Utah freshmen forwards Donnie Tillman and Chris Seeley dressed for the first time in since the start of Pac-12 play on Thursday night against Arizona.
Tillman missed the previous four games with a sprained foot. He last played against Utah State in Vivint Smart Home Arena on Dec. 9. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Tillman averaged 10.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game through his first nine collegiate games. He played 11 minutes and scored four points in the first half on Thursday night.
Seeley, who sat out last season as a redshirt year, had not played since Nov. 16. He had gallbladder surgery on Dec. 1. He did not play in the first half against Arizona.
“That’s what we’re missing,” Utes senior guard Justin Bibbins said earlier this week of potentially getting Tillman and Seeley back. “Like at Oregon State. Ty [Rawson] got into foul trouble earlier and we kind of lacked the four man position, so we had to play small. We had to slide Gabe [Bealer] to the four, which he’s not normally used to doing. It makes hard for us, offensively, because we’re not use to that lineup.
“Having the four mans back with Chris and Donnie is important for our team going forward. Having more rebounding and more size will help us.”
Bahamian big man
Arizona freshman forward Deandre Ayton came into the night averaging 19.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. The 7-foot-1, 250-pound projected high NBA draft pick was a McDonald’s All-American in high school and one of the top-rated recruits in the nation.
The native of the Bahamas has already established himself as a dominant figure in the Pac-12. He scored 23 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in last week’s win over Arizona State.
“He kind of towers over most guys, but at the same time he’s got footwork and finesse,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “He switched out onto our guards a couple times and we couldn’t take advantage of him. There were a lot of subtle things that were impressive outside of just his normal dominance, you know, getting the ball around the basket and dunking it or making a great low-post move. He showed a lot of things out there.”
Arizona at home on the road
Arizona has the best road record of any Pac-12 team since the conference expanded to 12 teams going into the 2011-12 season, going 35-19 (.648 winning percentage) during that period entering Thursday’s game.
