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Arizona Wildcats Basketball: The 2015 Season Begins

By Shereen Rayan

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The 2015 season begins this Friday for head coach Sean Miller and the Arizona Wildcats Basketball team. 

Fans got their first glimpse at their 2015 Arizona Wildcats basketball team last Sunday in an exhibition game against Chico State when they won convincingly 90-54.

The official tip-off of the 2015 men’s basketball season begins with the team’s first game this Friday, November 13, 2015. The No. 12/10 Arizona Wildcats take on the Pacific Tigers (12-19 last season) out of Stockton, California.  Arizona has not played against this West Coast Conference team in a long time.

The Tigers announced some disappointing team news this Tuesday: they are withholding three of their players alleged to be involved in academic misconduct in the program from the game against Arizona. According to ESPN Insider’s Jeff Goodman, ‘Among the three players are two starters — seniors Eric Thompson and Alec Kobre — along with 7-foot junior Sami Eleraky. All three players are being withheld by the school during the NCAA’s investigation.’

Pacific won their home opener as well, but by a much closer margin than Arizona. By the looks of it, Arizona will surpass 100 points this weekend. Look to see all the players get some play time in this game.

A solemn Coach Sean Miller discussed Micheal Wright’s passing to begin his press conference today, “The news of Michael Wright is devasting..our thoughts and our prayers go out to Michael Wrights family and really our family as a basketball program..when you lose somebody it’s certainly something that is heartfelt across the board.

March 6, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Pacific Tigers forward Jacob Lampkin (21) shoots the basketball against San Francisco Dons forward/center Kruize Pinkins (15) during the first half in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Regarding Pacific as an opponent coach Miller had a particular reason to play this team, “We chose to play Pacific we know that they come from a quality conference…they have a true system..if they’re supposed to screen the don’t miss the screen..we know they are a team that doesn’t beat themselves..their backcourt, in general, is experienced..the season opener is about you, how ready are we?”

His Wildcats will play as a group and as a team, “This year when you watch our team..they’ll be players on a given night who may not start the game who are our best player that given night or our leading scorer or rebounder,” he said, “I am not really set on a starting line-up right now..we still have a lot to work out, and we could have a lot of different line-ups here in the month of October for sure.”

Players to watch:

Justin Simon – Zona Zealots gave you a preview of how exciting Simon’s play can be and what he brings to the table. So it’s not news to us that he is such a dynamic player, pay attention to him as he is going to surprise you. Simon came into the exhibition game and immediately made an impact with a huge slam dunk. Not much has been asked or said publically about Simon until today.

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Coach Miller was really impressed with Simon in the last game, “Later in the game to me Justin Simon was really impressive, I and our staff really believes in Justin…he has a lot of things that can help our team..he’s only going to get better every day because of how hard he works at it..I thought in his minutes the other day he was as impressive as anybody our team.”

Allonzo Trier – Coach Miller said we aren’t going to see the best of Tier until later into the season. He feels Trier can really play the game, and he is talented, he is getting used to the system and plays, he will continue to improve in a month or two.

Ryan Anderson – We all loved what we saw against Chico State. We saw an experienced college basketball player who hustled on both ends of the court racking up stats. This ‘Player of the game’ is starting the season with a bang and full confidence from his coach who advised reporters how special Anderson has been in practice.

Dusan Ristic – Ristic needs to go stronger to the basket, he had some moments in the last game where he went for a soft lay-up, but the ball was blocked or just didn’t go in. He reminded us of Kaleb Tarczewski at the beginning of last year, but he has legs and size, so hopefully he starts to put more energy and confidence into his shots.

Feb 19, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; Boston College Eagles forward Ryan Anderson (12) takes a shot during the first half of a game against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Kaleb Tarczewski – Kaleb came out swinging in the Wildcats exhibition game, he did not look ‘soft’ at all. He is a man on a mission this year, moving into a leadership position, and proving to the NBA they shouldn’t dismiss him like last year. T.J. McConnell is paving the way for all future Wildcats wanting to play in the NBA from now on because he never gave up and proved he belonged in the NBA.

Chance Comanche – After all the red shirt rumors had been put to rest by coach Miller, Comanche silenced some of his critics who based their opinions solely on his size. Miller sang his praises in a pre-season press conference, and Chance showed us he is ready to play! Watch as Comanche’s confidence grows, he has some great dunks and beautiful blocks stuffed in his pockets.

Coach Miller continued to sing his praises, “He is at a further along pace right now than we anticipated, he does things every day that put a smile on your face as a coaching staff because you know that as he gets stronger and more experienced he’s going to be a really good player.”

Game notes care of the Pacific Tigers:

  • Pacific has some familiarity with Arizona having squared off against senior Mark Tollefsen four times during his days in the WCC at San Francisco. Last season, Tollefsen averaged 19pts and 4rbs against the Tigers.
  • Fun Fact: Ron Verlin and Sean Miller are just two of five sets of brothers coaching in the college ranks. Ron’s twin brother Don is the head coach at Idaho while Sean’s brother, Archie, is the head coach at Dayton.
  • The Tigers are 45-20 in season openers since the 1950-51 season. They are 22-13 on the road and 0-4 against Pac-12 opponents (all on the road). However, Pacific has won six-straight season openers including the last two on the road, both on buzzer beaters.

Next: Arizona Wildcats Basketball Begins This Weekend, Are you Ready?

How to watch and listen to the Arizona vs. Pacific game:

Game: Friday 7:30 p.m. MST/ 6:30 PST

Pac-12 Network
Play-by-Play: Kevin Calabro
Analyst: Matt Muehlebach

Radio – TuneIn

Live Stats

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