ASU Basketball: 2019 Pac-12 Week 8 Power Rankings
By Trevor Booth
4. Arizona Wildcats (9-4) LW: 6
From a pure wins-and-losses standpoint, this previous week wasn’t a disaster for Arizona. But regardless, the Wildcats are starting to fade.
Arizona’s last two games were against two mid-majors — Montana and UC Davis.
The Montana game wasn’t a bad performance from the Wildcats. At least in the second half.
After scoring only 22 points in the first half, Arizona burst out of the gates in the final 20 minutes. A strong team effort on the glass and from the field propelled Arizona past Montana 61-42.
It was the second game of the week that was more concerning.
Just three days later, Arizona needed all 40 minutes to sneak past UC Davis. A Big West opponent, UC Davis entered Saturday’s contest with a dismal 3-7 record.
Even with the Aggies’ poor start to the year, Arizona struggled to contain them. Arizona allowed UC Davis to shoot an exceptional 51 percent from the field.
Thankfully for the Wildcats, they also shot the ball well. Arizona recorded a 47.1 field-goal percentage while making a third of its 3-pointers.
Leading the scoring effort for Arizona was Duke transfer Chase Jeter. He finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Despite scraping by a considerably weaker opponent, Arizona still added to the win column. The Wildcats now sit at 9-4 overall heading into conference play.
To start the Pac-12 season, Arizona hosts another team that has been inconsistent — Colorado — on Jan. 3.