TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- For the first time in program history, the Arizona Wildcats will head to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Coleman Coliseum. The Wildcats are coming off an 80-69 win over Utah Valley on Thursday and have won two in a row after a 76-72 win at Connecticut last Sunday. Tip is scheduled for 11:01 a.m., MST and will be televised by ESPN. Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes will have the call.
Arizona at Alabama
Sunday, Dec. 9 at 11 a.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN (Tom Hart and Jimmy Dykes)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
OFF THE TOP
- The Arizona Wildcats will visit Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the first time in program history for Sunday's matinee against the Crimson Tide. Arizona has played just two games in the state of Alabama, and they were both memorable affairs. The Wildcats beat Kansas in the Sweet 16 and Providence in the Elite 8 in Birmingham, Alabama in 1997 to advance to the Final Four, where they eventually went on to win the National Championship.
- Arizona has won 10 of its last 11 road non-conference games, winning most recently last weekend at Connecticut, 76-72.
- Arizona redshirt junior Chase Jeter has taken 14 charges in nine games this season, including at least one in every game. As a team, Arizona has taken 27 charges.
- Arizona is 56-10 in December under Coach Sean Miller.
- The Wildcats lead the Pac-12 Conference in turnover margin with a +3.3 advantage.
- Arizona's bench has produced 104 points over the past three games. Reserve Dylan Smith has scored in double figures in three straight games. He's the first Arizona player to score in double figures in three straight off the bench since Kobi Simmons in 2016-17.
- Sunday's game will serve as a Homecoming of sorts for senior point guard Justin Coleman. Coleman, a native of Birmingham, played two seasons for the Crimson Tide in 2014-15 and 2015-16. Coleman played in 67 career games with Alabama, before transferring to Samford.
- Arizona connected on 12 of 22 3-pointers Thursday night against Utah Valley. The 12 makes mark a season high and the .545 percentage is also the highest on the season. The 12 total 3-pointers were the most by the Wildcats since hitting 12 against Long Beach State last season in a 91-56 win.
FREE THROW SUCCESS
Through nine games this season, Arizona is shooting .768 from the free throw line. The Wildcats have converted 156 of 203 attempts and rank second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon. Nationally, Arizona is 25th in free throw percentage. Guards
Brandon Williams and
Brandon Randolph have led the way at the line. Combined, the two guards are 73 of 82 (89 percent). Randolph is 36 for 39 (.923), which is the best mark of any Pac-12 player with 30 or more attempts. Williams is 37 for 42, which is the second-best mark nationally by a freshman with 40 or more attempts. Jamari Blackmon from North Alabama leads the way, having hit 51 of 59 (.864). Williams' .860 mark is the best by a Power 5 freshman with 40 or more attempts. As a team, Arizona has shot better than 85 percent in back-to-back games, something the Wildcats didn't do at all last season. The last time the Wildcats shot 85 percent or better in two straight games with 10 or more attempts was against UCLA and Washington State in 2017.
FREQUENT FLYERS
Arizona's non-conference schedule is taking the Wildcats all over the country. The Wildcats first hit the road last month for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, traveling to Lahaina in Maui. The Cats then made the trek to Hartford to take on UConn and will travel to Alabama next weekend to take on the Crimson Tide.
Mileage Breakdown of Arizona's Non-Conference Travel
Tucson to Maui (round trip): 5,798 miles
Tucson to Hartford (round trip): 5,054 miles
Tucson to Tuscaloosa (round trip): 3,074 miles
Total Miles Traveled in Non-Conference Play: 13,926
ROAD NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Arizona will play a true road non-conference game for the second time this season Sunday at Alabama. Under Coach
Sean Miller, the Cats have had tremendous success traveling for road games in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Arizona is 10-1 in its last 11 road non-conference games and haven't lost since a 71-67 setback at UNLV in 2014. The Wildcats have won at UNLV, New Mexico, Missouri, Gonzaga, UTEP, Michigan, San Diego State, Clemson, Texas Tech and Connecticut. This will mark their first ever trip to the University of Alabama.
JETER STARTS STRONG
Chase Jeter arrived at Arizona prior to the 2017-18 season after transferring from Duke, but had to sit out the season per NCAA rules. In his first nine games as a Wildcat, Jeter has been a presence in the paint and a threat down low. Jeter is averaging 11.7 points per game and 7.7 rebounds a contest with three double-doubles. He's scored in double figures in seven of the nine games. He registered a career-high 18 points against Georgia Southern and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with it. In the first game of the Maui Invitational, Jeter had a career-high 12 rebounds to go with 10 points. He finished the tournament with a 14-point outing against Auburn. Jeter also played 30 or more minutes twice in Maui against Iowa State and Auburn, marking the first two times in his career (including Duke) he played 30 or more minutes. Sunday at UConn, Jeter had 14 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes before fouling out. Jeter is 40 for 60 from the field this year, shooting 67 percent.
CHASE IN CHARGE
Not only has
Chase Jeter been productive scoring and rebounding, he's also been Arizona's top charge-getter this season. A play Coach
Sean Miller values as much as any in basketball, Jeter has taken 14 charges in nine games this season. Jeter took four charges in the finale in Maui against Auburn. Jeter has taken at least one charge in every game this season and at least two in three of the nine games. Jeter has taken more than half of Arizona's charges this season. As a team, the Wildcats have drawn 27 charges, with Jeter drawing 14.
Jeter's Charges Game-By-Game
Opponent Charges Taken
Houston Baptist 1
Cal Poly 2
UTEP 1
Iowa State 1
Gonzaga 1
Auburn 4
Georgia State 1
UConn 2
Utah Valley 1
SMITH THE SUPER SUB
Redshirt junior guard
Dylan Smith has seen a severe uptick in his production over the past three games. Smith has scored in double figures in three straight against Georgia Southern, UConn and Utah Valley. He scored a season-high 13 on Thursday against Utah Valley and is also averaging five rebounds a contest in that span. Smith is 6 for 15 from 3 over the past three games after missing his previous 13 attempts. In Arizona's three games at the Maui Invitational, Smith had a total of two points, but has become a valuable weapon off the bench for Coach
Sean Miller. Smith played a season-high 26 minutes Thursday against Utah Valley and had four rebounds and two assists to go with his 13 points. Smith is the first Arizona player to have three straight double-digit games off the bench since
Kobi Simmons in 2016-17. The game Sunday will be a homecoming of sorts for Smith, who grew up in Mobile, Alabama before moving to Birmingham in high school.
RANDOLPH SHINES EARLY
Sophomore
Brandon Randolph has started his sophomore season in style. Randolph has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and is averaging 17.1 points per game. As a freshman last season, Randolph played in 31 games, drawing four starting assignments. He averaged 3.7 points per game, scoring a total of 116 points. In nine games this year, he's already surpassed that total, having scored 154 points. He has also surpassed his rebounding total as a freshman. He had 26 rebounds last season and already has 29 this year. Randolph is the first Arizona guard to score in double figures in each of the first nine games of the season since Gabe York in 2016. Here's a closer look at Randolph's production so far as a sophomore versus his time as a freshman.
2018-19 (Sophomore) 17.1 ppg 3.2 rpg 15 3-pointers .486 FG% 154 total points
2017-18 (Freshman) 3.7 ppg 0.8 rpg 14 3-pointers .383 FG% 116 total points
