GAME PREVIEW: Gardner-Webb Squares Off With National Power Arizona Tuesday
December 01, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GWU Game Notes | Gameday Central
The Game
Gardner-Webb faces #3/4 Arizona on Tuesday, December 2 in the McKale Center at 7:00 pm Mountain Time. The game will air live on the Pac-12 Network.
Series Notes
This marks the first meeting between Gardner-Webb and Arizona. This is the fourth time the Runnin' Bulldogs have played a team ranked among the top five in the nation. Gardner-Webb fell to #2 Texas, 95-63, on December 29, 2009 in Lubbock, Texas.
The Coaches
Gardner-Webb's Tim Craft is in his second season with the Runnin' Bulldogs, leading GWU to an 18-15 record last winter while being named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award.
Sean Miller is in his sixth season at Arizona, entering tonight's game with a 255-95 lifetime record and a 135-48 mark with the Wildcats. Miller has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last five seasons, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2011.
Last Time Out
Junior Jerome Hill (Adel, Ga.) set a new career-high with 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting, and Tyler Strange (Leominster, Mass.) dished out a season-high 12 assists to lead Gardner-Webb to a 78-63 victory over NCAA Division II Brevard College on Saturday afternoon in Paul Porter Arena.
Gardner-Webb (3-3) shot 54.4 percent from the floor, including a 59.3 percent clip in the second half, while holding Brevard to a field goal percentage of 41.4 percent in the contest. The Tornados outrebounded the Runnin' Bulldogs by a 37-35 margin, including a 15-11 advantage on the offensive boards, while Gardner-Webb recorded 20 assists on 31 field goals.
Hill led all scorers with a career-high 32 points, knocking down 13-of-18 from the floor while pulling down a contest-best eight rebounds. Tyrell Nelson (Charlotte, N.C.) and Adonis Burbage (Orlando, Fla.) added 12 and 10 points, respectively, as Strange dished out a game- and season-high 12 assists.
Jarvis Davis (Columbia, S.C.) and Dylan Poston (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) each chipped in eight points as Harold McBride (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded a game- and career-high four steals.
Looking at Arizona
The Arizona Wildcats continue to lead the pack in the Pac-12, entering the week ranked third in the AP Poll and fourth in the USA Today Coaches Poll with an unblemished 6-0 record after edging San Diego State, 61-59, to win the EA Sports Maui Invitational last week. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson leads the way for Arizona, averaging 13.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while knocking down 27-of-46 (58.7 percent) of his shots from the floor this season.
Stanley Johnson and Brandon Ashley have excelled as well, combining for 26.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per game so far this season while T.J. McConnell has dished out 37 assists and registered 17 steals.
