BERKELEY, Calif. 鈥 The first time Justin Coleman came back from his dislocated left shoulder, he lasted only four minutes against Colorado and threw a pass away.
On Saturday, three days after taking a hit in the same shoulder at full speed by Stanford 7-footer Josh Sharma, Coleman had no such adjustment.
Coleman played 32 minutes in UA鈥檚 87-65 win at Cal and turned the ball over only once when the Wildcats coughed up the ball eight times in the first half.
Coleman was particularly steady early in the second half, when the Wildcats went eight minutes without a turnover and turned their 40-28 halftime lead into a blowout win.
During that period, Arizona hit its first eight shots and Coleman assisted three of them. He finished with five assists to three turnovers.
鈥淛ustin Coleman was terrific the whole game,鈥 UA coach Sean Miller said. 鈥淗e had a couple of turnovers late, but he really set the tone for the first six, eight, 10 minutes of the second half, where he took the game into his hands and played on both ends. He got his teammates shots, got himself shots and that鈥檚 what you look for a senior point guard.鈥
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Coleman wasn鈥檛 available for comment all week but Miller said he took Thursday off and returned to practice Friday, having taken a hit on Wednesday but not re-dislocating the shoulder.
鈥淗e鈥檚 sore but he鈥檚 a tough kid,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he felt anything here tonight.鈥
Another senior-type performance came from Chase Jeter, who is actually both a junior and a grad student. Jeter graduated last semester in three and a half years between his time at Duke and Arizona, finishing with a degree in general studies.
But he鈥檚 still only a redshirt junior athletically and, the way Miller sees it, actually less experienced than that considering his back injury and limited role over two previous seasons at Duke.
Jeter keeps setting new career-highs, this time in scoring with 23 points, while he also pulled down nine rebounds.
鈥淚 thought Chase had an outstanding game,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淥ffensively he鈥檚 really finding a rhythm scoring (with his) left hand, right hand. He鈥檚 more comfortable further away from the basket than maybe he would have been at the beginning of our season which makes sense, because he doesn鈥檛 have a ton of game experience and as he keeps practicing and learning he鈥檚 such a hard worker that you can see his improvement almost right in front of you.鈥
A classic Bill Walton moment occurred at the end of Jeter鈥檚 .
A widely grinning Walton told Jeter "you're really good, and you're really tall, and you're very cool. Your parents should be really proud."聽
Ira Lee鈥檚 strong move to the basket around 7-foot-3 Connor Vanover and subsequent dunk earned No. 2 billing on Richard Jefferson鈥檚 top plays Saturday during the Pac-12 Networks postgame show.
We're happy to bring to you the slam from 's 87-65 win over Cal.
鈥 Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network)
From every angle.
You're welcome.
RJ gave the No. 1 spot to Utah guard Parker Van Dyke, who raced in with a two-handed dunk that was his first for the Utes.
Nothin' like getting your first dunk during your senior year. fans take a look back at Parker Van Dyke's steal and dunk. 馃憦馃徏
鈥 Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network)
The Wildcats鈥 next two opponents are playing at home Sunday: at 6 p.m. on ESPNU and at 8 p.m. on FS1.
Even though both teams will be coming into McKale, Miller is bracing for two potentially tough games. The Ducks were picked to win the Pac-12, though they lost star center Bol Bol (foot) for the season and are still without forward Kenny Wooten (broken jaw).
They are also coming off a against UCLA.
鈥淥regon, obviously they have a great program,鈥 Miller said. I know they鈥檝e gone through a number of tough moments. I know you lose a guy like Bol Bol and they鈥檝e had some other injuries. That can really set a team back.
鈥淏ut (coach) Dana Altman is one of our game鈥檚 best coaches. He鈥檒l get 鈥榚m right. Wouldn鈥檛 surprise me if they don鈥檛 play a great game (Sunday) and we know we鈥檙e gonna get ready for a terrific team, that鈥檚 going to be well coached, they play with terrific effort.
鈥淎nd Oregon State is one of the most experienced teams on our schedule. Not only because they have upperclassmen but they have a number of players who are two and three-year starters. They play great zone and they鈥檙e a physical team. Both games will be tough. Every game we鈥檝e played has been difficult and it鈥檚 so much about our attitude and us getting better. Hopefully we can continue to maintain our health.鈥
Our full coverage and PDFs of the box score and stats are attached.
