Since Arizona basketball freshman Momo Jones has set foot on the UA campus, he has talked about adding his name to the list of great Arizona point guards, and on Saturday he gave everyone a glimpse of what can be in the future.
His buzzer beater made ESPN’s SportsCenter’s top-10 and lifted a sinking Arizona team over Stanford, possibly creating some momentum heading into the Pacific 10 Conference Tournament.
After the shot banked in at the end of regulation and the team suffocated Jones in celebration, you could see the joy in senior leader Nic Wise’s face, as if he was an older brother who was proud to see his little brother finally putting it all together.
“”It was a great feeling, I know how it feels,”” Wise said of watching Jones knock down the jumper. “”When he hit it was kind of lift off everybody’s shoulders.
“”He’s grown a lot, you can tell, in these past couple weeks, he’s stepped up his game a lot,”” Wise added. “”He had to take the bumps in the road which every player has to in his career, once he got over that wall he’s playing like himself and helping us win games.””
Jones had a career high of 16 points against Stanford, as he took the point guard duties when Wise remained on the bench down the stretch. His recent progress can be attributed to battles that he and Wise have had in practice since being matched up at the beginning of season.
“”It’s tough, frustrating sometimes with him knowing all the tricks, being here for fours years some of the things he does you can’t really account for,”” Jones said. “”It may be a stretch where I go at him or he comes at me, but I think us being on separate teams at practice it makes our team better and helps us a lot.””
Though Jones had struggled earlier in his freshman season, his confidence and fearlessness on the court has never faltered. His confidence has grown since he’s adjusted to the speed of the college game and adopted some of Wise’s skills over the course of the season.
“”I really had to slow myself down in the beginning, it was just a fast-paced game that I was going with and it wasn’t working,”” Jones said. “”Just sitting back and really watching how he handled the ball and how he got through little gaps. Just seeing that, you can’t help but to take that part of his game.””
Jones will be the point guard of the future as Wise wraps up his career and has shown that he will be ready to step into those shoes with his progress late in the season.
“”His confidence and his durability are two characteristics that allow him to improve the way he does,”” said Arizona head coach Sean Miller. “”He’s fearless and competes every day, he shows up every day and rolls his sleeves up. You can tell the process has really begun to pay dividends.””
Parrom likely out for season
The injury-plagued season of hard-nosed freshman Kevin Parrom has likely come to an end, according to Miller. Parrom, who missed the first 10 games with a stress fracture in his left foot, has what Miller called an “”issue”” with the same foot but not the same injury.
“”We’re cautious in dealing with him, making sure we don’t put him in a position to hurt himself further,”” Miller said. “”It hasn’t improved enough for him to perform in a game to be able to help us.””
