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Speaker 1: So on k O v O probo k U d

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d H D two one O three nine at ninety

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eight three ESPN The Band stream.

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Speaker 2: Us live on ESPN Theban dot Com.

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Speaker 3: Get to know the Cougar's opponents and rivals right now.

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Speaker 1: I gonna know the faux segment on Cougar Sports with

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Ben Kretel.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back Cruger Sports. One of three nine ninety eight

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point three ESPN The Fan.

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Speaker 1: I'm Ben Crittle broadcasting from our Vanderwealth studios Mandterwealth dot Com.

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Get on a free Q and A no obligation to

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invest Q and A with our tax mart Wealth Advisors.

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It's getting towards tax season. Why not invest with the

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Speaker 2: Rather than giving it all to Uncle Sam.

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Speaker 1: It is time to get to know the voue b

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YU versus U of a matchup the Wildcats versus the Cougars.

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That's right down in Tucson, Ky.

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Speaker 2: He says his backs against the wall, the backs against

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the rope.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna find a way to rally his troops that

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have been decimated by injury.

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Speaker 2: Well, guess what.

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Speaker 1: The U A Watcats are also down a few key players.

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Speaker 2: Including there. Maybe they're arguably the best player co Pete.

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Speaker 1: We'll see if the personnel is equivalent in this game

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down in Tucson. Tucson is a tough place to play.

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Michel is a tough place to get dubs. But U

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of A has lost some games recently. They need to

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find a way to win. It's gonna be a tough one.

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Note doubt about it. This know the faux segment gonna

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be brought to you by rubisnrubies in dot com. I

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love to hike, bike razor and horseback ride through the

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hooters of Bryce Cannon. I love staying at Ruby's In

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right at the mouth, right at the aperture of Bryce

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Cannon National Park. I love making memories with friends and

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family members. I think you will as well head them

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down to Bryce Cannon National Park and make sure you're

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staying at Ruby's In.

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Speaker 2: They got and all you can eat breakfast.

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Speaker 1: They have comfortable lodgings, they got a gym, they got

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heated pool and Dracouzzi everything that you need for a

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great time. Much more economical than heading to the mouse

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as well. Rubies and Rubies end cops stay there today,

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Let's get out to the hot line. Brian Jefferies is

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on the live voice of the Arizona Wild Guys. Brian,

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how that are you?

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Speaker 3: Ben? Doing very well? How about you?

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Speaker 1: I'm leaving the dream Man, talking ball and having a

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great time. We're getting a ton of snow, pull a

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ton of moisture, much needed moisture. The Byau Cougar basketball

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team is probably enjoying some of the beautiful weather there

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at Tucson, though I'm an Arizona boy, I know what

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it's like at tucsad this time of the year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's sunny, it's not quite as warm as normal

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right now. We've got a little cold front moving in,

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but it's in the sixties. Nice day, a little breeze outside,

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So no complaints at all. It's our high season, as

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you know, and we're going to enjoy it as long

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as we've got.

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Speaker 1: It, no doubt about it. What is the state of

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u of a basketball right now?

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Speaker 2: Brian?

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Speaker 3: Well, you know they ran off to a twenty three

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and oh start, best started in school history, and then

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got beat at Kansas again. You know that's a tough

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place to play, tough place to win if you're a

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visiting team and came back home and then lost to

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Texas Texas past Saturday, and think that one kind of

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you know, put a little shock into everybody because it

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was a home game number one. Although Arizona was shorthanded,

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especially in the second half of that ballgame, I think

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most people figured that they could, you know, somehow figure

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out a way to do it. They couldn't. And you

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give the Red Raiders all the credit in the world

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for getting the way. And so, you know, back to

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back losses now, and when teams go through this, when

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you get off to a great start and then you

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lose a couple of games, how do you rebound from that?

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And I think that's going to be one of the

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big questions for the Wildcats tonight and going forward, depending

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on the health of the team starting tonight and going forward.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what is the health of the team right now?

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Why is co Pete sitting out this one?

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Speaker 3: Well, I'll start before I mentioned Cole, I'll mention Dwayne Aristode,

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who was in their rotation. He did not play against

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Texas Tech. He will not play tonight. It's a illness.

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It's not anything, no broken bones or anything, but he

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will be out two games and we'll see about Saturday

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when the Wildcats go to Houston Cole Pete. His right

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leg has been bothering here the last week or so.

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In m Kansas, they got a little bit worse during

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the first half of the Texas Tech game, so he

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sat out the second half and that was obviously a

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big factor in Arizona's loss, and he will not play tonight.

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I don't the plans are right now that he does

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not go with the team on this road trip coming

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up to Houston and Baylor, and they're going to kind

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of reassess things after he has some time to, you know,

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sit back and get arrest. The doctors are taking a

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closer look at it to see if there's anything more.

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But you know, without him, he was their top recruit

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coming in. He averages fourteen points five rebounds a game,

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and you know, it's tough to take a guy like

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that out of the lineup, and they hope that they

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can get him back here sometime soon because I think ultimately,

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when you look at the big picture, Arizona needs to

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have him if they want to get to where they

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want to go.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it look BYU's been devastated by injury this year.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if they've ever experienced anything like this.

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Speaker 1: Has you ay or experienced attrition down the stretch that

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has impacted maybe NCAA tournament runs and and conference championship runs.

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Speaker 3: Well, I can. Yeah, there's always going to be seasons

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that you've got injuries you have to deal with. You know,

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last year Arizona Los mol Crevas, they're starting center eight

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games into the season, and you know, they had designed

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their entire offense really around him at seven foot two,

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and they had to make some mid season adjustments. They

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were able to do so, but that hurt big time.

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They didn't get to the Sweet sixteen last year, but

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I think without him that made an impact. And you

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can go back over the years and find situations like that.

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We were just last week celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary

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of the two thousand and one Final four team, and

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you know, they had an injury to Gilbert Arenas. They

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made it to the Final four and they had beaten

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Michigan State in the semi finals. Gilbert A Renas got

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hurt the day between games. He couldn't even shoot his

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shoulder hurt so bad, and he just wasn't very effective

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against Duke and the championship game, and the boot Devils

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won it and won the National Championship. So you know,

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who knows if he would have been healthy, maybe Arizona

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one would have won the Natty that year. So yeah,

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you can go back and find I think key injuries

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anytime that can affect a season, and those are just

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a couple of examples that have hit Arizona here both

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lately and twenty five years back.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's always tough to fight through it.

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Speaker 2: All.

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Speaker 1: Things were getting competitive right now. How would you describe

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the Big twelve?

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Speaker 2: Brian?

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Speaker 1: You've seen a lot of great basketball over your time

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as the voice there down there with in Tucson representing

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the UVA Wildcatch. How competitive, how good, how talented? How

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well coach are these Big twelve teams?

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Speaker 3: Well? This is an incredible conference. And you know, when

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Arizona joined the Big twelve last year, that's one thing

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we were looking forward to. I was looking forward to

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because even though I grew up around the Pac twelve

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my entire life, the Pac ten before that, I think

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I was born when it was the Pac eight. Not

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to give away anything. But you know, it was a

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kind of a jolt of the system to change conferences

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all of a sudden at this point. But when it

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comes to basketball, you could make the argument that the

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Big twelve is the best in the country. And you

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just take a look at the teams right now. You know, Houston, Arizona,

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Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU and even on the

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fringe there UCF, you know, maybe even West Virginia teams

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that might have a chance to get into the tournament.

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It's just incredibly competitive. It's a very physical conference. Going

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on the road I think is very difficult. The venues

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are tough to play in. You mentioned coming to McHale, obviously,

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going to the Marriott Center, you go back to fog Allen,

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you go to Houston. You could go almost anywhere and say,

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how do you win on the road in this conference?

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And that is a real key if you're going to

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win the league. You got to figure out a way

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to win away from home. So it's I so far,

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I really enjoyed it because I love being in atmospheres

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like that where you know the games, you don't know

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the outcome of the game, and I think in the

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Pac twelve. There was a point there where there were

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half the stops that you made where you thought, Okay,

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you're going to win and usually did. It's not that

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way in the Big twelve. So very tough, very physical,

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very demanding. I think on every team.

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Speaker 1: Brian Jeffries here on your Utah ESPN ready to never

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get in prep getting ready for that BYUU of a

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matchup tonight should be a good one, should be a

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competitive one. The voice of the Aarson a Lodcat Sockets

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and Ball Right now, what is it that has led

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to some of the losses experience? Like, how do you

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describe the sequence of events that led to some of

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these ls recently?

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Speaker 3: Well, I would get I'm going to give Kansas most

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of the credit for the game back in Lawrence. I mean,

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that's an outstanding program, as I said, And you guys

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know this. You know winning and fog Allen is very

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difficult for any team. They rarely lose at home. They

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were without Darren Peterson, their best player in the ball game.

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Nobody knew that until right before tip off. He had

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flu problems and so he decided to set out and

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sometimes when that happens, you know the other guys say, okay,

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well we got to step up, and they got some

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great help from some people that you know, may not

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have had that big a role so far in the season.

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And Kansas is also an outstanding defensive team and that's

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probably the biggest key there. They really took Arizona out

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of its game. The Wildcats, you know, lead the Big

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twelve in free throw attempts and free throws made. They

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like to get the ball in the paint, they draw fouls,

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they get to the free throw line. Kansas defended without fouling,

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and so to their credit, they took one of Arizona's

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you know, big weapons away from them. So again all

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credit to them. Texas Tech was here over the weekend.

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Arizona played with a seven man rotation. I think that hurt.

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But Texas Tech is just a heck of a basketball team.

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And you know, speaking of injuries, Joy just hate to

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hear about j T. Top and now out for the year.

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He was a force in that ball game. Because we

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go back to the strength of this league and really

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the top you know, five to six teams. I think

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on a given day, anybody can beat the other one.

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And so that was that was just to their it again.

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Arizona played the first half with seven guys, the second

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half was six guys, and then it goes to overtime,

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and I think, and I'm not making any excuses, but

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I think Arizona just got kind of winded in that

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bowl game and the Red Raiders had more going for them,

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and they get credit for the win. So that's you know,

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that's been at these last two and now we find

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out tonight and going forward, you know what the Wildcats

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can do. They got to face very good BYU team.

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Then they got to go to Houston on Saturday, and

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so it doesn't get in easier.

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Speaker 1: Give me your analysis of the first game at the

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Marriott Center.

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Speaker 2: What happened, Why it happened.

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Speaker 1: It seemed like UVE was going to be a cruise

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control with a dominant victory.

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Speaker 2: What did you know the.

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Speaker 1: Coaching staff say postgame and what did you see from courtside?

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, Arizona came out very strong in that

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bowl game. I think the lead at halftime, I wanted

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to say was thirteen, and went up by nineteen there

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early in the second half, and then you know, BYU

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started hitting shots. They didn't hit him in the first

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half you know, Richie Sanders got going, the bands get also,

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I mean obviously had his twenty four points. I think

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one of the keys for Arizona in the win was

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they held DeVonta to twenty four shots. So twenty four

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shots for twenty four points. Coaches love to see that.

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So even though he got his average, I think Arizona

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didn't let him, you know, just take over the ballgame.

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And Arizona played pretty good defense on Robert Wright as well,

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and the late block shot by Brayden Burry's kind of

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sealed the game up for Arizona. So you know, bo

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I was reading the BYU notes and this is something

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they've been pretty good at making comebacks. So when you have,

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you know, some really good shooters, you can do that

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because the three point, you know, basket can make a

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huge difference when you get behind. And so the BYU's credit,

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you know, they got to go in there and had

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a chance to win it. Arizona was, you know, I

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want to say lucky in some sense to get out

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of there with a win. But because they have built

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that big lead, they were was able to withstand the comeback.

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And now without Richie Saunders, you know how what does

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BYU do tonight? I think with Arizona without Coed Pete,

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how what do they do tonight? Talking to Tommy Lloyd

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earlier today, said it's probably gonna be adjustments on the

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fly tonight and probably for both coaches.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's going to be intriguing one, no doubt.

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Richie Saunders is out for the season. Uh hash has

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the coaching staff chimed in on on some of the

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losses that BYU hasn't How they're prepping just for the

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big two of.

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Speaker 3: V yu Oh, I mean they've not got they haven't

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given me any inside scoops. I think they're not going

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to change much what they normally do. Arizona is a

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man of man defensive team and that's it. And you know,

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they've got to control what they can control. So, you know,

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can they keep de Bonsa from going off tonight, which

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we know he's obviously very capable of doing Again, they

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did a pretty good job against Robert Wright in the

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first game. Now Right's coming off back to back thirty

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point games. They can't let him get going, and then

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you know who's going to be that next guy? You

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never know? And that's to me one of the you know,

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keys to to basketball is that when you're down like that,

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who's going to come off the bench or who's won

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one of the starters, maybe that hasn't been a volume

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score that all of a sudden is going to find

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his range. And you know, Arizona's got a guy in

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Anthony del Arso who I'm not saying he's going to

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do it tonight, but they need him to put up

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double figures. Probably with the loss of Coleo Pede, who

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is it on the BYU roster that's going to be

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able to step up tonight and you know, maybe not

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score eighteen, but at least give them, you know, another

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scoring presence outside the Big two.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned this is a crazy time we're about. We're

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a few weeks away from selection Sunday and March Madness.

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It's going to be pretty crazy to see what happens.

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There's even cannibalism occurring in the Big twelve right now

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that could be some shifting, some pivoting. We'll see how

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it plays out with these finals, six or seven games

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with the Big twelve, is there a maybe a potential

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bottom drawer or seemingly kind of middle of the PAC team.

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Do you think that could maybe raise their stock and

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get some big wins on the back end of the

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schedule here in the Big Twelve.

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, that's a great question, Ben, And you know,

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outside of maybe the top five or six teams, I'm

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kind of curious to see what UCF does here. They've

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had a pretty good season with an entirely new roster.

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Arizona State got a big win over Texas Tech last night,

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and because we see the Sun Devils, you're in and

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year out, that's a very talented roster. Now they haven't

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played up maybe to their potential, and they're just me talking.

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They're two games above five hundred right now. But that's

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one of those teams on a neutral court where if

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they get going like they did last night, then you

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know they got a chance to beat some people. So

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those two teams to me kind of stand out. And

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maybe TCU that's another one that I think has an

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opportunity because they're they're kind of on the bubble right

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now in terms of getting into you know, March Madness

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without winning the Big Twelve tournament, So you know, could

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they get going here late in the season, So when

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you get to the Big Twelve tournament, and you've got

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teams like that where they they're in desperation mode. They've

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got to win if they want to play beyond Kansas City.

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And and you've got some talent like Arizona State has,

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like UCF, like TCU. I wouldn't be surprised if you

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know one of those three, if not, the two out

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of those three make a pretty good run.

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Speaker 1: The Big Twelve is I've called it the true Gauntlet

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of college athletics. The SEC football conference. They're always talking

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about the Gauntlet, how difficult it is. The Big Twelve

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is where it's at right now. Big Ten not too

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far off either. Do you think the Big Twelve these

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are the best conference of basketball teams right now? I

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don't think the Big Ten still takes the cake right now.

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Speaker 3: Well I'm biased, of course, and so I think it's

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the Big Twelve. And you know, I was looking. I

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haven't updated it, but I look back the other night

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and saw that of the top I want to say,

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the top five teams in the Big Twelve, all their

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losses had been quad one losses. No other Power four

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conference could say that. Now I have to go back

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and update it. I know it's changed because of Texas

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Tech losing last night at Ez State, that was not

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a Quad one loss for them, But I just think

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that tells you right there the strength of this conference,

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especially at the top. And so you know, Arizona's got

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to play BYU Deny, go to Houston, go to Baylor,

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Kansas home, Iowa, stayed at home, and then finish a

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mile high up at Colorado. And you know, from the

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Wildcat perspective, what they're looking at right now, it's a

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really tough and they've already you know, lost to Kansas

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Now in Texas Tech, you're in the latter half. So yeah,

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very tough. And we knew that when the schedule came out,

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and it's proving that way. And so if Arizona's gonna

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win the championship this year, you know they're gonna have

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to figure out how to get through some of these

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teams that you know that right now have a deeper roster.

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Speaker 1: Brian Jeffries, Ladies and gentlemen, how are you feeling right

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now about the U of A Athletic department, their vision

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for football, basketball and the rest.

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Speaker 2: Of the Olympic sports right now?

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Speaker 1: What what direction is U of A trending right now

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do you think as far as where they stay and

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in the competitive landscape of collegiate athletics.

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Speaker 3: Well, if you go back a couple of years ago,

371
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you know, Jed Fish was the football coach, won ten

372
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games and then took the job at Washington. Brett Brennan

373
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came in to take over. He was at San Jose State,

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and the Wildcats went four and eight in their first

375
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season under Brennan, and I think a lot of people

376
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thought that was, you know, a major step backwards. I

377
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think there were some reasons behind it, starting with the

378
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transfer portal. You know, ten guys transferred to Washington that

379
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certainly hurt. And then Brennan in the second year, they

380
00:17:31,559 --> 00:17:34,079
win nine, they go to a bowl game, and he's

381
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gotten a contract extension, did very well in the portal.

382
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And so the feeling is the football program is on

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solid ground right now and a chance really you know,

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makes some major strides moving forward. Although, as you guys

385
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probably know, I when the schedule came out, we see

386
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,599
game number two September twelfth is in provo against me.

387
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Why that should be a lot of fun. But anyway,

388
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the Arizona Athletics feels very good about where football is right. Obviously.

389
00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:04,079
Tommy Lloyd, in his fifth year as the men's basketball coach,

390
00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,079
has you know, done some great things. And this team,

391
00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:09,000
if they get healthy, as a chance maybe to win

392
00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:12,799
it all across the board. You know, baseball team was

393
00:18:12,799 --> 00:18:15,319
at the College World Series last year. Softball's won eight

394
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:20,039
national championships, volleyball's moving up, women's basketball has a new

395
00:18:20,039 --> 00:18:22,720
coach this year. I think they're in some growing pains

396
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right now. Always have good golf here. I could go

397
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on and on, so you know it right now seems

398
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,400
to be a really good time. Tennis has been outstanding,

399
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,680
and you know it's as the former athletic director here

400
00:18:37,799 --> 00:18:39,720
would say, it's a great day to be a Wildcat,

401
00:18:39,759 --> 00:18:42,240
and you could probably use that pretty much any day.

402
00:18:42,279 --> 00:18:44,119
I mean, teams are going to have their ups and downs.

403
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I mean, you know, everybody doesn't. It's a cyclical business.

404
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As you know, you have good seasons and challenging seasons.

405
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But it's been a good year so far for Arizona Athletics.

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Speaker 1: Brian, best way to support you what you do, how

407
00:18:57,079 --> 00:18:59,440
you do it, and give me a little score prediction,

408
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or at least give me how you think this game

409
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is going to play.

410
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Speaker 2: Out tonight to Tucson.

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Speaker 3: You know, I tell you what, here's some really interesting, man.

412
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These are the top two scoring teams in the Big Twelve,

413
00:19:09,079 --> 00:19:12,519
Arizona eighty eight points a game and BYU at eighty six.

414
00:19:13,079 --> 00:19:16,519
I'm going to guess that neither team gets to eighty tonight.

415
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I think these both coaches. I think both coaches know

416
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,079
that they're shorthanded and they've got to slow this game

417
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,119
down a little bit tonight because you know, I think

418
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,519
you're calling upon the bench now. They're probably going to

419
00:19:29,599 --> 00:19:32,359
have to rotate some more guys in and out. And

420
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I know both teams would like a little more up tempo.

421
00:19:35,039 --> 00:19:37,519
I just have a gut feeling that this might be

422
00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:40,079
a little lower scoring game than these two teams are

423
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,920
used to playing. So that's number one. I'm not going

424
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:43,319
to tell you who's going to win it because I

425
00:19:43,319 --> 00:19:45,640
think there's so many new things right now. I mean,

426
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,680
how does Arizona adjust without co Opete? How does BYU

427
00:19:48,799 --> 00:19:52,599
adjust without Richie Saunders. I think that those two elements

428
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make this a little bit of an unpredictable outcome.

429
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Speaker 1: It's the forty third meeting between these two programs. Arizona

430
00:19:59,759 --> 00:20:02,400
leads all time series twenty two to twenty and by

431
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:04,920
US five and fifteen all time in Tucson.

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Speaker 2: That's tough. It's tough to win down there.

433
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,279
Speaker 1: But that big said, The Creuz have won their last

434
00:20:09,279 --> 00:20:11,519
two trips to the McHale Center, including that ninety six

435
00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,039
ninety five win last season during a nine game winning streak.

436
00:20:15,079 --> 00:20:17,519
We'll see how it plays out tonight. Thanks so much, Brian.

437
00:20:17,559 --> 00:20:20,880
We appreciate you. Thanks for hopping on to give us

438
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,359
some some knowledge of the UFA Wildcats.

439
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,640
Speaker 3: All right, ben, enjoy it, enjoy the snow and then.

440
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,680
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I appreciate that. We will, we need it.

441
00:20:29,759 --> 00:20:32,200
We definitely. I'd rather be golfing with you though.

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00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,240
Speaker 3: All right, Well sometimes sometime down the road.

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Speaker 2: All right, We'll see you soon.

444
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,880
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Brian Jeffries, the voice of the Arizona

445
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,119
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