Kevin Parrom (left) helped lead the overtime effort after Derrick Williams fouled out.
Photo by Chris Morrison, US-PRESSWIRE

Nothing helps a team’s confidence, its chemistry, more than winning a close game on the road against a good team.

Not to mention winning in triple overtime.

With your star player on the bench.

The Arizona Wildcats, playing their craziest, most blood-pumping game of the season Saturday night, pulled out a 107-105 victory at Cal behind the New York swagger of point guard MoMo Jones and wing Kevin Parrom.

Arizona, back in the AP rankings for the first time in more than three years, is still climbing … and so much more seems possible than you might have dared to dream a few weeks ago. The Wildcats have won five in a row — three on the road — and are 20-4 overall. They lead the Pac-10 at 9-2.

“Sometimes in the long season that we go through, wins like this are very meaninful,” coach Sean Miller said in his postgame radio interview on KCUB 1290-AM. “Tonight, that’s certainly the case.”

Parrom scored 13 points through the overtime periods and had a career-high 25 points. Fellow sophomore Jones had 27 points, including 12 in the overtimes. He extended the game with a 3-pointer near the end of the second overtime.

Derrick Williams fouled out late in regulation with 12 points and 18 rebounds.

“I don’t think I have ever — nor has any of us — felt that we a one-man show,” Miller said.

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Sean Miller and the Wildcats return home this week for games against the L.A. schools.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona was down 10-2 and looked discombobulated. The Wildcats scored only 10 points in the first 12 minutes. They trailed 45-37 in the second half after a 9-0 Washington State run.

Arizona’s game in Pullman on Saturday night was rarely pretty. That’s fine. Coach Sean Miller isn’t much about pretty anyway. He’d prefer gritty. Are the Wildcats tough enough?

For one night, they were.

They found a way to win 65-63 through defense (Pac-10-leading scorer Klay Thompson was held to nine points, his lowest output of the season), rebounding (a 40-30 edge) and a certain resolve at the end of a long Pac-10 road trip.

“One of the things I told the guys after the game — and I really mean this — if we wouldn’t have won, the message for me would have been the same. I was very proud and really happy to see us fight,” Miller said in his postgame interview on 1290-AM.

“We were behind but we kept fighting.”

The loss ended a three-game losing streak to Washington State. Arizona (16-4 overall, 5-2 Pac-10) tied UCLA for second place in the conference behind 7-1 Washington.

Here are four things that went right for the Wildcats at Washington State:

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It's OK to open your eyes; Derrick Williams is Lindy's Pac-10 Player of the Year/Photo by WildcatSportsReport.com

Just as the Arizona football season is ready to kick off, the college basketball preseason magazines begin to hit the stands.

As a contributing writer and editor for Lindy’s college basketball edition, I’m biased in that direction and would encourage everyone to pick up a copy for you and five more for your closest friends.

But, here, Arizona fans, beyond all the team previews and cool features, is the nitty-gritty of what you’ll probably be talking about:

The Wildcats are ranked second in the Pac-10 behind Washington and 30th in the nation.

Sound about right to you?

It does to me. Arizona can aspire for the league title, the Top 25 and a decent run in the NCAA Tournament, but those preseason rankings are probably at the high edge of what the Wildcats can realistically expect after a 16-15 season. No disrespect in those preseason judgments.

And here’s more — Lindy’s Pac-10 first-team:

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Sean Miller won't have to be screaming for facility upgrades; he just got them. (Photo by Chris Morrison/US Presswire)

This is Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller‘s primary goal: “I want our team to be the biggest, strongest, best-conditioned team we can be,” he said.

And he’s willing to put him money where his mouth is.

Further imprinting his name and his style on the Wildcats program, Miller and his wife, Amy, are putting up $250,000 toward a new strength training facility at the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium, where the team practices.

“I don’t know if I can have another level,” he said when asked if this takes his commitment to the program to another level. “I feel totally responsible for our program.”

Tucsonans Cole and Jeannie Davis have committed $2.65 million to the project, which also will include a remodeling of the locker room in McKale Center. The Davises donated $1 million in memory of late women’s basketball star Shawntinice Polk to the original construction of the Jefferson Gymnasium.

The new strength and training facility at the Richard Jefferson Gym will utilize existing two-story space and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“What everybody is doing in the year 2010 is very, very competitive,” Miller said.

“It’s a necessary ingredient. When our young people come into our program and grow older, you will really see that physical development as part of their growth. When you have a team full of guys like that, then you see results and winning being a part of it.”

Getting bigger and stronger was a constant theme from Miller in his first year on the job. But so much of his early energy was spent on acquiring a five-man recruiting class. These wasn’t much of an offseason strength plan because, he notes, “we didn’t have a team.”

Now, he can implement an offseason program. He has nine returning scholarship players who can get on the same page. Miller said sophomore guard Kyle Fogg already has added seven pounds since the end of the season.

That’s exactly what Miller wants. He wants to see his young Arizona players grow into the kind of team he had at Xavier — tough, physical and strong enough to play his brand of man-to-man defense, which focuses on ball pressure and stopping penetration.

“When you look at the weight of the players who play in the NBA, sometimes I don’t think anybody realizes how big and strong they are,” Miller said. “I’m not talking about frontcourt players. You look at guards today. It’s amazing.”

The facility will be headed by Chris Rounds, who came with Miller from Xavier last year in charge of the strength and conditioning program for men’s basketball.

Miller said there also is a trickle down-effect to having a spacious facility mostly dedicated to basketball-related strength and conditioning (women’s basketball and volleyball will share the new facility).

It will entice players to stay for the summer, take classes and train under the same philosophy. Miller figures former players who come back for the summer might stay longer because they can meet their training needs.

That helps the current players in terms of competing in pick-up games, while enhancing the “Wildcat family” and potentially growing closer as a team.

“It’s not a small picture, a gift like this,” Miller said.

As it is, Miller says all of the Wildcats, including the new recruits, will be on campus for the second summer session.

And, of course, improved facilities always help in recruiting, as prospects compare schools and try to envision the place when they can have the most success.

“It’s really important, and that’s why this is so exciting,” Miller said.

Kyle Fogg’s teammates wouldn’t even look at him. He was facing three free throws, down three points, with 0.2 seconds left in regulation.

In the last home of the regular season.

Against USC and former UA interim head coach Kevin O’Neill.

With a victory meaning a winning regular season and, at least, an excellent shot at the NIT if the Wildcats don’t run the table at the Pac-10 tournament.

No pressure, right?

“I was searching for help and they had their heads down,” Fogg said of his teammates.

Point guard Nic Wise, the team’s only senior, interrupted Fogg’s comments at the postgame news conference.

“We were praying for him,” Wise said.

Three free throws for the tie. Arizona coach Sean Miller, who remains one of the greatest free throw shooters in Big East history and, as legend has it, shot at least 100 free throws a day in high school for nearly three years, had some words of advice for his sophomore guard.

“I just honed in on him being a confident shooter,” Miller said.

“I tell you, that is the most pressure-packed situation you can have. When you basically have no time on the clock and you’re down two and you have to make them both … but to make three?

“I tell you, unless you have been there for that feeling, that one is the putt at The Masters from about 10 feet away. It’s not for everyone.”

Fogg said a couple of USC players tapped him as he prepared to shoot, trying to rattle him. Fogg bounced the first one off the front of the rim but it went in. The second one was a swish. So was the third one.

“The first one felt a little shaky,” Fogg said. “The second one was a little shaky, too, actually. The third one felt good, though.”

The game was tied 69, going into overtime … and then second overtime … and then Wise won the game with a driving scoop shot with 1.2 seconds left. Arizona 86, USC 84.

“I wish I could tell you that I’ve got ice water going through my veins, but, man, I was shaking,” Fogg said. “Especially because it was Nic’s last game at home, I didn’t want him to go out like that. I made the free throws and it’s a great feeling.”

While Arizona will celebrate that trio of free throws for years to come as fans remember Wise’s Senior Day, that sequence left O’Neill bitter after the game. Let’s just say he say the final play in regulation a little differently than the refs.

USC’s Nikola Vucevic was called for a foul on the arm as Fogg attempted his 3-point shot.

O’Neill was asked after the game about how he would rate that foul call.

“I’m going to let you rate it. Would you be pleased?” he said. “Everyone knows what happened there today,” O’Neill said. “It’s no secret. I’m gonna leave it at that.”

Fogg said he definitely thought he was fouled, but was surprised that the refs called it.

Said Miller: “I didn’t get a clear look at it. There was contact; there were a lot of bodies flying. Sometimes it is called, sometimes it isn’t.”

Fogg tied for the team high with 18 points, hitting 11 of 15 free throws for the game. In Thursday night’s victory against UCLA, he was a zone-killer, hitting 7 of 10 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 26 points and inspiring my new rallying cry: It’s not over until Kyle Fogg says it’s over.

Just like it was with 0.2 seconds left in regulation against USC.

More coverage from TucsonCitizen.com:
UA-USC game blog: Wise gives himself a happy ending

Kyle Fogg scored 51 points in two games against UCLA this season./Photo by WildcatSportsReport.com

There isn’t as much media seating as there used to be at McKale Center, so I was relegated to auxiliary seating behind a basket while Steve Rivera of TucsonCitizen.com sat courtside for the Arizona-UCLA game.

This is simply a way to explain that our usual in-game bantering on media row was reduced to occasional text messages, including one from Steve with more about 15 minutes left in the game: “It’s over.”

Arizona was trailing by 14 points at the time, but let me further explain.

“It’s over” has become something of a joke between us ever since I wrote that about Arizona last season after it dropped to 2-5 in the Pac-10. Then came the game against Houston. I was attending that game with my son as a non-media member and I sent Steve the “It’s o-v-e-r” message when Arizona trailed by 10 points with 52 seconds left.

The game, the season, maybe even the program as we knew it … it all seemed over.

And then Arizona rallied to win in overtime.

Same thing Thursday night. A little less dramatic, but thrilling nonetheless.

The UCLA lead was 12 when Kyle Fogg hit a 3-pointer with 13:28 to go, and I sent Steve back a reply:

“It’s not over until Kyle Fogg says it’s over.”

Damn right.

Fogg poured in four 3-pointers in about an eight-minute span, and his two free throws with 3:19 left gave the Wildcats a 65-64 lead that they would not relinquish.

Arizona won 78-73 and it’s not over by any stretch.

“It doesn’t look like we’re sleepwalking at this point,” coach Sean Miller said.

“We’ve stayed with it. Just when you think things aren’t going to get better, they do. Just when you think we have all the answers, we don’t. But we continue to have that resolve and move forward.”

Arizona hasn’t been great this season. Arizona hasn’t been awful this season. But Arizona, at 15-14 overall with a chance to tie for third place in the Pac-10, has almost always been interesting.

And the thing that Miller counted on the most might finally, just in time, be happening.

The Wildcats are playing their best ball of the season.

In any case, Miller called it his team’s best performance of the season, which came on the heels of a comeback and last-second win at Stanford. Now, all UA needs to do is beat reeling USC on Saturday to continue the momentum heading into next week’s free-for-all conference tournament.

If Fogg had a choice, he’d opt to play UCLA in the first round. The mild-mannered dude turns into Sean Elliott, circa 1989, against the Bruins. Remember Elliott that year? He had a combined 61 points in two games against UCLA.

Fogg’s effort was a reasonable facsimile. The sophomore guard had 51 points in the season sweep, following his career-high 25 in the first meeting against UCLA with a career-higher 26 points Thursday, when he made 7 of 10 3-point shots.

“Felt good out there,” he said.

“I really owe it to these two (Nic Wise and MoMo Jones) because they really did a great job of penetrating and drawing attention so I could get some open looks.”

Fogg is averaging 10.9 points and is now the team’s leading 3-point shooter at 43.0 percent (46 of 107). He’s not the most vocal of kids — and he almost all gets ribbed by teammates for something when he shows up for media interviews. Even the coach jokes.

“He’s quiet,” Miller said.

“I try to give him some of my blood sometimes, a little transfusion on the side just to give him that incredible toughness you need sometimes. That’s not to say that’s he’s not tough, but he has that easy-going style. It serves him well on offense and it’s probably something he is learning how to deal with on defense.

“But nobody chased the cutter more than he did tonight. For him to do what he did on offense while working as hard as he did on defense, that’s a heck of a testament to him.”

Like I’ve always said. It’s not over until Kyle Fogg says it’s over.

Contact Anthony Gimino at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com

Now that I’ve had time to digest Arizona’s loss to Arizona State, catch up on my Olympic curling and have a couple of cups of coffee, here are five thoughts on UA basketball:

Derrick Williams was the lone UA player to speak to the media after the painful loss to Arizona State / Photo by Wildcat Sports Report

1. Don’t blame Sean Miller just because he sat at the table when the bill was due.

Players leaving early, lost recruiting classes, two years of interim head coaches, all kinds of off-court drama, four systems in four seasons … none of this is Miller’s fault.

Amid all the uncertainty, Arizona duct-taped together NCAA Tournament seasons in each of the past two years, thanks to NBA talents such as Jerryd Bayless, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger.

Miller has a down-the-road NBA prospect in freshman Derrick Williams, who has to play out of position right now at center.

Take a look at an 18-year span of Arizona hoops, from 1987-88 to 2004-05. Amazingly, the Wildcats were no worse than a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament in all but two of those seasons.

Could Nic Wise have started for any of those teams? No.

Kyle Fogg? Definitely not.

Kevin Parrom? He’d probably be redshirting.

Jamelle Horne? He’d be a Gumby.

Derrick Williams? Yeah, he might have started for a few of those teams, but he mostly would have had to get behind a veteran in the frontcourt rotation.

Point is, let’s not kid ourselves about the talent Miller inherited.

2. Miller’s media policy needs tweaking.

Miller is definitely a “control the message” kind of coach, allowing no regular one-on-one interviews, very limited access to assistant coaches, no open locker room … with nearly everything funneled through those face-the-cameras news conferences that don’t inspire in-depth discussions.

I know, I know. This will come across as a media whine. But when only Williams, a freshman, is made available after Sunday’s loss to Arizona State, the real losers are the fans who might be interested in a range of emotions and explanations.

As it is now, pretty much everybody — from the Arizona Daily Star, to the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network, to the local TV stations, to the websites — has the same audio and video in the same antiseptic environment.

Miller doesn’t have to open the locker room (although Lute Olson did for much of his time at Arizona, other than when he was mad at the media), but he also doesn’t have to insist on the press conference setting, either.

As was the case for years, several players could be made available on the court or in a room in McKale during weekly interview times, allowing for less-informal — and better — discussions.

In those cases, as a media member, you could work on stories or angles that didn’t have to be shared with all your competitors. And the fans received cumulative deeper coverage to help satisfy their passion.

3. I can’t hate Nic Wise.

He’s not the ultimate leader or the ultimate point guard. He’s not headed to the NBA.

In the past three seasons, he’s had to play minutes far above his skill level, and he hasn’t always made the play. But he’s certainly not afraid to take a big shot. He’s made a few of them, too.

Bottom line: The season would have been disaster without him.

4. Let’s put Arizona’s chances in the Pac-10 tournament at 14.3 percent.

I’m still bullish on UA’s ability to pull it all together and get hot in the Pac-10 tournament, where a championship would earn a ticket to the NCAAs.

Let’s break it down. USC is out because of self-imposed sanctions. Oregon isn’t good enough to compete. I don’t like Stanford’s depth or its road record.

That leaves seven teams of fairly equal ability, with the capacity to get hot or to really stink. Let’s give them equal 1-in-7 chances … or 14.3 percent.

5. It will once again be an Arizona-UCLA league.

Miller is lucky in this sense: He came into the Pac-10 not having to chase any program.

He doesn’t have to play catch-up on the court or on the recruiting trail to a UCLA program in the midst of three consecutive Final Four appearances. The Bruins have struggled right along with the Wildcats this season.

Arizona State should be more-than-solid for years to come, although the program has a lower ceiling than UCLA or Arizona. Washington hasn’t shown staying power. Cal might win its first Pac-10 title in 50 years, but will lose four seniors.

Other teams will rise and fall, but only UCLA and Arizona have dynasty potential. And they will go into next season neck-and-neck in the race to get back to the top.

Sean Miller shows his intensity during last weekend's game at Arizona State/Photo by Nick Oza, The Arizona Republic

Arizona is beginning to look more and more like Sean Miller‘s Xavier teams.

There is the defense. None of Miller’s five Xavier teams allowed teams to shoot better than 43.3 percent in a season. Arizona is at 43.0 percent this season.

There is the rebounding. Arizona is basically breaking even on the boards for the season, but is at plus-5 per game through eight conference contests. That’s more like it. Miller’s Xavier teams out-rebounded their opponents by more than four per game over five seasons.

There is the toughness, which the Wildcats showed in last weekend’s victory at Arizona State, exemplified best by freshman forward Kevin Parrom … or, as Javier Morales of our sports partner WildAboutAZCats.com calls him, “Scare ‘Em Parrom.”

And, ultimately, there is the winning.

Arizona has won three games in a row for the first time this season, emerging from a Pac-10 free-for-all to be alone in second place after Thursday night’s 76-68 victory over Stanford.

The Cats won despite a rec-game shooting performance, hitting 21 of 64 for 32.8 percent. It’s not like UA was jacking up poor shots; the shots — even a couple of dunk attempts — just weren’t falling.

That’s going to happen from time to time, but hustle and defense and rebounding should never go into a slump. And that’s why Arizona won. The Wildcats had 19 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second-chance points, and they had nine steals that contributed to Stanford’s 18 turnovers.

“If you’re a good defensive team and a good rebounding team, you have a chance to do it,” Miller said of winning when shooting such a low percentage. “The odds are against you. … But we’re making progress on defense and it really helped us tonight.”

He said it
“That’s just effort. They came at us hard in that aspect of the game. I hate to say it, but they wanted it more than we did.” — Stanford forward Landry Fields, on Arizona’s 19 offensive rebounds.

More-than-fair foul shooters
Derrick Williams, Kyle Fogg and Nic Wise have combined to take nearly 80 percent of Arizona’s free throws in Pac-10 play, which helps explain why Arizona is making nearly 80 percent of its attempts in Pac-10 play.

Or something like that.

In any case, if you had to send three guys to line, those would be the three. In Pac-10 games:

–Wise is hitting 84.9 percent (45 of 53).
–Fogg is making 82.6 percent (38 of 46).
–Williams is hitting 81.3 percent (52 of 64).

That’s just more of the same for Wise. Fogg’s increased attempts come from a recent epiphany — Hey, I can dribble the ball into the lane! Williams’ free throw shooting — shaky earlier in the season — helps explain why he has scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games.

Overall, Arizona is hitting 79.5 percent of its free throws in Pac-10 play, way ahead of second-place Arizona State (74.7 percent) in that category. UCLA is last at 61.7 percent.

He said it, Part II
“I can’t imagine nationally there are many forwards better than him. I don’t think he gets nearly the respect he deserves.” — Arizona coach Sean Miller, on Stanford’s Landry Fields, who scored 31 points.

Look … over there in the corner … it’s B-Lav
Arizona had a cold shooting night against Stanford but it did heat up for a couple of key runs, including a stretch late in the first half when it took the lead for good.

The Wildcats got 12 points out of four consecutive possessions — beginning with a 3-pointer by Jamelle Horne and ending with a traditional three-point play from Williams. In between, were two 3-pointers from Brendon Lavender.

Miller keeps saying that Lavender has been the team’s best 3-point shooter in practice, but you couldn’t tell from games, as the sophomore guard was 10 of 40 from behind the arc heading into Thursday night’s game. Lavender has been making his coach look like a liar for most of 20 games.

“Sometimes you hit a couple in a game and it really takes the pressure off of you,” Miller said. “It was great to see him make a couple. He helped us by doing that.”

What has helped Arizona was the addition of Parrom to the rotation 10 games ago. His emergence after a stress fracture injury has helped Miller more clearly define roles.

That has meant a significant reduction in minutes for Lavender. He averaged 25.6 minutes in non-conference games, but is playing just 10.8 minutes through eight Pac-10 games.

That is more in fitting with his ability … and if he can start hitting shots, then those can be 10 or 11 really good minutes for the Wildcats.

Battle for first place
Arizona will move into a tie for first place in the Pac-10 on Sunday if it knocks off Cal, which is 6-2 in the league after beating Arizona State on Thursday.

The Bears won in Tucson last season for the first time since 1995, getting a huge game out of point guard Jerome Randle, who scored 31 points and hit 8 of 11 3-point shots. He came out of a shooting slump Thursday by scoring 25 points against the Sun Devils.

“You just have to try your best to slow him down,” Fogg said. “He’s one of the quickest players in the country and he can shoot from anywhere, so it’s tough to guard him.”

Fogg

Arizona sophomore guard Kyle Fogg made his first start of the season Wednesday night. It won’t be his last.

“I thought he played hard on defense, and to me, he’s hands-down our starter at this point from the 2 spot,” coach Sean Miller said after an 83-67 victory over Louisiana Tech.

Fogg started in place of sophomore Brendon Lavender, who had started the first seven games. Fogg was designated the starter even before Lavender was ruled out of the game because of a thigh injury (a condition that apparently worsened in the past couple of days). Miller said he did not know if Lavender would play Saturday at San Diego State.

Fogg played 31 minutes against Louisiana Tech — shades of last season — and scored 11 points.

“It felt a lot better to crack the starting lineup,” Fogg said. “I just went out there and tried to play hard, as I usually do. Coach said, ‘Good job, today,’ so hopefully I’ll get the start next game.”

No worries there.

Fogg is a good-effort player on defense and Miller likes the role Fogg can play on offense. He usually doesn’t try to do too much. Miller wants to see him continue to “stay within the framework of the offense.”

Fogg made 2 of 3 3-points shots against the Bulldogs and has drained 11 of 19 from behind the arc for the season.

“He has shown, statistically, he can really shoot the ball,” Miller said.

“One of the things he does a great job of is he takes good shots. When he shoots the 2, he really has a good feel for what is a good shot or a bad shot. Our other guys don’t have as good a feel from that position.

“He will also put the ball on the floor and make things happen offensively. We seem to be smoother with him out there.”

Fogg, a starter for much of last season, missed a couple of critical weeks of preseason practice because of a slight knee injury and what Miller now says was a bout with the H1N1 flu. Fogg has caught up, though, and figures to be a regular in the lineup, with the potential for heavy minutes.

“I hope by getting that start and playing the minutes that he played that he can use this as a trampoline to better performances and a bigger role and really go on to do a great job,” Miller said.

Not much surprising from Pac-10 Media Day in Los Angeles. Arizona, in keeping with other preseason predictions, has been picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 in men’s basketball.

Sounds about right. It might not be a great league this time around, given the exodus of talent in the past two seasons (21 Pac-10 players have been drafted in the past two years), but Arizona is just too young to predict them to finish ahead of the top three teams.

Here is how the Pac-10 media voted, with first-place votes in parentheses:

1. California (25), 350 points
2. Washington (7), 330
3. UCLA (5), 302
4. Arizona, 221
5. Oregon State, 218
6. Oregon, 175
7. Arizona State, 144
8. Washington State, 123
9. USC, 109
10. Stanford, 63

UA sophomore guard Kyle Fogg was asked Wednesday in a meeting with reporters about feeling pressure to win in coach Sean Miller’s first season and to extend the program’s NCAA Tournament streak to 26 seasons.

“I felt pressure at the beginning, but Coach really emphasized that we’re not worried about all that,” Fogg said. “We’re just trying to go out and get better every day. He said if we work hard every day and get better every day, it will all work itself out. We all trust him.”

Related link: Miller gushes about freshman Derrick Williams at Pac-10 Media Day (plus audio)

Related link: Senior guard Nic Wise chosen as one of 50 players on Naismith Trophy preseason watch list.

Related link: Cal No. 12, Washington No. 13 in ESPN/USA Today poll released this morning. UA received no votes. How in the world did USC receive 22 points??? The coaches poll does not release individual ballots, and, thus, has no accountability.

Related link: Steve Rivera Ventures: Cats go through “tough” practices; Miller joins in at times

All the members of the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network are just fine with Arizona being picked fourth … with one exception. Scott Terrell likes the Cats a bit more than the other five, but given UCLA’s early injury woes, maybe he is on to something (and I like his pick for champion).

There is more disagreement toward the bottom of the league, with some big swings regarding Washington State, Stanford and Oregon.

TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network Pac-10 predictions