Jones breaks out, Swann gets credit

UA assistant Salvo Coppa at West Virginia: “They’re a great team. Their strength is defense. They start everything with the defensive pressure, with their full core pressure. They force turnovers and they become dangerous when they keep turning the opponent over and going for easy layups, and they keep turning up the pressure and they keep scoring. They were able to have more runs, for example, with Colorado. They had a 14-0 run, if I’m wrong, then one 10-0 run and Colorado was in. That’s what we want to avoid.

“We want to be able to score like we did against Kansas and Cincinnati and be able to get stops. Also get stops to not let them set up their pressure. It’s not only important to get going and make plays offensively, like we did, but to be more consistent defensively. … We have to continue with our game plan, keep denying, keep putting pressure on the ball without thinking too much.”

Throwback: Skylar Jones scored 16 points — all coming in the second half — to lead the Wildcats to their first Big 12 home win Wednesday night. Afterward, she said her coach, Adia Barnes, lit a fire under her butt to get her going as she came off a four-game slump. It turned out to be something Barnes experienced a lot herself when she was a Wildcat player.

“The funny thing is, Coach B (Joan Bonvicini) used to do the same thing to me,” Barnes said. “… You don’t really understand many of those lessons until you get older. Then you’re like, ‘Aha, I know why they did that,’ or when you’re a mom. (Jones) is growing and she’s getting better. She is growing in so many ways right now.”

Jones said that when she was on the bench in the first half, she saw her teammates share the ball and take good shots. She also saw that the scoring lanes were open. When she got into the game, she followed suit.

“We’re the best when we pass the ball and everybody scores,” Jones said. “…When we pass the ball to Breya (Cunningham), we split, we cut and we move. … I didn’t want to come in and ruin that rhythm. I just tried not to rush anything or force any shots and just go with the flow of the game.”

Collecting one more: Lauryn Swann earned Allstate Bench Performance of the Week for her effort in the first half of Wednesday’s win over Cincinnati. As a reserve, she entered the game in the first quarter and scored on a mid-range jumper, then a 3 and added five more points in the second quarter. Swann, being a shooter, certainly felt it. This was not a one-off as in Big 12 play she averaged 12 points in the Cincinnati game and put up 17 points against Kansas on Sunday.

This is Swann’s third Big 12 honor of the season. She has won Big 12 Freshman of the Week twice.

Unfortunately, Swann was injured at the end of the first half on an elbow to her ear which caused her to limp off the field with assistance. She did not return to the field, but was on the bench in the second half. Swann was evaluated Thursday, but it is not yet known if she will be available for Saturday’s game.

Going up: It’s time to start paying attention to the NET rankings, which are part of the formula the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses to determine who makes the field. Before Arizona spent the week at Kansas, the Wildcats were the NET No. 83. After the split and ending with a win over Kansas, their NET climbed to no. 68. And after beating Cincinnati, NET rose again, this time to 63.

If the Wildcats can stay on that track for the final six-plus weeks of the season, they would be on track to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight year. However, a lot needs to happen between now and March, especially winning.

Arizona’s opponent on Saturday, West Virginia, has a NET of No. 11 and has remained stable since last week as it has won three games in a row. The last time the Mountaineers lost was on Jan. 11 to Oklahoma State, which just beat no. 9 TCU on Wednesday night and has a 28th NET.

Connections: Isis Beh will meet a former teammate, roommate and good friend in senior guard JJ Quinerly on Saturday. Quinerly is fourth in the Big 12, averaging 19 points per game. game and shooting 43% from the field.

Another connection is UA assistant Bett Shelby. She was the associate head coach for the Mountaineers for three seasons and coached former UA standout Esmery Martinez, Beh, as well as Quinerly at West Virginia.

In addition, former UA assistant Erin Grant is in her second season at West Virginia.

27.6: West Virginia ranks seventh in the nation in scoring margin, scoring an average of 27.6 points more than its opponents. On Wednesday, the Mountaineers outscored ASU by 30 points, 89-59.

2: West Virginia is second in the nation and first in the Big 12 in steals per game. match, with almost 15 per match. Arizona is second in the Big 12 with 10.5 per game. match.

2: Arizona shot 50% in two consecutive games against Kansas and Cincinnati. In both games, the Wildcats shot a higher percentage in the fourth quarter. Against Kansas they shot 67% in the final frame and against Cincinnati it was 57%.