenses against Arizona, which resulted in Lamont “MoMo” Jones having “the best weekend of his (UA) career,” Miller said in the KCUB (1290-AM) postgame radio show. Jones, who consistently took his defender off the dribble, scored 34 points in the sweep behind a 12 for 17 shooting performance from the field. He also had five assists with three turnovers and five rebounds. Miller and freshman backup Jordin Mayes were impressive as a point guard tandem. “Our point guards combined for25 points, three assists, and only one turnover (against USC),” Miller said. “That’s really great for us. … It’s tough to expect a freshman to play point guard, but Jordin has been working hard in practice, and he’s very coachable. His high school program really helped him bridge the gap, and now he is light years ahead of how he was in November and December. Anyone can see that he is really hitting his stride right now. For Momo, I think this was his best weekend this season. He was aggressive and took care of the ball.” The most important element for a team with postseason aspirations is its backcourt play overall. The performance of Jones and Fogg (eight points and six assists against the Trojans) are finally providing some hope for Miller in that regard. …

>> Arizona did not exactly perform like Yankees stopper Mariano Rivera against UCLA and USC. The Wildcats’ victories this weekend were the equivalent of winning by four runs but after allowing the bases to become loaded. The UA still won by 11 against UCLA and nine against USC but Miller shudders to think if Arizona was on the road clinging to a 5-6 point lead in the waning minutes. “There was a little bit of déjà vu from the UCLA game tonight,” Miller said. “For our guys, when we’re up double digits, we have to protect the ball, and play smarter defense. USC had a 10-0 run in the last 2:30, which also happened against UCLA. We talked about it after that game, but obviously we didn’t correct that tonight. We have to finish strong, and we can’t let this keep happening. It’ll be even worse if we’re up by five on the road, and our opponent goes on a run like this. We need to get better at protecting the lead at the end of the game.” Credit UCLA and USC for also not packing it in, but the mental lapse of the Wildcats is a warranted cause for concern. Arizona does not want its coach to say in February that “we can’t finish it off,” like Miller did Saturday. …

>> Miller acknowledged during the postgame press conference that “when February comes, teams start to fracture.” How will Arizona handle being in a Pac-10 title race? The Wildcats have not been in a close race for the conference title since they won it in 2004-05 with a 15-3 record, one game better than Washington. Most of the current Wildcats were in middle school at the time. With its 7-2 record in the first half of the Pac-10 season, the Wildcats will be favored to win against everyone except perhaps Cal in Berkeley next week, Washington at home and UCLA in Pauley Pavilion. So, at worst, the Wildcats should be expected to finish 13-5 in the Pac-10. How will they hold up to those expectations? …

>> Derrick Williams scored 20 points, which included a 3-for-3 performance from three-point range, despite a bandaged hand that protected his sprained pinkie. Williams is now 24 of 34 from three-point range, an astounding 70.6 percent. Gary Clark of Wake Forest led the nation before Saturday shooting 64.8 percent from three-point range (35 of 54). NAU’s Cameron Jones is next at 57.9 percent (22 of 38). In order to qualify, a player must participate in 75 percent of his team’s games and attempt at least two three-pointers a game. Williams has played in all 22 games, but he is 10 attempts shy of qualifying for the national leader statistical category. …

>> And finally, Miller ended his press conference Saturday by essentially saying that when he grew up in Pittsburgh he always had the successful Steelers to count on amid the dreary, cold weather. “All you got is the Steelers,” he said with a smile. The Steelers play Green Bay next week in Super Bowl XLV and Miller will be glued to the tube. One of Miller’s assistants, James Whitford, hails from Cheesehead Country — Madison, Wis. Wonder if a friendly wager is in the works? …

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 11:34 pm and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Derrick Williams, Jamelle Horne, James Whitford, Kevin O'Neill, Lamont "MoMo" Jones, Sean Miller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.