TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona coach Sean Miller used the word "efficient" to describe his team's offensive performance through seven games.
Yes, it's been up and down at times and his team's sluggish starts have been an issue, but so far Arizona's come-right-at-you offense has been good enough. Good enough for a No. 3 national ranking and a 7-0 record heading into Saturday's showdown against No. 9 Gonzaga (7-0) in McKale Center. The Bulldogs could be as tough as any opponent the Wildcats will face this season.
Miller said he considers it a fact-finding game. Call it the Test of the West.
"We will learn a lot Saturday because there will be stretches where we are going to have to be at our best defensively," Miller said.
"What player on Gonzaga isn't going to be a challenge? You pick it. They can score at all positions."
Arizona handled Gonzaga last season in the round of 32 of the NCAA tournament, beating the Bulldogs 84-61. Miller called it a "perfect storm" for the Wildcats and not indicative of the gap between the two teams.
But this year, Miller feels Mark Few's team has a perfect complement of big guys (6-foot-10 freshman Domantas Sabonis and 6-10 Kentucky transfer Kyle Wiltjer) to go with 6-4 Southern California transfer Byron Wesley and the best point guard in the country in Kevin Pangos, who sports an 8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Wiltjer is averaging a team-high 16 points per game, while Sabonis is making 79 percent of his field-goal attempts while scoring 12.6 points per game.
Gonzaga's seven victims include SMU, Georgia and St. John's.
"It has all the makings of a great Gonzaga team," Miller said.
A marquee matchup like this, Miller said, "is why you sign up to come here."
"I don't think the Gonzaga-Arizona game takes a back seat to any of the games played so far," Miller said.
T.J. McConnell and Arizona easily handled Kevin Pangos and Gonzaga in the Round of 32 of last season's NCAA Tournament, but Sean Miller said this season's Gonzaga team is a much more dangerous adversary.
Big games bring big evaluations -- evaluations that become more critical with the conference season beginning in less than a month. Next week brings another when Michigan visits McKale.
Miller believes there's no value in ducking competition when you need to gauge where you are. So far, "efficient" is the term he uses in his evaluation of the Wildcats.
He then talked numbers to back up his assessment:
Points per game -- 75.9.
Free-throw percentage -- 69.3
Shooting percentage -- 49.2.
Three-point percentage -- 38.4 percent.
"We're doing a lot of good things," Miller said. "We have gotten off to slower starts at the beginning of games (but) we're starting to address that."
Defense, Miller said, has been the key to getting Arizona through its rough stretches. But that's been the case throughout the Miller era.
Troubled offense? Toughen the defense.
"It looks like we are struggling, but in reality both teams are," Miller said, with a slight smile. "Its 6-6, 7-6, 4 to 4 ... We do want to start faster for sure."
Miller said perimeter shooting might not be as big a problem as some believe, but there's room for improvement. Elliott Pitts, who has averaged one 3-pointer a game this season, could be an answer in that regard. Freshman guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright also has played well so far and could create some different looks in the lineup.
"Elliott is shooting the ball really well for us," Miller said. "What we want him to do is settle in and be more of a complete player because he can do more than shoot it.
"He needs to play to be more aggressive. Gabe York is doing that more. And that's good for us. We want Elliott to settle in to that same type of role."
Now, if he can just shoot a little more. In the seven games, averaging 13.6 minutes per game, he's taken 17 shots, hitting nine. He's 7 of 13 on 3-point shots.
"It's hard because it's not like he's out there for 25 minutes," Miller said. "He's making sure he's loosened up and ready and feels good about the shot."
Pitts said he's had a couple of coaches tell him he needs to look for the shot more.
"But I'm not completely worried about offense right now," Pitts said. "I think defensively is more what I'm worried about, stopping my man. It's what has gotten me on the court this year. That's why I'll worry about that."
He said he won't force anything, even if starter York isn't on.
"It would be great if both me and Gabe could be on at the same time," he said, "Then we'd have two great games and it would be great for the team."
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