Arizona defense by the numbers   ● The Wildcats are 7-2 this season and are holding opponents to an average of 63.9 points per game.   Date Opponent Opp. FG% Opp. score UA FG% UA score   Nov. 16 San Diego 42.9 69 39.2 80   Nov. 18 Wright State 45.5 66 55.9 83   Nov. 21 Virginia 54.2 78 39.7 60   Nov. 24 Michigan 37.7 60 31.4 61   Nov. 26 Wake Forest 42.6 63 31.6 60   Nov. 30 Wyoming 45.8 70 47.9 98   Dec. 5 Mississippi State 35.4 64 39.4 68   Dec. 11 Utah 47.7 62 42.3 67   Dec. 18 Marquette 30.6 43 34.6 48   Totals 42.4 63.9 40.0 69.4   Season best in bold

Channing Frye has played enough Arizona basketball to know that 48-43 is supposed to be a halftime score. It wasn't. The Wildcats had only 25 midway through their five-point win over Marquette on Saturday. "I looked at the score at halftime and said, 'We only scored 25 points?' " Frye said. Frye's also been a part of the normally up-tempo program long enough to believe that the nine fast-break points the Wildcats scored must be the lowest since "1948 or something like that.'' It wasn't. Last month, the Wildcats had only six at Virginia. After nine games, a trend is clearly setting, even if veteran Wildcats such as Frye still can't get used to it. Arizona is no threat to defend its national scoring title of a year ago. The Wildcats, who averaged 87.1 points a game last season, dropped their season average to under 70 points, to 69.4, with their win at Marquette. At the same time, their shooting percentage from the field skidded under 40 percent, to 39.99. But, in some ways, it's all relative. Thanks to a defense that has held opponents to a mere 63.3 points a game, the Wildcats are 7-2 heading into Tuesday's game with Manhattan. "They've been very consistent on the defensive end, all year with nine games,'' UA coach Lute Olson said. "And the way we're shooting the ball, we better have a great defensive team.'' The Wildcats are better defensively than last season, at least. Arizona, which allowed opponents to shoot 44.1 last season, has held opponents to an average of 42.4 percent from the field this year. This season's figure was bloated somewhat by the 54.2 percent the Wildcats allowed Virginia on Nov. 21; Wyoming and Wright State also shot 46 percent against them. Arizona put together its stingiest defense of the season on Saturday, holding Marquette to just 30.6 percent field goal shooting and just 7-for-24 shooting from three-point territory. Golden Eagle gunners Travis Diener and Steve Novak combined for six three-pointers, but they had to take 18 attempts to get there. Olson didn't have one of his top defenders, having suspended Salim Stoudamire for one game, but he did have an unusually high amount of teamwork. "I thought the guys did a good job of defending and communicating,'' Olson said. "I thought at the end of the second half we did a better job of containing the guys who needed to be contained. "You're not going to see two better shooters than Diener and Novak. We switched everything (defensively) on the court and if you're going to do that, you have to have five guys communicating.'' UA guard Chris Rodgers noticed the difference. "The guys are a lot more composed and looking to help each other out a lot more,'' he said. "A lot more.'' As a team, the Wildcats put together a defense that impressed Diener, who said only some of his missed shots came with open looks. "I think they made me hurry a little bit in the first half,'' Diener said. "Give them credit. They're a great defensive team.'' So if it's defense winning games this season, instead of the offense that won 20 games last season, that's OK with associate head coach Jim Rosborough. Wins come first in his mind. Running and shooting are lesser priorities. "I don't care if we have 48 and win by one,'' Rosborough said. "I don't care. We need wins right now. We need wins. This was a huge win. We couldn't defend anything last year, and now we're defending well. "We are better defensively. There's no doubt about that. Now we've got to get our offense cranked up a little, which we will.'' Will they? Forward Hassan Adams, who has clinched the past two games not by shooting but by rebounding, is a believer. "We put so much effort in on defense, but our offense is going to come around,'' Adams said. "It comes with our confidence. Our confidence level is going to rise.'' Arizona defense by the numbers ● The Wildcats are 7-2 this season and are holding opponents to an average of 63.9 points per game. Date Opponent Opp. FG% Opp. score UA FG% UA score

 

Nov. 16 San Diego 42.9 69 39.2 80 Nov. 18 Wright State 45.5 66 55.9 83 Nov. 21 Virginia 54.2 78 39.7 60 Nov. 24 Michigan 37.7 60 31.4 61 Nov. 26 Wake Forest 42.6 63 31.6 60 Nov. 30 Wyoming 45.8 70 47.9 98 Dec. 5 Mississippi State 35.4 64 39.4 68 Dec. 11 Utah 47.7 62 42.3 67 Dec. 18 Marquette 30.6 43 34.6 48 Totals 42.4 63.9 40.0 69.4 Season best in bold