Arizona point guard James Akinjo displayed his confidence and energy in Tuesday night's win against Montana. On Saturday, the Wildcats lost to Stanford by three points, and Akinjo had a hard time at the free-throw line and only collected seven points in the loss to the Cardinal.

Tuesday he bounced back scoring 18 points, including going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, in the 70-64 victory over the Grizzlies. The redshirt sophomore is 20 for 20 from the stripe if you take out his poor 2-for-9 performance from the line against Stanford.

Because of that UA head coach Sean Miller was not concerned about Akinjo's ability to return to being a productive scorer for the Wildcats.

"James is confident in himself," Miller said. "You know, 2 for 9 is more of an outlier from the free-throw line. He's very confident, sure of himself. Keep in mind he hasn't played real games in a long time and it's gonna take him, like all of our players, getting used to it. You know 16 shots I thought he had some good looks that he missed and made, but he probably had a couple that he maybe could pivot and make a pass.

"Or maybe keep his dribble and dribble out and then play it safe. He doesn't have a confidence issue, and I was excited to see him come out and play the way he did at the beginning for sure."

Against Stanford the Arizona point guard was able to make up for his lack of scoring by being a better passer leading to a game-high and season-high nine assists. After Tuesday's game Akinjo still couldn't put his finger on what exactly the issue was against Stanford, but he simply chalked it up to being an off night.

"In basketball you’re going to have tough nights, you can’t let that change your approach," he said, adding that he made it a point to get the team off to a fast start against Montana. "I just wanted to come in and do the same thing I always do."

He played aggressively throughout the game and described how he knew his efficiency at the free-throw line would return before long.

"Sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces," he said. "I thought Stanford, from the line, all those misses were real good misses. They all felt good coming off my hand, so I knew that next game they were going to fall."

Arizona’s team is looking forward to a few days off to get their minds and bodies right for the upcoming conference play, Akinjo said. That will start against Colorado on Monday at McKale Center before the Wildcats quickly turn around to hit the road for games against Washington and Washington State later next week.

Matt Moreno contributed to this report.

****

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans Inside McKale

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)