Archie Miller (left) is leaving brother Sean to take over his own program.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats associate head coach Archie Miller is the new head coach at Dayton, hired after a follow-up interview in Cincinnati on Saturday night.

“We wanted to sit down one more time and make sure he felt good about the job and we did, too,” Dayton athletic director Tim Wabler told the Dayton Daily News. “And that took all of about five minutes. ….It was a no brainer. It was obvious — he was our guy.”

(More comments from Wabler on Miller at the link.)

Miller, 32, has been with his brother Sean at Arizona for the past two seasons. Archie was an assistant for Thad Matta at Ohio State before that, so he certainly knows the recruiting territory.

Tweeted Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com: “I said Sean Miller was the best hire of the offseason a couple years ago – and Archie Miller to Dayton could be the best this year.”

Archie takes over a program that has had four consecutive 20-win seasons, advancing to the postseason each time — three NITs and the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when the Flyers reached the second round.

Miller, who was an assistant coach to Herb Sendek at North Carolina State and Arizona State, becomes the ninth member of the Sendek coaching tree to become a head coach. That includes Sean Miller.

As for what Arizona does now, TucsonCitizen.com’s Javier Morales reports that Michael Peck, the head coach at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., is a viable candidate.

Archie Miller, then a point guard at North Carolina State, tries to drive on UConn's Taliek Brown during the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Photo by Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Arizona's Kevin Parrom (left) and ASU's Ty Abbott had to be separated in the second half/Photo by Pat Shannahan, The Arizona Republic

Arizona smacked Arizona State 77-58 on Saturday, but it is a specific smack that everyone will be talking about.

That would be Kevin Parrom‘s intentional foul from behind on ASU’s Ty Abbott, who was going up for a fast-break layup in the second half. Parrom ended up giving Abbott a good wallop across the head, preventing the basket, and Abbott responded after the play by trying to get chest-to-chest with the bigger Parrom.

Parrom responded with a little smile that seemed to say, “You want a piece of me?”

Both players ended up drawing technicals, which fouled out Parrom with 8:35 to play.

“I was disappointed that Kevin Parrom had to leave the game because I really think he made a very competitive play with no intent to hurt anybody,” UA coach Sean Miller said on Fox Sports Arizona’s postgame show.

It was a hard foul, and there is nothing wrong with the officials trying to protect players. No argument here about the call, but the thing that really resonates is Parrom’s and Arizona’s reaction.

UA used the emotion boost for a 9-1 run in the next 91 seconds … and no opposing player even had to step on a Wildcat’s face for Arizona to get tough.

Parrom, in particular, gives Arizona a no-nonsense air that has been lacking. Remember, this kid from the Bronx was once committed to Xavier, where Miller built successful teams around guys just like Parrom.

For sure, it’s going to take a lot more than Ty Abbott to intimidate Kevin Parrom.

*** ASU coach Herb Sendek is 5-0 against Arizona interim head coaches. He is a combined 0-3 against UA’s Lute Olson and Miller.

*** Which team had a worst game than ASU? The Fox Sports Arizona production crew.

FSA came back late from commercial breaks and had technical hiccups, including a painful pregame interview with dueling student beat writers because an earpiece wasn’t working. The live chat on FoxSportsArizona.com, featuring ex-Cat Joseph Blair and ex-Devil Kyle Dodd, was entertaining, however, as both guys were lively and appropriately partisan.

Dodd late in the second half as the Cats extended their lead: “This isn’t fun anymore.”

*** Even during the five-game losing streak to ASU, Arizona did a nice job of stopping the shooters of the Sun Devils. ASU was only 32 of 108 behind the arc during the winning streak, 29.6 percent. Nothing changed Saturday night as UA held the Devils to 31 percent (9 of 29) from 3-point range.

“It is one of the things we have really done well from start to finish this year,” Miller said, noting the exception of the BYU game. “Today, we were more of the same.”

Arizona is allowing opponents to shoot just 30.5 percent from beyond the arc.

*** Anybody seen Eric Boateng?

*** I almost never think a Jamelle Horne 3-point shot is going in, but dropped in three rainbows in the second half and finished with 11 points. Horne, sidelined briefly early because he turned his ankle, was nearly invisible in the first half.

“I thought Jamelle Horne was a big factor in us really pulling away in the second half,” Miller said on Fox Sports Arizona’s postgame show. “For whatever reason, he didn’t get off to a good start — and to his credit; it’s the hardest thing to do as a player — he recharged after halftime.

“I thought his play and just his presence really helped us.”

Horne is now shooting 45.6 percent from the 3-point range (36 of 79).

*** Miller has talked about the Wildcats had a great chance to be much better at the end of the season because he expected his young team to grow up and because seven of the last 11 regular-season games are at home.

That stretch starts Thursday against Stanford.

“Just because it’s a home game doesn’t all of a sudden mean — especially with our team and some of the inconsistencies we’ve experienced — that it’s going to be a win,” Miller said on his radio postgame interview on 1290-AM.

“But, nonetheless, playing at McKale is an advantage. We have to feel that way. We have to continue to work hard and grow. And if we do, we have all the makings of a good finish.”

If Arizona plays with the same intensity on defense as it did Saturday night — and that still has to be considered a big if — the next seven weeks will be very interesting.

Related:
Steve Rivera: This just in: Cats growing up

Arizona Republic photo gallery

Herb Sendek (left) and Sean Miller meet for the first team in the state rivalry/Photos by the Arizona Republic

Arizona State has won five in a row in men’s basketball against Arizona. It probably will be six by late Saturday night.

The difference is defense. The Devils play it. And play it. And play it. They play it like they enjoy it. It’s what they do. They knew it would be expected when they signed on to play for coach Herb Sendek.

That matchup zone defense? Sendek has been using that for four years, so his veterans are masters, having done nothing else during their time in Tempe. Blessed continuity.

Here’s the deal. In ASU’s five-game winning streak over Arizona, the rebounds are exactly even (161). The steals are exactly even (30). The turnovers are nearly identical — 58 for Arizona, 56 for ASU.

The difference is that the Wildcats have hardly been able to buy a bucket, especially when the game has been on the line.

Arizona has made 97 of 265 shots — a miserable 36.6 percent.

Arizona State has made 109 of 247 shots — a respectable 44.1 percent.

That’s the five-game winning streak right there.

No doubt, Arizona State is playing great defense this season. The Sun Devils lead the nation in scoring defense (54.7 points allowed per game), which is also a factor of their often slow pace. But their defensive shooting percentage backs up their stingy reputation. They allow opponents to shoot just 38.6 percent.

RELATED:
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WildAboutAZCats: Lots of hoops items in Saturday’s “Nothing but the Notes” column
Arizona Republic: Plenty of notes in Doug Haller’s blog

It’s really strange to say, but ASU is the team Arizona wants to be when it grows up.

The Wildcats will get there … and then some. I’ll take Arizona’s upside under Sean Miller over the potential of Sendek’s program. But, for now, Miller is still trying to push all the right buttons on his young team.

“It is very, very hard to get our team to compete every play,” he said. “It’s the hardest team I’ve ever been around to get them to do that. The newness of everything … it’s a real challenge.”

It should be no surprise that Arizona is not a great — certainly not a consistent — defensive team.

Senior point guard Nic Wise is short and is learning his fourth defense in four years, including Miller’s man-to-man, which is, of course, 180 degrees different that the zone Arizona used last season and is a different man-to-man flavor that interim Kevin O’Neill used two seasons ago.

Junior forward Jamelle Horne isn’t consistent in any aspect of his game, so there is no reason to think he’d be consistent on defense. Sophomore guard Kyle Fogg is a willing defender but isn’t very strong. The freshmen are, well, freshmen.

Freshmen don’t usually play much defense anyway, because they never had to in high school or when trying to showcase their scoring on the AAU meat market.

“It’s a huge adjustment, and we don’t have the cushion of having a lot of players who have been here to show them the way,” Miller said.

Miller said he and his coaching staff continue to emphasize defense, which was Miller’s calling card at Xavier.

“I would give Arizona State one of many compliments … that’s a problem they don’t have,” Miller said of effort on defense. “They compete hard on every possession and they play with great togetherness.”

And that right there is pretty much why Arizona State is a 10- to 12-point favorite Saturday night. But the Sun Devils better take advantage while they can.

Arizona is going to better defensively a month from now when the teams meet in Tucson (Feb. 21).

A year from now, when the freshmen are sophomores and far more physical and tough they are now, Miller probably won’t be complaining too much about his team’s defense. In the meantime, get ready for a six-game losing streak to the Devils.

“I really believe, and it should be obvious to everyone, that our team has gotten better,” Miller said.

“It hasn’t been by leaps and bounds, but very slowly … and you can make the case right now we’re playing as well as we have.”