The No. 16 Arizona men’s basketball team hits the road tonight as they head to San Francisco, Calif., to play St. John’s (10-2) at 8 p.m. The Wildcats (10-2) look to bounce back from their second loss of the season after dropping their last contest to No. 2 Gonzaga. It is Arizona’s fourth neutral site game of the year already after winning the Wooden Legacy.
Here is a quick list of what to watch for in the upcoming game.
Who’s in and who’s out?
Arizona will be without senior Stone Gettings once again tonight even though head coach Sean Miller deemed the forward “clear of concussion-like symptoms” earlier in the week. Gettings suffered a concussion and a facial fracture back on Nov. 29 against Penn and has not played since the injury. The ‘Cats have certainly struggled without the Cornell transfer, especially from beyond the arc, as the team has shot 31% from three in the four games without him. Gettings is averaging 5.4 points per game off the bench this season while shooting 44% from the three-point line, making him a much-needed part of the Wildcats’ roster.
While Arizona knows they’ll be without one of their key players, St. John’s is confronted with the possibility of playing without its top scorer tonight. St. John’s guard Mustapha Heron has been reported as questionable for this weekend’s matchup with an ankle injury after not participating in this week’s scheduled practices. Heron is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 15 points per game and 41% from three so far this season.
Which Arizona team will show up on Saturday?
Twelve games into the 2019-20 season and the Wildcats have essentially displayed two types of game scripts. In the two losses this year against Baylor and Gonzaga, Arizona shot an underwhelming 33% from the field while sinking just 10 threes on 48 attempts (21%) in those two games. In contrast, Arizona shot 53% from the field and 43% from three in its 10 wins this season.
Sean Miller has also acknowledged the poor shooting in important games this year but said he isn’t too worried about the team’s shooting as a whole.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball like we’re capable,” Miller said following Saturday’s game against Gonzaga. “Maybe some of it was that we need to execute better, but we also had a couple good ones.”
It’s a simple concept, but if Arizona can make its shots, they should have no problem with St. John’s on Saturday.
Catch the Wildcats wrap up their non-conference schedule on tonight at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
