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The Arizona Wildcats are coming off a devastating loss to Colorado and need to come away with a sweep of the Washington schools this week if they want to have any chance at the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The team currently sits 1.5 games back in the Pac-12 standings and cannot afford to overlook the Washington St. Cougars with Saturday's showdown with Washington looming.
The Cougars are a decent club and enter the game with a record of 11-8 overall, including a 3-4 mark in conference play. They are led by big man Brock Motum, who averages 15.4 points and six rebounds. He clocks in at 6'10 and could give the UA plenty of problems with his size on Thursday evening. While he may come off the bench, Faisal Aden is their biggest threat to break out on any given night and averages just over 15 points a game.
Other than these two, WSU features quite a few role players who work together well to get the job done. Reggie Moore does a solid job running the offense and averages more than five assists on a nightly basis. DaVonte Lacy and Marcus Capers won't light up the scoreboard, but they are both quality players in the backcourt.
As for Arizona, Sean Miller mentioned multiple times in his weekly press conference that it was time for Josiah Turner and Kevin Parrom to see a bigger role. Not only do both figure to see a few more minutes going forward, but Miller went on to say Turner has "earned his trust" and will become the go-to guy down the stretch with his ability to make plays happen. He will continue to start, while Parrom will likely remain on the bench as a sixth man.
The game is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. from Tucson and will be nationally televised on FOX Sports Net. Kevin Calabro and Marques Johnson will be on the call from McKale Center. The action can also be heard on 1290 AM The Source and 107.5 FM, with Brian Jeffries and Muehlebach handling the broadcast duties.