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Rising Star: Arizona Forward Dusan Ristic

By Andrew Kahn

With all the talent on the floor for last Saturday’s Arizona-Utah game, it was a freshman reserve who made the difference. Six minutes into the game, the Wildcats trailed 7-0 and their frontcourt players in particular looked out of sync. Enter Dusan Ristic. The 7-foot freshman center provided an immediate boost, scoring six straight for Arizona. He finished with 12 points in 10 minutes of first half action without missing a shot. Arizona led 32-18 at half and overcame a slow start to the second half to win 57-47.

It’s hard to believe that Ristic has only been in the United States for a little more than a year. In January 2014, he came from his native Serbia and enrolled at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas. Many schools showed interest, and Ristic chose Arizona despite their loaded frontcourt.

Ristic did not see double-digit minutes in Arizona’s six November games but has increased his role as the season has progressed. He averaged 13 minutes over a five-game stretch in January and played 15 against USC before his memorable performance in Arizona’s most recent game. Fellow reserves Gabe York and Elliott Pitts may see action before him, but he’s the only big man who gets minutes off the bench. That makes him valuable when starters Brandon Ashley or Kaleb Tarczewski are in foul trouble or ineffective.

That was the case on Saturday night, and Ristic delivered in a pinch. “Our starters basically got punched in the face [for certain stretches],” head coach Sean Miller said after that UCLA game. “We won tonight because we had several players who didn’t start come in and contribute in massive ways. Dusan Ristic in the first half, his 12 points…it was our bench that gave us the lead.”

He displayed a soft shooting touch and great court awareness to score around the basket. On one play, he sprinted the baseline and caught a pass, but immediately faced a double team. He turned away from it and made a nice baby hook over his left shoulder. “Ristic has great hands and is a very skilled big guy,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on the broadcast. “As he gets stronger and gets to be a better defender, he’s going to have some really good nights for Arizona.”

While Ristic’s defense and strength looked more than adequate against UCLA—he forced some difficult shots and snared a few strong rebounds—Bilas’ comments were not unfounded. Rustic only played one minute in the second half against UCLA because Miller felt he couldn’t handle guarding UCLA’s Kevon Looney. “The way [Looney] was scoring against our defense, it wouldn’t have put Dusan in a favorable position for what we would have had to ask him to do…Down the road, I think he’ll be more prepared, but right now, I wasn’t feeling as comfortable in that situation playing him.”

Ristic has the second-highest shooting percentage among Pac-12 freshman (62 percent) and has showed an ability to knock down the open three. His offensive potential is very high, and a more complete game should come with physical maturity and more time under Miller’s tutelage. For now, he’ll remain an important piece off the bench for an Arizona team expected to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Andrew Kahn is a regular contributor to CBS Local who also writes for Newsday and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

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