Markkanen productive even when shot is off

TUCSON — That consistently calm and stoic exterior — Finnish, you might say — has never left Lauri Markkanen this season.

But the numbers suggest his perimeter shot has — at least temporarily.

The Wildcats’ Finnish 7-footer is still remarkably productive heading into Saturday’s regularseason finale against Arizona State. It’s just that he’s doing it closer to the basket as his perimeter efficiency drops.

For the month of February, Markkanen shot just 19.2 percent from 3point range. He shot 38.1 percent overall in February, down from 59.3 percent in the first half of Pac-12 play, and his recent shooting has been boosted considerably by the second-chance and other inside scoring he did at Washington State and Washington.

After UA’s 78-59 win at Washington State on Feb. 16, when Markkanen had 19 points and 11 rebounds despite shooting 1 for 4 from 3-point range, he shrugged off his shooting slump.

“I’ve had those before,” Markkanen said.

Neither is UA coach Sean Miller nor teammate Dusan Ristic, the way they explain it.

But something is different, so here are possible reasons:

1. The table’s not always set right.

Miller has been asked repeatedly about Markkanen’s shooting slump over the past month. Every time, he’s said it’s largely because Markkanen isn’t getting good shots to take.

Because Markkanen was such an efficient shooter the first half of the season, Pac-12 teams have been defending him closely everywhere he goes and switching ball screens in an effort to keep up with him.

2. It’s been a long season(s).

For Markkanen, it’s not just that Arizona has played 30 games and held nearly 90 practices at this point of the season already.

It’s that Markkanen was already playing some intense, high-level basketball until virtually the day he flew to Arizona late last summer.