Thursday, March 13, 2014 • Page 7
SPORTS SCORE CENTER GEORGIA TECH OUTLASTS BC Georgia Tech 73 Boston College 70 (OT)
CENTRAL FLORIDA TOPS TEMPLE UCF 94 Temple 90 (2OT)
NUMBER OF THE DAY
28
No. 1 seeds are 28-10 all-time in the Pac10/12 tournaments. Arizona is 22-12 all-time in the Pac-10/12 tournament, with a league leading four championships. The Wildcats have never played the Utes in the conference tournament.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS Pac-12 (5) Colorado vs. (4) Cal 2:30 P.M. - Pac-12 Networks (7) Oregon vs. (2) UCLA 6 P.M. - Pac-12 Networks (6) Stanford vs. (3) ASU 8:30 P.M. - Fox Sports 1 AAC (5) Memphis vs. (4) UCONN 6 P.M. - ESPNU ACC
Editor: James Kelley sports@wildcat.arizona.edu (520) 621-2956 twitter.com/wildcatsports
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UTE REMATCH
No. 1-seed Arizona opens Pac-12 tournament with No. 8 seed Utah; Arizona won two close games over Utah during the regular season BY ROBERTO PAYNE The Daily Wildcat
After clinching a bye from Wednesday’s first-round games, the No. 1-seeded Wildcats will play No. 8 seeded Utah today in their opening round Pac-12 tournament game. It will be the third time this season that the two schools have played, and the first time that they’ve ever met in the conference tournament. In last year’s Pac-12 tournament, Utah made it to the semi-finals before finally losing to the eventual tournament champion, Oregon 6445. Utah got to the second round of this year’s tournament by beating the No. 9-seeded Washington Huskies in the first round. Tip-off will be at noon on the Pac12 Networks.
Last time they played
The last time Arizona played Utah was on Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City. The Wildcats won the game 67-63 in overtime. It wasn’t pretty for the then-No. 4 Wildcats. Arizona held a nine-point lead at the half, but then only scored 21 points in the second half. A strong shooting performance from Arizona guard Gabe York helped carry the Wildcats to the victory. The Utes held Arizona freshman Aaron Gordon to one of his worst games on the season. Gordon fouled out before the end of regulation, and only contributed three points and three rebounds. Utah didn’t have just one standout player, but instead had contributions from most of its starters and reserves. Where Arizona struggled was with its lack of toughness. In its first meeting with the Utes on Jan. 26, Arizona used its size and was too physical for the less talented Utah team. By the end of the game, the Utes were too tired to compete and ended up losing 65-56 in regulation.
it is an efficient offense in the halfcourt.
Money maker
Who to watch out for
Utah’s offense is no joke. Heading into the Pac-12 tournament, the Utes averaged 77.2 points per game, which is the 41st most in the country. In doing so, they shot with .497 percent accuracy, the fifth highest in the country. It doesn’t have much size down in the post, so it won’t get many second-chance opportunities, but
TYLER BAKER/THE DAILY WILDCAT
JUNIOR GUARD Nick Johnson (13) lays the ball in as Utah Junior Delon Wright (55) looks on during Arizona’s 65-56 win on Jan. 26. The Arizona Wildcats will play the Runnin’ Utes today to open the Pac-12 tournament for the Wildcats, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, . No. 8 seed Utah beat No. 9 seed Washington 67-61 on Wednesday.
While Utah has an efficient offense, it has one player that is above the rest. Junior Delon Wright was named to the Pac-12 first team All-Conference squad at the end of the season. The junior college transfer averaged 16.1 points per game during the regular season to go along with an average of 6.9 rebounds. He is Utah’s go-to player
and has rarely had a bad game. Utah’s 124-51 victory over St. Katherine on Dec. 28 was the only game this season where Wright scored fewer than 10 points. Since coming to Utah, Wright has emerged as a possible first-round draft pick either this year or next.
and it hurt them. For Utah, it needed another strong performance from someone other than Wright. If it can get key contributions from multiple scorers, than it could outscore the more talented Arizona team who has struggled on offense as of late.
Keys to the game
For Arizona, it’s sticking to what it does best, which is to outrun the opposing team. It got away from that against Utah in its previous game,
— Follow Luke Della @LukeDella
(9) Florida St. vs. (8) Maryland 1 P.M. - ESPN
Big 12 (8) Oklahoma St. vs. (1) Kansas NOON - ESPN2
Big East (8) Seton Hall vs. (1) Villanova 9 A.M. - Fox Sports 1
BASEBALL
FOOTBALL
Wildcats suspend Maggi after alleged intoxication
Receiving corps is a strength
BY LUKE DELLA
The Daily Wildcat
Big Ten (8) Indiana vs. (9) Illinois 9 A.M. - Big Ten Network MAC (4) Akron vs. (5) Ohio 3:30 P.M. - ESPN3 SEC (8) Texas A&M vs. (9) Missouri 10 A.M. - ESPN3
“
TWEET TO NOTE There’s no question Vegas is Wildcat Country. UA fans flock to that place from AZ and SoCal. Made ‘08 Vegas Bowl seem like Final Four. —@BlairWillisUA, Blair Willis, Arizona Athletics Communications Services Assistant Director
The UA has encouraged fans to wear red to the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.
Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/wildcatsports
Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/wildcathoops
‘Like’ us on Facebook facebook.com/dailywildcat
DAILYWILDCAT.COM
Arizona baseball junior Joseph Maggi’s teammates voted to suspend him from the team indefinitely on Saturday. According to teammates, Maggi appeared noticeably drunk when he arrived for a Wildcats’ game this past weekend after attending a pool party at a fraternity he is unaffiliated with. Starting players confirmed that while Maggi was in the batting cage preparing for a game, the team took a vote and turned Maggi’s number 15 jersey into the coach’s office. “It was pretty much unanimous,” an anonymous player said. Since then, the starting right fielder and member of the 2012 National Championship team has been in his hometown of Phoenix. Maggi is old enough to legally drink, and members of Arizona Athletics said the department is taking care of the issue. “He is suspended indefinitely and we’re taking it day-by-day in house,” head coach Andy Lopez said after the game on Tuesday. Lopez also said that this was the real world and actions will have consequences. “Our world is based [on] accountability,” he said. “You do A, you get B.” The usual starter was not in the starting lineup during Arizona’s 10-5 home victory over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. He has not played since. “I haven’t talked to him [since],” an anonymous player said. “I know some people
might think it is like turning a back on a teammate, but for him to do that to us kind of feels like that.” Lopez said that Maggi is still on the roster so it is possible he could rejoin the team later. Maggi, who was not available for comment, has started nine of the Wildcats’ 19 games and has the second-lowest batting average on the team at .194 with one run batted in. Despite his recent struggles at the plate, the junior was a key piece of the Wildcats’ 2012 national championship team when he was a freshman. That season Maggi started 45 of Arizona’s 65 games. He had a batting average of .326 and a fielding percentage of 99 percent. Over the past three years, he has split time in the outfield as well as first base. Until a final decision is made on Maggi’s future the Wildcats may keep freshman Kenny Meimerstorf in right field. As of Thursday, Meimerstorg had the team’s lowest batting average, of .167. Meimerstorf has started nine games this season and played in 12. Another option Lopez could turn to is current designated hitter Tyler Krause, who is hitting .267 in 15 at bats and is listed as an outfielder on Arizona’s roster. Lopez and all the players asked said they were confident in whoever replaces Maggi for the time being until a final decision is made. Players said they have no regrets about the decision they made. “We did what we felt was best for the team,” the anonymous player said. After Wednesday’s 10-2 win,
BY ROBERTO PAYNE The Daily Wildcat
CARLOS HERRERA/THE DAILY WILDCAT
JUNIOR OUTFIELDER Joseph Maggi was suspended indefinitely by the baseball team.
Lopez said he talked to Maggi on Tuesday afternoon and that they will revisit the issue later on in the week. “He understood the situation,” Lopez said. “I’m sure he’s not happy with it; I’m not happy with it. But sometimes you’re a young guy and you have to pay for your actions.”
— Follow Luke Della @LukeDella
At times last season, head coach Rich Rodriguez struggled with the depth at wide receiver. An injury to presumed No. 1 receiver Austin Hill was a driving factor behind Rodriguez’s uncertainty and forced younger players into action. By the end of the year, several of those young players, such as Trey Griffey, Nate Phillips and Samajie Grant, provided the receiving threats that had been missing from the offensive dynamic all season. Now with Hill back, the young guys returning, the freshman recruits and the additions of transfers DeVonte’ Neal and Cayleb Jones, Rodriguez said there are plenty of options for the Wildcats. “There were times last spring and the spring before that we didn’t have enough bodies,” Rodriguez said. “Now we have plenty of bodies and I think we’ve got really good competition there.” With so many players, the fight for the starting wide receiver spots should be one of the most competitive positional battles on the entire team. At least seven players have a legitimate case to be a part of the starting unit. Chief among those players is Hill. Two seasons ago, the 6-foot-3 receiver led Arizona with 1,364 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Coming out of the slot, Hill stabilized an otherwise inexperienced receiving corps. Behind him are the trio of Grant, Griffey and Phillips. Grant and Phillips stand at 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9, respectively, and
FOOTBALL, 8