It’s fair to say our young wildcats are finally starting to find their groove. Not only are our upper classmen beginning to learn how to be leaders, but our under classmen are really starting to develop into some scary good talents. We only went 7 players deep today, and with some magical subbing from Miller, he managed to keep anyone from fouling out.

As a team there was plenty of fight and desire to go around, but at the same time there were some obvious negatives we will need to fix if we are going to make a legitimate run for the tournament. I will say right now though, if this team manages to go on a run and get into the tournament, nobody is going to want to play us. Our biggest weakness to start the year was the lack of size in the middle. With Chol’s development we are now able to compete far better with those teams who have big men inside.

As for team stats here are a few thoughts:

• 38.3% FG shooting for the game. That is not good enough. I understand Stanford has a very good defense, especially at home, but we need to be aiming around 45% to be at our most dangerous.
• 31.3% Three point shooting. I can live with that number, but I think with our shooters we should be consistently around 40%.
• 60% FT shooting. 15-25 They only had 12 FT attempts for the game. When you get that many more chances from the line and fail to take advantage of that, it usually spells disaster. There is no excuse for this. I expect Miller to really hit on this all week.
• As always I am impressed we are able to out rebound a much bigger team 35-34.
• Only 8 assists for the game isn’t nearly what we need as a team.
• 7 Blocks today. CHOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 11 turnovers. I always aim for under 10, but they weren’t glaring turnovers that immediately turned into points, so I can live with the 11 today.

Come join me after the jump for some well earned grades

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. After watching the Arizona Wildcats pull off a 56-43 win against the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto on Saturday, all the mid-game cringing from Wildcat nation was probably well worth it.

Sean Miller's team shot 38.3 percent from the field and held the Cardinal to 24.6 percent shooting. Improving to 16-8 (7-4 Pac-12) on the season, Arizona used a late game push to out-execute Stanford despite dealing with obvious adversity and poor shooting.

With Kevin Parrom out for the season and Jordin Mayes dealing with his own foot injury, Miller only went seven deep in the rotation. Worsening the troubles was Solomon Hill finding himself in foul trouble. Going seven players deep and playing the offense-defense substitution game for much of the second half, Miller's coaching came through. By that, I mean both in his Xs and Os, and in his motivational tactics.

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Time: 1 p.m. MST

TV: FSAZ

The Arizona Wildcats operate in spurts. Whether it was finding themselves down by 13 in less than 10 minutes of play to begin a contest against Cal, or a 30-8 spurt to end the half up by 11, Sean Miller's team doesn't do much by the book.

You don't know which team will show up or for how long, but of course it'd be a positive sign for the Wildcats should the latter face make an appearance for 40 minutes against the Stanford Cardinal today.

Sitting at 16-6 overall and 6-4 in the Pac-12, the Cardinal are tied with the 15-8 Wildcats in the standing. Both are two games back of the sole Pac-12 leader, Washington, and the games against the teams tied with them and above them become all the more monumental.

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The Arizona Wildcats were in desperate need of a building block for a NCAA tournament resume lacking of anything substantial. They'd lost to ever-growing rival Washington last weekend and had yet to beat any team in the Top 50 of college basketball's RPI rankings.

With a 78-74 victory on the road against the California Golden Bears, the Wildcats finally got the monkey off their backs. The win put the Huskies in sole possession of the Pac-12 at 8-2, brought the (15-8, 6-4) Wildcats one game back of the Golden Bears, Oregon and Colorado, and also gave UA its first victory against a decently-rated team.

Cal's RPI stands at No. 42 in the nation as of Friday morning, and with the only Pac-12 team ahead of the Wildcats left on the schedule being the Buffaloes, the win keeps Arizona relevant in postseason discussion. For sure, it'll be a tall hill to climb, but from what we've seen the past two games, Sean Miller's crew still has a chance to make a late-season run.

If anything, we know they can take a punch.

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The Wildcats played a tough game against Washington, and nearly fought their way back to a victory before a Tony Wroten block sent the Huskies out of McKale Center with a steal of a road victory.

The California Golden Bears are at the top of the Pac-12 standings, and Washington is in a dogfight with the UCLA Bruins right now. So there's the Golden Bears' motivation to protect their home court. Arizona's motivation simply lies in showing a desperation that came out late in the Washington game.

Can the Wildcats begin a run tonight in Berkeley, or will a well-executing Cal team be too much?

The Arizona Wildcats take on the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, Calif., tonight at 9. We exchanged a Q&A with California Golden Blogs to see what's going on with Mike Montgomery's surging team that leads the Pac-12 field, their chances in the NCAA tournament and how they'll fare against the Wildcats.

Arizona Desert Swarm: This is the only time these two teams will play in the regular season, so I'll ask it now. Do you feel like the Golden Bears could make a deep run in the NCAA tournament?

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The Arizona Wildcats announced that forward Kevin Parrom will miss the rest of the season with a broken right foot, and the loss couldn't come at a worst time for a desperate UA team.

Per a release from the athletic department:

The injury occurred near the end of the first half and will require surgery. Parrom will miss the remainder of the season. This particular break is unrelated to any of his previous injuries.

The loss hurts more than any statistics can show. Arizona has been far and away a better team through the past three games, all of which Parrom had a significant role within. He scored seven points, had three rebounds and two assists in the first half of Saturday's 69-67 loss to the Washington Huskies.

And while he brings energy off the bench, along with a jolt in the tempo, the injury becomes more painful for a player who lost two family members and got shot in the leg in the past six months.

Furthermore, it's bad news concerning Parrom's basketball career. He's dealt with two separate foot injuries at his time with Sean Miller's Wildcats.