Jerome Randle

Arizona coach Sean Miller, whose team desperately needs a win after losing four of five games, will play the two leading candidates for Pac-10 Player of the Year this week.

First up is Cal senior point guard Jerome Randle on Thursday.

“Jerome Randle is one of my favorite players that plays in the Pac-10. I love watching him play from an offensive perspective. I don’t know if there are many guards who bring to the table what he does at Cal,” Miller said on Tuesday’s Pac-10 coaches conference call with reporters.

“I mean, his shooting percentage is remarkable when you look at what he has shot from the 3 throughout his career and this year what he shoots from the foul line. The way he can shoot inside the arc for such a small player, and the way he makes his teammates better, he’s a really, really special player.”

Arizona held Randle to a quiet night in this season’s first meeting. Randle scored 15 points, but was just 5 of 14 from the field, including 1 of 8 from 3-point range.

But his UA counterpart, senior Nic Wise (another sub-6-foot point guard), knows the danger. Randle scored a then-career-high 31 against Arizona late last season, drilling 8 of 11 3-pointers.

This season, Randle is shooting 92 percent from the free throw line (104 of 113) and is shooting 40.9 percent from behind the arc, which is right at his career accuracy.

He is averaging 19.1 points and 4.2 assists in conference games, and he’d be a fine choice for league player of the year, especially because coaches tend to give extra weight to players who are on teams that win the league … or are in strong contention.

Cal, at 10-5 in the league, enters the week with a half-game lead over Arizona State (9-5).

Stanford senior forward Landry Fields leads the league in scoring (21.2 points per game in league play, which is the fairest way to compare players) and Randle is second. Fields is second in rebounding (8.5) and Randle is third in assists.

Fields had 31 points and 11 rebounds in Stanford’s loss at Arizona last month.

“I’ll put those two guys up against any players in the country in any conference in terms of their ability level at their respective positions and their experience,” Miller said. “They are both terrific, terrific players who deserve national recognition.”

Miller also mentioned Washington senior forward Quincy Pondexter “in that same category,” but it’s Randle and Fields who are the leading contenders for the Pac-10′s top honor.

And Arizona has to go through both to get back on track after losing four of five games since beating Cal on Jan. 31.

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.”

Final, Arizona wins 76-68. It’s hard to win when you shoot 32.8 percent, but Arizona did just that after making only 21 of 64 shots. The advantages at the line (UA was 27 of 34) and rebounding (38-32) were a large part of the difference as the Wildcats overcame the high-scoring duo of Landry Fields and Jeremy Green, who combined for 66 points.

Check back later for postgame coverage…

* * *

43.0 seconds left, Arizona leads 69-64: Derrick Williams hasn’t been in for Arizona down the stretch. Nursing an injury, it appears.

* * *

2:11 left, Arizona leads 68-59: Stanford won’t quite go away, thanks for 31 points from Landry Fields. That’s one off his career-high, set in the last game against Oregon State.

* * *

3:32 left, Arizona leads 64-55: Stanford entered the game with the worst field goal percentage defense in the Pac-10, allowing opponents to make 46.6 percent of their shots. UA has made a miserable 31.1 percent of its shots. So, why are the Cats winning? Offensive rebounding have led to many second-chance points, UA has nine fewer turnovers (16 to 9) and have attempted 12 more free throws. Arizona is 19 of 24 from the line, Stanford is 8 of 12.

* * *

7:57 left, Arizona leads 55-50: No quit in the Cardinal after Johnny Dawkins’ technical foul and Arizona’s fun. Landry Fields has 22 points for the Cardinal. One thing to watch: Guard Jeremy Green has four fouls and is currently out of the game. When will he come back?

* * *

11:58 left, Arizona leads 51-43: The momentum of the game changed in Arizona’s favor, with a little help from a technical foul on Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. He got the technical at 13:07 left after complaining about a no-call after Landry Fields missed a 3-pointer and Derrick Williams grabbed the rebound. Nic Wise made two free throws for Arizona and Kyle Fogg nailed a 3-pointer for a five-point possession and a 49-40 lead.

* * *

15:44 left, Arizona 44-34: A hot start to the second half by the Wildcats, fueled by Derrick Williams, who has six points — including a 3-pointer — in a 7-1 run after the break. Stanford has missed all six of its shots from the field in the half.

* * *

Halftime, Arizona leads 37-33: The first half finishes with a flourish. Arizona went up 35-28 after a 14-4 run in which the Wildcats scored 12 points on four possessions — a 3-pointer from Jamelle Horne, two 3-point shots from Brendan Lavender (no, that is not a typo) and a three-point play from Derrick Williams. The Cardinal responded with five consecutive points before Nic Wise capped the half with two free throws with 0.9 seconds left.

Arizona ended up at 36.1 percent shooting for the half, helped by the late surge. Stanford’s Landry Fields — Pac-10 Player of the Year? — has 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five rebounds.

Stanford is 15 of 30 from the field.

* * *

3:59 timeout, game tied at 24: Jamelle Horne, who is shooting 45.6 percent from 3-point range this season, hits his first attempt of the game from behind the arc to tie the game. Still, the Cats are having a woeful shooting night, hitting 29 percent (9 of 30). Yeah, they have a lot of offensive rebounds … if only because they are missing so many shots.

Meanwhile, Stanford’s Landry Fields is a bit ahead of his normal output, with 11 points and five rebounds.

* * *

7:16 timeout, Stanford leads 20-19: Can’t fault Arizona’s hustle so far. The Cats’ last four baskets have all come following offensive rebounds, including Kyle Fogg tracking down his missed 3-point shot to score in the lane and a second-chance dunk from Derrick Williams. Mostly, it’s been a case of Arizona’s initial shots not falling.

* * *

11:19 timeout, Stanford leads 16-13: Nic Wise broke an 11-0 Stanford run with a long 2-point jumper to get the Cats within 14-11. Arizona got into trouble with cold shooting (although not necessarily poor shot selection) and sloppy play, such as the bad pass up top that led to a fast-break dunk by Jarrett Mann. Arizona is 5 of 15 from the floor. Stanford is 7 of 14.

* * *

13:27 timeout, Stanford leads 10-9: Cardinal star Landry Fields was quiet for about minutes before hitting a short jumper for his first shot and first points with 15:03 to go. UA’s Jamelle Horne has drawn the defensive assignment, which will be one of his toughest of the season. A recent cold stretch for the Cats, combined with a Stanford run, gave the Cardinal the lead at the first break. Fields and Jeremy Green have combined to take eight of the team’s first 10 shots.

* * *

With a victory tonight over Stanford, Arizona could move into a tie for first place in the Pac-10, as long as Arizona State then beats Cal in a game that starts a half-hour later.

The Bears lead the league at 5-2, with five teams, including Arizona and Stanford, tied for second at 4-3

Stanford has exceeded expectations to get here, winning all of its conference home games and losing its three road games. Senior forward Landry Fields, the most improved player in the Pac-10 over the past few seasons, is averaging 21.8 points and 8.7 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jeremy Green averages 17.5 points.

If Stanford goes with a bit of a smaller lineup, Arizona small forward Kevin Parrom likely will end up on Green, but Parrom, who has earned kudos for his physical defense, probably will see time on both Cardinal scorers.

After that, the Cardinal doesn’t have much, and the team has added former Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard for tonight’s game to help fill out the roster after losing forward Andrew Zimmermann (5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds) and guard Gabriel Harris (2.2 points, 1.1 rebounds) to stress fracture injuries.

Senior guard Emmanuel Igbinosa (2.0, 1.0) did not travel because of an academic commitment, according to Stanford.

PREGAME LINKS:
Matchup analysis from Javier Morales at wildaboutazcats.com. He picks the Wildcats to win by eight points. I’ll believe what I saw from Arizona’s game against Arizona State and say Cats by 14.

Jason King at Yahoo! Sports leads his conference power rankings with a feature on Sean Miller, who praises the UA fans for sticking with the team through some early struggles.

Check back during the game for live updates and commentary.