蜜柚直播

ANAHEIM, Calif. 鈥� Thanks to the dazzling shooting of Nico Mannion and the magnet-like ability of Zeke Nnaji to pull opposing defenders away from teammates, the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats have put on two impressive offensive performances in the Wooden Legacy so far.

Leading the country so far this season in field goal percentage at 54.0, 蜜柚直播 shot a collective 54.8% in wins over Pepperdine on Thursday and Penn on Friday to reach the Wooden Legacy championship game Sunday against Wake Forest.

The Wildcats made 17 of 33 from 3-point range over their two previous Wooden Legacy games and, on the few times they missed shots, they picked up the rebound a respectable 36% of the time.

But it鈥檚 still only November, and there鈥檚 a little issue 蜜柚直播 coach Sean Miller is concerned about.

Of course, he鈥檚 talking about defense.

On the other end of the floor Thursday, 蜜柚直播 allowed Pepperdine to shoot 50.8% from the field and hit more 3-pointers (13) than anybody had against the Wildcats this season 鈥� until Penn matched that effort Friday.

In the semifinals on Friday, Penn hit 13 of 34 3s despite going just 3 of 14 before halftime while shooting 45.0% overall. Led by two-time Ivy League center AJ Brodeur, the Quakers burned UA in the first half with their ability to move the ball around before shooting carefully selected shots inside the arc and, in the second half, by making 10 of 20 3s, including 6 of 11 from freshman Jordan Dingle.

鈥淚鈥檝e never seen so many 3s go in 鈥� in two days, we鈥檝e given up 26 made 3s,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淪ome of it is clearly who we鈥檙e playing. Some of it is our defense. We have to get better and we鈥檙e going to only go as far as our defense improves.鈥�

Miller said there were parts of Friday鈥檚 game where the Wildcats were better defensively, but said overall the defense is 鈥渓ike peaks and valleys,鈥� still lacking a permanent upward arc.

Center Chase Jeter said playing Penn within 24 hours of playing Pepperdine made it tougher. After all, chances are few of them had heard of Jordan Dingle before Friday, while the Quakers didn鈥檛 have to look far to find out about guys such as Nico Mannion and Josh Green.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to give credit to Penn, especially Jordan Dingle,鈥� Jeter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a timing situation, knowing the scouting report. But we鈥檝e got some time here to scout for our next game and we鈥檙e going to make sure that we鈥檙e better prepared defensively.鈥�

Six of the nine players in UA鈥檚 rotation are new, and Miller said that鈥檚 also a factor.

鈥淲e have to continue to improve, we really do,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淪ome of it is just that we have a lot of young guys out there and these types of teams like Pepperdine and Penn drive young guys crazy. They just have never seen the movement in the shooting like they鈥檙e dealing with right now.

鈥淏ut that鈥檚 the good part about being here at this tournament. We鈥檝e seen two unique styles.鈥�

On Sunday against Wake Forest, the Wildcats may not have that issue. The Demon Deacons, among the ACC鈥檚 doormats over the past two seasons, are driven by an all-around senior guard (Brandon Childress), but are bigger and not nearly as reliant on the 3-point shot, taking them only 32.7% of the time.

Significantly bigger than the two previous Wooden Legacy teams the UA has faced, Wake Forest is also a good rebounding team, collecting 20 offensive rebounds to make up for 19% 3-point shooting in an 88-78 win over Long Beach State in the other semifinal game on Friday.

The Beach, meanwhile, had zero offensive rebounds.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 let them convert,鈥� Wake Forest coach Danny Manning said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great stat.鈥�

蜜柚直播 can claim plenty of great stats, too, just mostly on the offensive end.

For starters, there鈥檚 Mannion. The Wildcats鈥� un-freshman-like guard followed up a tricky game winner on Thursday by going 11 for 14 from the field against Penn, putting in a wide range of shots from the field while dealing with what Miller said was a 鈥渢ight鈥� back issue that kept him off the floor briefly.

鈥淣ico Mannion was spectacular on offense,鈥� Miller said.

Mannion said he was simply trying to be aggressive and taking advantage of good looks, though he darted artfully around the perimeter to create some of them himself.

鈥淲e were all getting good looks, so it just made it that much easier,鈥� Mannion said.

Part of that, somewhat intangibly, is coming from Nnaji鈥檚 ability to attract double-teams inside, and his increasing ability to pass accurately out of them.

It鈥檚 a new thing, of course. Three weeks ago, before he started shooting at over an 80 percent pace, there was no such thing as a double team on Nnaji.

鈥淐oming into the season, teams really didn鈥檛 think Zeke was as good as he was in the post,鈥� Mannion said. 鈥淓ach team defends differently. As of lately they鈥檝e been double teaming Zeke pretty heavily.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a credit to what he鈥檚 been capable of doing, and what he鈥檚 gonna continue to do for us this season. But he鈥檚 also done a good job of being able to play out of the trap, and not letting it affect other aspects of his game.鈥�

Miller said Nnaji did an 鈥渆xcellent鈥� job of passing out of traps against Pepperdine and Penn, one reason why Jeter was able to score 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting against the Quakers.

Nnaji shot 5 for 9 himself, missing some second-half shots close to the basket that Miller said he normally hits, but said that the heavy load defensively may be affecting him slightly.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really a learning experience for him because, man, he鈥檚 guarding perimeter players and we鈥檙e asking him to do a lot of different things that he鈥檚 never done before,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淢y thought is that in every game that he plays, every time we鈥檙e able to give him feedback and watch film, he鈥檒l learn and grow a little bit.鈥�

It鈥檚 a balance, of course, for Nnaji and the Wildcats, finding both good offense and good defense.

It鈥檚 just that, in this early part of the season, things are a little lopsided.