Arizona @ Southern Methodist preview

For No. 4 Arizona, its first wakeup call came sooner than expected. The Wildcats were knocked off by North Carolina State in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas and must bounce back quickly as they face SMU on Thursday.

The Wildcats are considered one of the primary favorites to reach the Final Four and looked the part with three straight blowout victories to begin the season. However, they allowed NC State to score 50 points after halftime on Wednesday and allowed the Wolfpack to shoot nearly 50 percent overall. "We had plenty of offense," Arizona coach Sean Miller told reporters after the 90-84 setback. "But our defense was really, really bad. Until we get that corrected, we're going to win a few and then we're going to lose a few." Like the Wildcats, SMU also was upset in the quarterfinals, suffering a 61-58 loss at the hands of Northern Iowa.

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT ARIZONA (3-1): The Wildcats got big performances from their two best players - junior guard Allonzo Trier and freshman center Deandre Ayton - in Wednesday's contest. Trier, who entered averaging 30 points per game - tied for tops in the nation - scored 27 despite going 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Ayton registered a career-high 27 points and a personal-best 14 rebounds, maintained his streak with a fourth straight double-double to begin his career and added two steals for the second straight game.

ABOUT SMU (4-1): Junior guard Jarrey Foster matched his season high with 19 points on Wednesday, knocking down 8-of-14 from the field and making as many 3-pointers (3-for-5) as all of his teammates combined (3-for-16). Shake Milton, the best player for SMU, was limited to 14 points on 5-of-19 shooting and went 1-for-7 from beyond the arc after making at least three 3-pointers in each of the first four games. SMU was outrebounded 37-27 on Wednesday and must improve quickly in that area if it hopes to defeat the lengthy Wildcats.

TIP-INS

1. Arizona G Parker Jackson-Cartwright is 6-for-9 from 3-point range on the young season.

2. Wildcats C Dusan Ristic is 10-for-13 from the field over the last three games and 18-for-26 (69.2 percent) on the season.

3. In its last four games, SMU's point total has decreased from 83 to 81 to 72 to 58 on Wednesday.

PREDICTION: Arizona 79, SMU 71