Nick Johnson, T.J. McConnell belong among Arizona Wildcats’ storied backcourts

WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY RATING?:
PP: Productivity Points (Points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocked shots, FGs made, FTs made added together and then subtracted by missed FGs, missed FTs, personal fouls and turnovers)
MIN: Minutes played overall
PR: Productivity rating per minute played (Productivity points divided by minutes played)

ARIZONA 60, STANFORD 57
PRODUCTIVITY RATING
* — STARTERS

Player	Pos	PP	MIN	PR
*Nick Johnson	SG	24	33	.727
*T.J. McConnell	PG	23	35	.657
Gabe York	SG	9	16	.563
*Brandon Ashley	PF	10	32	.313
*Kaleb Tarczewski	C	7	26	.269
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson	SF	5	23	.217
*Aaron Gordon	SF	4	34	.118
LESS THAN 10 MIN
Jordin Mayes	PG	-2	1	-.200
TOTAL TEAM		80	200	.400

Is there even a Pac-12 race anymore, and other notes from the Bay area after #arizonawildcats beat Stanford 60-57: http://t.co/Dk6S9tsxIa

— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) January 30, 2014

TOP FIVE ARIZONA REBOUNDING TEAMS

Margin	Team	Avg	Opp	Games
19.3	1950-51	59.5	40.2	30
9.7	1976-77	46.7	37.0	27
9.6	2013-14	38.9	29.3	21
8.3	1975-76	47.2	38.9	33
8.1	1998-99	41.7	33.6	29

Johnson and McConnell finished with nearly half of Arizona’s points — a combined 27 — on an evening when the Wildcats’ strength, their frontcourt, had one of their most forgettable games of the season. Ashley, Tarczewski and Aaron Gordon made only five field goals in 23 attempts. That should equate to a loss.

Once again, Arizona showed that it can be resourceful in the face adversity. Somebody always picks up the slack and the Wildcats’ defense is the great equalizer, a reason why they are now 12-0 since their No. 1 ranking Dec. 9. Pressure to the Wildcats means they will find a way to press back.

Arizona is in unchartered waters with a school-record 21-0 start but that does not matter. With each game, we learn something new about the Wildcats’ resolve.

Sean Miller, as the captain of this ship, knows Johnson is the rudder. Johnson has entered the realm of Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Reggie Geary, Miles Simon, Jason Terry and Jason Gardner as one of the more impeccable leaders of the Wildcats’ program.

“I kept on looking over at (Miller) and he gave me the freedom to call my play a few times in a row,” Johnson told reporters about his performance late in the game. “I just tried to make plays for my team. It was really not our offense that was struggling, but our defense at first. But down the stretch we really capitalized on defense.”

PAC-12 STANDINGS

	CONF			OVRL
	W-L	GB	PCT	W-L	PCT	STRK
#1 Arizona	8-0	–	1.000	21-0	1.000	W21
UCLA	5-2	2.5	.714	16-4	.800	W2
ASU	5-3	3	.625	16-5	.762	W3
California	5-3	3	.625	14-7	.667	L3
Washington	5-3	3	.625	13-8	.619	W2
Colorado	4-4	4	.500	15-6	.714	L2
Stanford	4-4	4	.500	13-7	.650	L1
OSU	3-4	4.5	.429	11-8	.579	L1
Utah	3-5	5	.429	14-6	.700	L2
Oregon	2-5	5.5	.286	14-5	.737	W1
USC	1-6	6.5	.167	10-10	.500	L1
Wazzu	1-7	7	.143	8-12	.400	L4

Stanford, which made only two field goals in the last 10 minutes, became the 13th Arizona opponent to score less than 60 points this season.

Arizona’s greatest team, the 1987-88 group that went 35-3 with Elliott and Kerr, held opponents to below 60 in 15 games. The Wildcats still have 10 regular-season games and the postseason on the schedule.

“They are one of the best defensive teams in our conference and in the nation,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins, who has lost eight consecutive games to Miller and the Wildcats. “In a game like this, you just have to make tough shots. They were challenging everything which they normally do. Those guys are very active and long.”

Sean Miller, as the captain of this ship, knows Johnson is the rudder. Johnson has entered the realm of Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Reggie Geary, Miles Simon, Jason Terry and Jason Gardner as one of the more impeccable leaders of the Wildcats’ program.

The defense starts from the perimeter, where Johnson, McConnell, Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, took Stanford out of its rhythm. Their pressure on the ball and passing lanes made the Cardinal look disjointed in the final minutes. Nobody took a shot without a hand in their face.

“We can’t let the defense push us out because then we are running our offense too far back,” Stanford forward Josh Huestis said.

With the way Johnson and McConnell took care of the ball, scored, defended, rebounded, distributed the ball and led with clutch performances, they proved they belong among the elite in Arizona’s storied history of backcourts.

They are in step with Kerr and Craig McMillan, Stoudamire and Khalid Reeves, Simon and Mike Bibby, Gardner and Gilbert Arenas — backcourts that led Arizona to the Final Four.