Senior center Colin Baxter warms up with QB Nick Foles before the Aug. 21 scrimmage. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona Wildcats senior center Colin Baxter is getting around on one crutch these days, recovering from surgery to repair torn meniscus in his right knee.

He will be with the team for the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State … and he’ll try to avoid going crazy while being on the sideline after making a school-record 48 consecutive starts.

“It’s already frustrating. I want to be out there,” he said after watching Tuesday’s practice.

Baxter, who underwent surgery a couple of weeks ago, said the recovery time is two to three months, and then he hopes to be able to show the pro scouts what he can do, although it’s too early to know exactly how much he’ll be able to work out.

“I couldn’t bend my knee all the way those past two games,” Baxter said. “It was never really that painful, but I could tell it was crunching in there. It needed to get fixed. I couldn’t wait.”

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Courtesy of the Arizona athletic department, here is a holiday video of the men’s basketball team that was played at Wednesday night’s game against Robert Morris.

Clearly, there’s not a Harvey Mason among this group of Cats, although bonus points to Solomon Hill for effort …

Joe Salave'a is happy to be back at Arizona.
TucsonCitizen.com photo

Arizona defensive tackles coach Joe Salave’a is on his first week on the job, and the players quickly are learning something about their new coach.

“I don’t have any fluff about me,” Salave’a said.

“I’m right to the point and I shoot from the hip. That’s why I like Coach (Mike) Stoops. What you see is what you get. If there is a concern, it’s going to be corrected. We’re going to lay it all on the table. Guys have to be responsible enough to respond to that.

“If you’re one of those soft-hearted kind of players, it’s probably not going to work out.”

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Arizona athletic department

Arizona athletic director Greg Bryne, in his weekly Wildcat Wednesday e-mail, disclosed that the Wildcats will be prominent on four outdoor billboards in San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl.

Wrote Bryne:

“Thanks goes out to proud Wildcat Blake Custer, an Arizona Football Letterman, who, in conjunction with Luis Delatorre and Clear Channel Outdoor San Antonio, assisted in the production of the boards that recognize four of our Texas born football student-athletes.”

Arizona has 15 Texans on its roster, including junior quarterback Nick Foles, who is from Austin, about an hour away from San Antonio.

“It will be fun to go back there,” Foles said. “I have a lot of family that hasn’t been able to see me play that hopefully will be able to go to the game. It will be fun for all of us from Texas.”

Here’s a list of the Texans on Arizona’s roster:

QB Cam Allerheiligen
WR Dan Buckner
P Keenyn Crier
WR David Douglas
QB Nick Foles
OG Carter Lees
WR Richard Morrison
RB Greg Nwoko
LB/FB C.J. Parish
DB Derrick Rainey
DE Mohammed Usman
DB Trevin Wade
DL Jowyn Ward
DT Justin Washington
LB R.J. Young

Related: The hiring of Byrne ranks as our top Arizona Wildcats sports story of the year.

Jesse Perry is looking at his first career start tonight for Arizona.
Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona forward Jesse Perry, a junior college transfer, will make his first career start tonight against Robert Morris, taking the place of senior Jamelle Horne.

Perry is coming off a good effort at North Carolina State on Sunday, when he had 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Horne was in foul trouble in that game, playing only seven minutes. A game earlier, Horne managed just two points on 1 of 4 shooting and four rebounds in 19 minutes.

Coach Sean Miller has praised Perry’s effort and rebounding in recent weeks. Perry doesn’t provide the 3-point threat that Horne does, but he is more aggressive on the glass, especially on the offensive end of the court.

Perry is averaging 4.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game. He has 21 offensive rebounds in 12 games.

Horne is averaging 4.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes. He has only 11 offensive rebounds.

This is the second lineup change of the season for Miller, who used Brendon Lavender at shooting guard for one game — vs. Kansas in Las Vegas — in place of Kyle Fogg.

Miller has said recently that no starting job is safe, and this move reinforces that notion and puts the other starters — other than post player Derrick Williams — on notice.

More from the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network:

Pregame notes from Javier Morales of WildAboutAZCats.com

This was Mike Stoops after beating ASU in 2009; Oklahoma State fans remember a different arm gesture in 2003.
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire

It was Oct. 1, 2003, and Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was about a month away from becoming the head coach at Arizona.

The Sooners were undefeated, ranked No. 1, and had payback on their minds against Oklahoma State, which had upset its state rival in the Bedlam Series two years in a row. The Cowboys’ offensive coordinator was Mike Gundy, who would become OSU’s head coach a year later when Les Miles left for LSU.

Seven years later, Stoops and Gundy match football wits again, bringing their teams to San Antonio for the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl.

But those in Oklahoma can’t forget what happened on Oct. 1, 2003 … even if Stoops says he doesn’t remember.

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Arizona senior defensive end Brooks Reed was selected first-team All-Pac-10 this season.
Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

KGUN-TV sports reporter Jake Knapp and I double-teamed Arizona senior defensive end Brooks Reed after a recent practice.

Reed was the last player off the field, having done some up-downs as punishment for being late to a team meeting that day. He blamed a faulty alarm clock.

Anyway, after catching his breath, Reed — who has teamed with senior Ricky Elmore to form the best pair of pass-rushing ends in the Pac-10 — answered our questions about the Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl matchup against Oklahoma State and other things.

Here is some of what he said:

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Arizona gets a solid road victory against North Carolina State, winning 72-62 and doing a better job on the glass in the second half. The Wildcats improve to 10-2. N.C. State drops to 6-4.

“It’s big,” Arizona’s Derrick Williams said of the victory on the postgame interview on Fox Sports Net. “They’re a great team. … Coming in here and getting the win is great.”

Williams had a team-high 22 points, hitting 10 of 11 shots from the free throw line.

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Arizona trying to close it out now. The Wildcats lead 64-56 with 2:47 to play. Would be biggest road win since a 77-58 victory at Arizona State on Jan. 23.

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Jesse Perry seems to have a nose for the rebound that Jamelle Horne has yet to develop.

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Arizona’s defense keys its offense. The Cats grab a defensive rebound, push the ball up court and then finish with a running alley-oop pass from MoMo Jones to Derrick Williams for a Play-of-the-day-contending dunk. Williams reaches high and arches his back to grab the ball and throw it down.

On the next series, the Cats come up with a steal and an easy fast-break bucket for a 58-50 lead with 8:48 to play.

This team isn’t overly talented in the half-court game because its doesn’t have guys who can consistently beat defenders off the dribble. If the Wildcats are going to do something close to great this season, it’s going to have to start on defense.

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Fox Sports Net’s Tim Brando just read a promo for FoxSportsArizona.com, which I have contributed to for the past several months. Problem was, my name was misspelled on the graphic (Jimeno? … Really?), and then Brando went on to butcher the pronunciation.

There goes my big moment …

Anyway, the game goes on and Arizona leads 48-42 with 11:59 left.

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Arizona softball legend Jennie Finch on Twitter: “Cheering on the Cats & fellow LMHS (my HS too!) Alum & current Wildcat D. Williams #23!!!”

Finch and Derrick Williams are each graduates of La Mirada (Calif.) High School. Should we send a big thank you card to the school?

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Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach might resurface at Maryland. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats football fans should keep an eye on a head coaching situation taking place about 2,300 miles away.

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, 63, has reportedly agreed to a contract buyout, with former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach emerging as a leading candidate.

Leach has ties to three Arizona offensive coaches — offensive line coach and co-coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh, running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell and outside receivers coach Dave Nichol.

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Kish

There was no news release or grand declaration. Arizona coach Mike Stoops just spilled out the news amid a few minutes of questions and answers with the media after Friday’s practice.

With co-defensive coordinator Greg Brown moving on to Colorado, the other co-defensive coordinator, Tim Kish, has had a change in status.

“Tim will be the defensive coordinator,” Stoops said, talking about the Alamo Bowl matchup against Oklahoma State on Dec. 29, “and will be promoted to the full-time coordinator.”

Kish, 56, also coaches the linebackers and is one of the team’s best recruiters. He is the only assistant left who has been with Stoops for his entire time at Arizona, joining the staff in December of 2003. Defensive line coach Mike Tuiasosopo was also an original member of Stoops’ coaching staff, but he also left earlier this month for Colorado.

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