Editor’s Note: The Arizona Daily Wildcat’s Lance Madden caught up with UA forward Jordan Hill after the men’s basketball team’s win Tuesday night to discuss his 38 points and 27 rebounds during the last two games. Hill talked about his shooting range, his roommate’s height and pitching in high school.

Wildcat:What’s your response to starting off 5-1 when you had a chance to go 6-1?
Hill:Every time I think about it it’s frustrating because I know we could have beat UAB(Alabama-Birmingham). But on the defensive end we just tend to get after it like we should have, and we made some -ÿI hate to say itÿ-ÿbut we made some stupid mistakes at the end. But we’ve learned from that. We’ve kept fighting after that game to come up with wins.

W:There’s some national criticism against this team. Lots of naysayers. How do you stomach that?
H:A lot of people criticize us because coach O’s gone, we’re a young team, we’re not looking so good, but we try hard. We try to improve on everything, and we’ve been improving on everything. We just try to go out there and prove people wrong and go far and play as a team, and show people who we are.

W:You’ve got five double-doubles now. How dangerous do you feel as a player?
H:Oh, I’m definitely a dangerous guy. I’m just going out for mine, doing what I have to do, attacking the rim, going for every rebound possible and help my team out any way possible.

W:Your shooting range has improved this year. You’re shooting from almost 3-point range.
H:I’ve been working on that. My post game got a lot better, so I was just working on my shooting game.

W:It looks like Zane Johnson is shooting the 3 really well right now, but do you have the confidence to shoot the 3 any time this season?
H:(Smiles) Oh, I may throw down a couple of them. I just haven’t been working on the 3-ball that much as my mid-range game. If I work on my 3-ball, I can knock a couple down.

W:What is your response to playing in a depleted McKale Center so far this season?
H:Everybody knew that was going to happen. The whole team knew it was going to happen, but we just come out here to play basketball. We really thank all the fans that still support us, and we’re going to keep fighting for them. But they’ve got to realize, it really ain’t our fault what’s going on.

W:Would you rather block a shot and knock the ball in the stands to defend a game-winning shot, or would you rather slam down the game-winning shot with a dunk?
H:To win a game, I would rather block the shot. If it comes down to, we need to win and that’s the only way to do it, I would do it.

W:You live at home with Nic (Wise). Does he have to use a step stool to brush his teeth at the sink?
H:(Laughs) Naw, I think (the sink) is kind of low. I think he’s got to maneuver to go down a little bit. He ain’t using a step stool. I think he’s using a bucket sometimes.

W:Who do you model your game after?
H:I’m trying to be like K.G. (Kevin Garnett). I admire him. He’s from Maurice, South Carolina, and I’m from Lawrence, South Carolina, which, I want to say are like 30, 45 minutes away from each other. … He’s nice. He’s a real nice player. I like his game.

W:You pitched in high school. How hard did you throw?
H:The hardest I threw was like 89 or something like that. I played pitcher and outfield, so it was a good look for me.

W:Chase Budinger is the only starter who doesn’t play with a white headband. Think you can convince him to throw on a headband?
H:(Laughs) Chase would not look good with a headband on his head. I’m glad he does not have that on.