TUCSON, Ariz. -- If the old adage "every game is a season" is true, Arizona's had just about every possible type of season in their first 21 games.
One game hot, another game not. One game steady, another game lax.
Thursday night was a dose of hot and steady, as the Wildcats easily disposed of visiting Washington State 85-61 at McKale Center.
Every game should be like this one. Didn’t the Cougars just knock off Stanford and California last weekend?
Then again, maybe it’s just the time of year when the Wildcats realize it’s time to turn it on. Not that this season can be compared to last year, but Arizona did start to heat up last January.
"We continue to get better," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "I don’t know if this team has that ceiling that last year’s did, but I hope in two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, we keep improving."
And despite UA being 2-2 over their last four, Miller does like what he's seeing in his team.
"If we had shot the ball better (against Colorado), you could make the case we are playing our best right now, because we would have won three games in a row,’’ said Miller, whose team went 3 for 20 from the three-point line last weekend in a one-point loss.
Had Arizona beaten Colorado, the team would have been able to speak about a road sweep and perhaps been in a multi-way tie for first place in the Pac-12.
But ...
"There’s such a fine line between a few plays from where we are at and where we could be," Miller said. "I’m so consumed with moving our team towards improvement, making sure we are ready for each game and don’t lose our defense.
"There’s so much basketball to be played this season. Teams hit their stride at different points. It’s my job to have them hit that stride. Hopefully this will be a building block toward Saturday."
Arizona, now 14-7 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12, plays host to Washington on Saturday in its second "White Out" game in two years in front of a national television audience.
"We all came to Arizona to play tough competition and in big games," said Kyle Fogg. "We expect to have another big game on Saturday."
Speaking of big games, Fogg had 20 points Thursday night, 18 in the first half. He went 4 for 6 the three-point line.
"I just felt good out there," said Fogg, who felt he let his team down against Colorado. "People were saying I was in a slump, but I told them I wasn’t."
Solomon Hill had 17 points, including 15 in the second half. He went 3 for 4 from behind the arc. Brendon Lavender had 14 points and finished 4 of 5 from long distance.
Add it all up and the trio combined to go 11 for 15 from the three-point line. As a team, Arizona overall went 15 of 26 from deep -- this coming just five days after their season-worst performance from three-point range against Colorado.
"This is a very inconsistent team shooting," Miller said. "We also went 10 for 20 from the foul line. In a tight game, that’s what we would be talking about. I don’t think we are a great three-point shooting team, but we are much better than 3 for 20. It’s good to see our guys shoot with confidence."
They all did.
"You just have to stay with it." said Hill. "Certain guys just got down on themselves, like Fogg. I told him he just had to keep shooting. Guys just have to shoot it with confidence."
For 17 minutes, it looked like the Cougars might be able to stay with the Wildcats, but after scorer Faisal Aden went down with an injury late in the first half, Wazzu never really had a chance.
"With the way Arizona was playing, I’m not sure (Aden) would have made a difference," Washington State coach Ken Bone said.
Arizona came out running and stunning in the second half, with Hill and Lavender joining in on the fun Fogg had started in the first half.
It was clearly Arizona’s best start-to-finish game in at least a month -- maybe longer. The Wildcats had just nine turnovers, a point of emphasis for Miller the last two weeks. UA had 23 assists in 30 field goals made and added nine steals.
The only negative may have been the late absence of freshman guard Josiah Turner, who played well for 19 of his 20 minutes. It was the last of those minutes that was the problem: He was ejected for getting his second technical foul after shoving Brock Motum following a basket. He left the court with 10 minutes left in the game.
"I have to do a better job as a coach coaching our players on being physical between the lines," Miller said. "No coach wants a player to be ejected. I have to look at it on film, but I’m confused."
But he went home a winner nonetheless.
