Jordin Mayes (middle) helps defend a drive to the hoop by Harvard’s Siyani Chambers. Photo by Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

SALT LAKE CITY — Arizona Wildcats backup guard Jordin Mayes has scored at least eight points in a game only four times this season. Three of those occasions have occurred in March.

“Man, his favorite month is March,” said Arizona senior Kevin Parrom.

“He plays in March. I don’t know what happened at the beginning of the year, but I know Mayes is going to come through in March.”

Mayes scored eight points in Arizona’s 74-51 victory against Harvard on Saturday, hitting a 3-pointer and twice scoring on drives to the basket. He played 19 minutes — his fourth-highest total of the season — needed more after Parrom fouled out with 12:48 to play.

Mayes also had three assists, two on lob passes to guard Mark Lyons.

“He’s stepped up in the last month,” coach Sean Miller said of Mayes. “But today he played a really strong game on offense and defense.”

MAKING HISTORY
Arizona senior guard Mark Lyons, as an immediate-eligible graduate transfer from Xavier, is the first player in NCAA Tournament to play in back-to-back Sweet 16s for different schools.

Lyons scored 50 points in two tournament games in Salt Lake City, saying there is an advantage to being out of conference play.

“It’s tough when you go against teams a couple of times and they are keying on you, and they know your team’s philosophies because they’ve played against you so many time. Now, it’s all new faces. People scout, but they don’t know our plays that well and I can get to the spots I want to.”

GETTING CHIPPY
Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers ran into Kevin Parrom’s elbow early in the second half and chipped a front tooth.

Chambers was pushing the ball past midcourt and was trying to pass to Christian Webster. Parrom was trying to make a play on the ball … and then the players collided.

“I tried to throw it to him, went up in the air, came down and before I knew it my tooth was out,” Chamber said.

Officials looked at replays to determine if there was flagrant foul, but there was no foul at all. It was just incidental contact.

“They always go to the monitor when it deals with me,” Parrom said. “I asked him if he was doing OK. It was nothing intentional. I was just trying to jump up and get the pass.”

Parrom sustained a minor cut to his elbow on the play.

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
Miller’s postseason bonus jumped from $25,000 to $75,000 by reaching the Sweet 16. Here’s his potential bonus moving forward: $125,000 for advancing to the Elite Eight; $300,000 for advancing to the Final Four; $675,000 for winning the national championship.

THEY SAID IT
– “We came into this tournament, cornered, hungry and ready to do something.” — Arizona coach Sean Miller.

– “Film didn’t give them as much credit as they deserved. They were tremendous on defense, their rotations, their size. Their length was a problem tonight. They played a great game and they played great defense.” — Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers, on Arizona.

CHANGING HIS TUNE
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale picked Belmont to upset Arizona on Thursday, but now he’s singing the praises of the Cats and the Pac-12:

Pac-12 looking good again. Arizona and Oregon both rolling. Stock up, baby! Where is that east coast bias?

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 24, 2013

Jordin Mayes reacts after making a 3-pointer against Colorado at the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images

It’s Mayes in March.

That’s a good thing for Jordin Mayes and the Arizona Wildcats, as the junior guard’s recent play is reminiscent of the finest slice of his college career, which came in March 2011.

He made 10 consecutive 3-point shots in that happy month, starting in the Pac-10 tournament and running through the Sweet 16 upset of Duke. One round earlier, he sweetly stroked in 4 of 4 shots from behind the arc against Texas — and the Cats needed every one of them in a 70-69 victory.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I just like this time of year.”

Mayes has, once again, become an important reserve for Arizona after spending most of the season in a crater of lost confidence, a shooter reluctant to shoot, and shooting off target when he did.

He didn’t score as the Cats lost to UCLA in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, but his previous three games — in which he scored 22 points after the calendar turned to March signaled that coach Sean Miller could trust him again.

“He’s like a new guy to me when I see him,” said senior guard Kevin Parrom.

“It looks like the Mayes we had at that Texas game. It all starts with confidence. He got down on himself, but now he’s back.”

The sixth-seeded Cats will see how much March magic he has left when they take on 11th-seeded Belmont in their opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday from Salt Lake City (4:20 p.m. PT).

The Wildcats don’t need a lot out of Mayes, but on a team with little margin of error, they need all the production he can squeeze out of eight to 10 minutes in a game, either as a backup to point guard Mark Lyons or playing alongside him at shooting guard.

“When you think about conference and postseason tournaments, generally, there are guys on a team who come off the bench or players who aren’t the marquee matchup in the beginning of the game that just play really well,” Miller said.

“They can do it by shooting the ball really well. A couple of years ago against Texas, Jordin went 4-4 from three as a freshman. If you think how close that game was, it wasn’t Derrick Williams or the starting five that made the biggest difference. It was players like Jordin who came off the bench and were doing their job with confidence.

“He is one of many players right now that is playing their best basketball this season.”

Mayes said his father, Darryel Mayes — who played at El Camino Junior College in California and at UNLV — gave him sound technical advice. Get your elbow in. More fingertips on the ball. UA coaches worked with him on his arc.

And you know how shooting is. A few go in … and then a few more go in … and then you’re good.

“The sky’s the limit when my shot is falling,” he said. “It opens up my game and it opens up the game for other players as well.”

Mayes’ sophomore season never took flight, even though he started 16 times because of an unsettled point guard position. An offseason foot injury robbed him of valuable conditioning and practice time.

He averaged 4.7 points last season and shot 29.0 percent from 3-point range. As a freshman, he averaged 4.9 points and hit 45.3 percent from behind the arc.

Mayes’ numbers this season barely reach the radar — 2.7 points per game and 29.8 percent 3-point shooting. Miller tried to give his role away to freshman guard Gabe York a couple of times, but Mayes has gotten hot — at least a little — at the right time.

He says his defense has been solid all season, but it’s his 3-point shooting that everybody is watching. Can he hit a shot or two — or four — that could be the difference in a tournament game?

Arizona would love for it to be Texas all over again.

“I am better than I was in my freshman year,” Mayes said.

“Right now, I am playing good basketball and being productive, and early in the season, I wasn’t being productive.”

It wasn’t yet March.

The Arizona Wildcats basketball team wrapped up its exhibition trip to the Bahamas on Monday with another blowout victory, and coach Sean Miller declaring the entire experience a success.

The most important thing was not the result of the two games but the 10 practices leading up to the trip, getting a jump-start on preseason teaching and incorporating five key new players into the rotation — four freshmen and senior point guard transfer Mark Lyons.

“There is no question, if we had to do it all over again, we’d do it the exact same way,” Miller said in a video interview posted by ArizonaWildcats.com.

“I know our team has gotten better. I know individually our guys have a better grasp of what we doing, especially the newcomers.”

Lyons has a team-high 19 points Monday as Arizona defeated the Bahamas All-Stars 99-57. The Wildcats beat another all-star team, the Real Deal Shockers, 136-66 on Saturday.

Senior wing Kevin Parrom scored 21 points on Saturday and 16 on Monday. Miller said the extra practices and exhibition games were particularly helpful for Parrom and junior guard Jordin Mayes, both of whom were limited last season by injuries.

Miller said this trip allowed both players to “to get their feet on the ground.”

Here are quick postgame interviews from ArizonaWildcats.com with junior college transfer forward Matt Korcheck and freshman 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski.

Great game today. We got the W again today! We are very talented and we should get even better as the year goes on. The sky is the limit !!!

— Kevin Parrom (@KevinParrom3) August 14, 2012

Arizona Wildcats sophomore Jordin Mayes didn’t score against UCLA. He missed six shots.

But he was more than a pointless point guard as he went 25 minutes as the emergency starter for suspended Josiah Turner — about three times the minutes he had played in about five weeks since suffering a stress reaction in his left foot.

With no other true point guard on the roster, that was a big 25 minutes in Arizona’s 66-58 victory in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.

“Really valuable,” assistant coach James Whitford said on the KCUB (1290-AM) postgame show.

“The thing about Jordin Mayes that a lot of people don’t realize is that when he leaves here and goes back to hotel, he has the boot back because he’s still dealing with the foot.

“He doesn’t have his conditioning base. He’s only running around when he gets on the court and plays. That’s really hard. Basketball is a rhythm game, and he doesn’t have his rhythm right now.”

Mayes has two assists, two steals, two rebounds and two turnovers.

“He had some shots that didn’t fall that probably will as he gets his conditioning back, but he didn’t let that effect the rest of his game,” Whitford said.

“The reality is, if he doesn’t play tonight, we don’t win.”

Head coach Sean Miller said last week that Mayes wasn’t likely to jump back into his pre-injury playing time of about 17 minutes per game. Sure enough, Mayes played just six minutes in the loss at Arizona State on Sunday.

Arizona needs Jordin Mayes to provide more solid minutes at point guard on Friday night. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Now, one of the big questions for Friday night’s semifinal matchup vs. Oregon State is how does Mayes’ foot and conditioning hold up when playing on consecutive days with heavier-than-expected minutes.

Turner isn’t with the team, so Mayes and freshman shooting guard Nick Johnson will divvy up the point guard responsibilities as they try to solve the Beavers’ changing defenses — from man-to-man to various zones, including a 1-3-1.

As for Turner, Miller said in his postgame press conference:

“Well, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed for Josiah, and hopefully this latest incident or lesson will really serve him well moving forward. But he’s one of us. He’s part of our program. Everybody here likes him an awful lot.

“Good people sometimes can make a bad decision or bad decisions, and we’re hoping that this is a lesson learned on his behalf.”

Jordin Mayes is averaging 5.5 points per game. Photo by Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The return of Arizona Wildcats point guard Jordin Mayes is still uncertain, but it shouldn’t be much longer now.

Mayes, who has missed five games because of a stress reaction in his right foot, is experiencing less pain than he was last week and was “almost pain free” in a Monday workout, coach Sean Miller said on his weekly radio show on KCUB (1290-AM).

“But it’s a delicate balance,” Miller said.

“The one thing we don’t want to do is put Jordin at more risk than we need to. Although he can play this weekend, what’s best for him, I don’t know.”

Arizona plays host to USC on Thursday night and then takes on UCLA in its home finale on Saturday at noon. The Wildcats end the regular season at Arizona State on March 4.

If Mayes doesn’t play this week, Miller said he would “become very, very optimistic” of Mayes being ready to play at ASU.

“The good news, if there is good news in this, is that I’m confident he will return to our team this year,” Miller said.

“He might not play on Thursday. Maybe he plays some on Saturday. That will completely depend on Jordin and what he’s telling us about his improvement.”

Mayes, who started 12 games, had settled into a backup role behind Josiah Turner at the time of his injury. He is averaging 5.5 points and 18.2 minutes per game. Without Mayes and forward Kevin Parrom (who suffered a season-ending foot injury on Jan. 28), Miller has used a seven-man rotation.

The coach said after a 79-70 loss at Washington on Saturday that his team wore down at the end of the game, which is one reason why he gave the players the day off on Monday — no practice, no film study.

* * *

Arizona’s split on the Washington road trip was a wash; the Wildcats dropped only one spot — to No. 67 — in the NCAA RPI. Arizona’s RPI numbers doesn’t figure to move much if Arizona wins its final three regular-season games because the opponents are so poorly rated.

USC is 238th in the RPI, UCLA is 134th and Arizona State is No. 236.

A loss, though, would be devastating to UA’s NCAA Tournament at-large hopes.

The Wildcats are projected as a 12th seed in ESPN.com’s bracket posted Monday morning.

* * *

Former Arizona guard Gilbert Arenas, who has avoided the spotlight for several months, sat down for a long interview with SI.com. Arenas, who recently had a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, covers a lot of ground in part one of the Q&A. … The Wildcats are back up to No. 2 in the nation in 3-point field goal defense (27.2 percent, 137 of 503). … Senior guard Kyle Fogg has 179 3-pointers, good for eighth place on the UA career list. He has a chance to get to No. 4, held by Jason Terry (193). Damon Stoudamire is at No. 3 with 272.

Jordin Mayes is averaging 5.5 points this season. Photo by Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats point guard Jordin Mayes, suffering from a stress reaction in his right foot, could optimistically return next week, coach Sean Miller said Tuesday.

Miller basically ruled out Mayes from this week’s home games vs. Colorado and Utah, saying an appearance from Mayes is “probably improbable.” After that, who knows?

Could be next week. Could be as late as the Pac-12 tournament next month.

“It’s a matter of when his pain subsides, and we anticipate it will,” Miller said.

“As it subsides, he will be cleared to practice, and he’s able to practice and handle the discomfort that he has, then we’ll clear him for games.”

Mayes suffered the injury at Cal last Thursday, and it was initially feared that he had had sustained a broken bone in the foot. He suffered the same injury last summer and had a screw inserted into his right foot.

“The good news is that his surgery and everything that happened previously is completely intact,” Miller said.

“Jordin is relieved that his foot isn’t broken. When you go through what he did, you always think worst-case scenario. We all did, because it’s the same foot and roughly the same area. …

“He already feels a little bit better, which is a good sign. We’re hoping that a week from today, or five days from now, he feels significantly better. … He doesn’t have any swelling at this point, which is a great sign.”

Mayes, a sophomore, is averaging 5.5 points and 18.2 minutes per game. He is one of the team’s best 3-point shooters, although recent struggles dragged his percentage down to 31.3 (20 of 64).

Without Mayes, freshman shooting guard Nick Johnson takes over backup minutes behind starting freshman Josiah Turner.

“We’ve always played Nick, from the first day of practice, as our third point,” Miller said.

“He knows our system and that is really to his credit. It’s one of the many things that Nick Johnson brings to the table. It’s difficult for a freshman to learn two positions, and we’ve asked him to do that since day one.

“It’s important to have someone who can run our system and play the game how we want it played, and Nick can do that.”

Senior shooting guard Kyle Fogg is the emergency point guard, although his lack of practice time at the position means the offense would be limited.

“We wouldn’t be able to run every play that we run,” Miller said. “We’d be kind of out there playing at that point.”

Miller went with a seven-man rotation at Stanford on Saturday, which could very well be the case again this week, especially in a close game. Big man Kryry Natyazhko, who started the first six games, is now buried on the depth chart, with freshman Angelo Chol being the first post player off the bench.

If his team is in foul trouble, Miller said he might turn to a pair of walk-ons — guard Dondre Wise and wing Max Wiepking — to provide a few solid minutes.

Jordin Mayes, averaging 5.5 points this season, might be done for the year. Photo by Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats’ best basketball victory of the season came with distressing injury news.

Coach Sean Miller said after a 78-74 win at Cal on Thursday night — ending the Bears’ 17-game winning streak at Haas Pavilion — that sophomore point guard Jordin Mayes might have suffered a broken right foot.

Miller told reporters after the game that Mayes will undergo X-rays on Friday.

“We’ll take the win and we’ll cross our fingers and hope Jordin is OK,” Miller said in his postgame interview on 1290-AM.

Mayes — who broke the same foot over the summer, setting back his preseason conditioning — hasn’t been playing great and shooting to his standards, but he’s the only true point guard on the roster other than starter Josiah Turner.

And it’s potentially devastating news after the loss of forward Kevin Parrom last Saturday, also to a broken bone in his right foot.

Without Parrom and Mayes, the Wildcats’ bench basically consists of guard Brendon Lavender and center Angelo Chol. Freshman shooting guard Nick Johnson figures to have to handle backup point guard minutes.

Chol on Thursday had what Miller called his best game — eight points, four rebounds and two blocks in 16 minutes. He knew he was going to see a bigger role because of Parrom’s injury.

If Chol plays like he did Thursday night, then Arizona can more often go with a bigger lineup that features Jesse Perry at power forward and Solomon Hill at small forward.

“Angelo caught a couple passes and dunked the ball to really show what a talented player he is,” Miller said.

“It was great to see. There is not a kid that deserves to play well more than Angelo. He is our hardest worker, and he’s going to have this opportunity here over the next four to six weeks to have an increased role. Hopefully, he will respond like he did tonight.”

Miller has shown an aversion to playing big man Kyryl Natyazhko — he played three minutes at Cal — but that might have to be a bigger option. Then there’s 7-footer Alex Jacobson, who has played five minutes in 10 conference games.

And that’s it for the scholarship players.

Mayes, known for his shooting touch, definitely has been struggling, but he did score six points in 13 minutes against Cal. He left the game with 14:10 to go and did not return.

He entered the game averaging 3.2 points through the first half of conference play, making 10 of 37 shots from the field (27.0 percent) and only 3 of 19 from 3-point range (15.8 percent).

Mayes shot 45.3 percent (39 of 86) from behind the arc last season, including going 7 of 7 in Arizona’s first two NCAA Tournament games.

Parrom, who did not travel with the team, tweeted constantly during the game Thursday night and wrapped up his social media evening around midnight with the news that he was set for surgery Friday morning.

Arizona (15-8 overall, 6-4 Pac-12) will play at Stanford (16-6, 6-4) on Saturday.

Jordin Mayes drives to the basket against Duke's Kyrie Irving in the NCAA Sweet 16. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The one thing anyone can say about Arizona Wildcats sophomore guard Jordin Mayes is that he has a sweet shot.

And yet …

“He gets no sugar,” coach Sean Miller said.

You probably know what he means by that, and it’s ironic that Mayes’ big night against Duquesne — 19 points in a 67-59 victory at McKale Center on Wednesday night — came on a day in which Arizona was being celebrated for having the nation’s top-rated recruiting class.

Mayes wasn’t one of those headline-making recruits, coming in last season with another middlin’ prospect — junior college power forward Jesse Perry — who has worked out pretty well. The top recruit in that class — guard Daniel Bejarano — already transferred out to Colorado State. Go figure.

“He came here, and no one asked me about him. He just did his job,” Miller said of Mayes, who averaged 4.9 points last season as a backup to MoMo Jones.

“Year 1 became Year 2, still no sugar.”

All that recruiting love and buzz at point guard went to freshman Josiah Turner, the highest-ranked of Arizona’s four recruits. Turner started both exhibitions and the season opener vs. Valparaiso, but he was late for a shootaround Wednesday, so he didn’t start.

Mayes did for the first time in his career.

“Jordin Mayes was the storyline of the game,” Miller said. “If he doesn’t shoot the ball the way he does, and play the way he does under pressure, I don’t know if he win.”

For sure, Mayes fueled the Wildcats in the key stretch of the game — a 3-pointer with 5:34 to play, 2 of 3 free throws with 5:08 to go and another 3-pointer with 4:34 left.

Just like that, Arizona’s lead went from one point to nine points.

“It’s one of the high-point games in my career,” Mayes said. “I have to thank my teammates for getting me involved and just finding me.”

Mayes had 14 points in the second half; he finished with 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

Miller says the experience Mayes gained last season, when he averaged 14 minutes, has carried over to this season, even if his progress was interrupted this summer by a broken foot that cost him about three months of conditioning.

But here’s the carryover. He was, as you might recall, on fire in the NCAA Tournament, including going 4 of 4 from the 3-point line vs. Texas.

Going back eight games, Mayes is shooting 64 percent from 3-point land (16 of 25).

That deserves a lot of a sugar.

“Coach keeps talking to me, staying in my ear, hyping me up to play better and better every game,” Mayes said.

Miller wasn’t ready to commit to any change in the starting lineup at point guard, saying that much will be determined in practice before Sunday’s game against Ball State. Mayes and Turner played some at the same time Wednesday night, with the freshman at the point and Mayes as the shooting guard.

“We’re going to compete regardless of who is starting,” Mayes said. “We know that he came in with a name, but in college there are a lot of great players.”

Kyryl Natyazhko celebrates after Arizona's win over Texas in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.

It doesn’t have to be decided this week, or next month, but Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller is going to have to make some decisions at center and point guard.

Those are the positions that are most up in the air as the Cats approach their exhibition opener Thursday night against Seattle Pacific. Somebody has to be out there for the opening tip, although Miller said that might not mean much at this point.

Junior Kyryl Natyazhko and freshman Sidiki Johnson are competing at center, which is the team’s biggest question mark.

“We’re not at that point where one player is a clear-cut leader,” Miller said.

“Both will get heavy minutes at that position. I would like to think that between the two of them, they can grow at that position and make us successful. Who is going to start, who is going to play more, it’s too early to tell and it’s not clear cut.”

Freshman Angelo Chol might eventually be able to help out with some minutes at the 5, although Miller has Chol focusing on the power forward position for now, so that will be a developing situation.

“Angelo is dynamic blocking shots and he’s long and quick,” Miller said.

“But it’s tough for a freshman to play more than one position. It’s hard enough to get them acclimated to college basketball. You don’t want those guys out there just thinking and not being able to play hard.

“Especially with Angelo, we want to get him really good at the 4 position first and really make him feel as comfortable as we can. I can see during the course of the season where we could certainly contribute at that 5 late in game or as he develops.”

Miller, perhaps hoping that his true big men can fill 40 good minutes at center, did not indicate Tuesday that senior power forward Jesse Perry could slide into the center spot, although that could be an option down the road.

Natyazhko wasn’t an offensive threat last season — averaging 1.9 points per game — but he did provide valuable minutes in the final month of the season, setting better screens and being stronger on defense. Johnson, in the Red-Blue Game, showed some good low-post moves en route to scoring 18 points on 7 of 7 shooting.

“Sidiki has been aggressive. He was able to finish down there,” said junior forward Solomon Hill. “Kyryl is more of an outside guy.”

As for point guard, freshman Josiah Turner and sophomore Jordin Mayes will carve up the minutes, but how that split tilts is to be determined. Mayes can also play some shooting guard, which could become a factor if Arizona uses a three-guard lineup with starting 2-guard Kyle Fogg moving to the wing.

“I really believe in the next couple of weeks that will clear up,” Miller said of the point guard position.

Mayes, who underwent foot surgery in July, is still catching up on his conditioning, Miller said.

“When you miss 10, 12 weeks, it really puts you behind,” Miller said. “He is a month away from being in the best physical shape he can be in.”

Senior Brendon Lavender and freshman Nick Johnson could help at point guard if Turner or Mayes is injured or is in foul trouble.

While Miller sorts out the other two positions, Fogg, Hill and Perry are entrenched in the starting lineup.

“With their experience, how they’ve played, how they’ve worked since the first day of school, it’s very difficult to unseat those three guys,” Miller said.

Jordin Mayes drives to the basket against Duke's Kyrie Irving in the NCAA Sweet 16. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Here is the lead to this week’s Pac-12 Insider column from the Arizona Republic’s Doug Haller, who gives us a healthy dose of basketball amid the start of football camps. Click for the rest of the Haller’s notes from the Arizona Republic.

By Doug Haller

In perhaps the biggest off-season of his career, Jordin Mayes wears a protective boot on his left foot. He walks with crutches.

The Arizona sophomore point guard had started experiencing pain in last season’s NCAA Tournament, but decided to play through it. Once the season ended, the discomfort never subsided. Eventually, a stress fracture was diagnosed, and Mayes had surgery earlier this summer.

“We’re taking precautions with it, but the recovery process is going real well,” Mayes said. “It’s feeling fine. I should get off the crutches and off the boot in (less than) two weeks. Then after that, I’ll get back on the court and see what I can do then.”

The start of the season isn’t believed to be in jeopardy: Mayes expects to be back on the court in September. Still, the injury came at a bad time. Even with MoMo Jones gone, transferring to Iona, Mayes will have to compete for minutes in a crowded Arizona backcourt. Shooting guards Kyle Fogg and Brendon Lavender join Mayes and freshmen Josiah Turner and Nick Johnson. Wing Kevin Parrom also will contribute.

Turner, one of the top point guards of the 2011 class, is expected to take over the offense.

“No, it doesn’t really concern me,” Mayes said of his lost improvement time. “It is true that players get better in the offseason, but even though I am in the boot, I’m still in the weight room, working out my upper body. I’m getting bigger and stronger. As far as being on the court, I can’t do anything yet, but we still have a few months before the season starts so I’ll be good.”

Mayes averaged 4.9 points and 1.2 assists in 14.3 minutes as a freshman. His effective field-goal percentage, which takes into account the extra value of a 3-pointer, was 56.9 percent, which trailed only Washington’s Scott Suggs among Pac-10 guards.

Unlike most freshmen, Mayes got stronger as the season progressed. He made 10 consecutive 3-pointers during a five-game stretch bridging the Pac-10 and NCAA tournaments. Against Texas in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, Mayes scored a season-high 16 points, hitting 6 of 7 shots.

Overall, Arizona outscored three of four NCAA Tournament opponents when Mayes was on the floor.

*Against Memphis, the Wildcats were plus 6.

*Against Texas, they were plus 20.

*Against Duke they were plus 4.

“Coach (Sean Miller) just stayed in my head the whole year,” Mayes said. “He had confidence in me. After each game he told me I was a big factor on this team, so I knew if I had his trust and confidence I could just go out and just play my game and produce.”

Once he’s healthy, Mayes insists his approach won’t change. If people think Turner is Arizona’s future point guard, so be it. He knows what matters.

“Everything outside of the gym, outside of practice, outside of coach’s office, doesn’t really faze me,” he said. “We know that no spot is reserved right now. Everybody’s going to have to compete at practice and with conditioning and in the weight room. It’s all competitive. We’re all going to find out who’s going to start and who doesn’t when practice starts.”