Arizona Basketball: Wildcats face-off against the Lobos in The Pit

The Arizona Wildcats return to The Pit to face off against the New Mexico Lobos in nonconference play.

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The Pit! The Arizona Wildcats will have their first true road test of the season against the New Mexico Lobos, in The Pit! The playing floor is at 37 feet below street level, hence the name. On top of that or because of that, the arena is one of the loudest places to play and has one of the best attendance records in college basketball; making it McKale Center of the North!

The Wildcats have won four games in a row, have moved back into the AP Top 25 at No.23 and are looking for a big road win. They are currently at 7-3 overall and have their full squad back.

With the addition of Rawle Alkins, this team has the depth and experience to do well in this hostile environment. Playing in these types of games is nothing new for this team. They won’t be intimated, nor will they back down!

With UCONN and Arizona State coming up, the Wildcats will need to stay focus on the task at hand against the Lobos. Their opponent’s overall record is 3-7, and they just came off a tough three-point loss at home against New  Mexico State.

The Lobo’s will be looking to get back in the win column with an upset over the Wildcats. Last season, the Lobos finished with an overall record of 17-14, 10-8 in conference play and 5th in the Mountain West Conference.

The overall head to head match up between these two teams is in favor of the Wildcats 20-14. In the last meeting between these two teams, the Wildcats crushed the Lobos 77-46! Five Wildcats finished in double-figures and Chance “The Chief” Comanche, led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds.

These two teams have had some memorable games, including a 79-78 Lobos win in the Pit. At the time, both teams were ranked in the AP Top 25. But this time around, the Wildcats are the only team ranked, but that won’t stop their opponent from feeding off the energy from the crowd and using that to their advantage. Whenever the Wildcats come to town, they usually get the other team’s best shot. This game won’t be any different!

To give you an idea of makes this stadium so special, watch this video below:

The Lobos have three players averaging in double-digit scoring and junior guard Sam Logwood leads the way with 14.9 points per game. As a team, they are shooting almost 42% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc.  Their team is mostly made up of upperclassmen who will look to use that as an advantage against the younger Wildcats. They also aren’t afraid of shooting the ball, averaging almost 31 three-point attempts per game. The Wildcats three-point defense will be put to the test!

As has been the case most of the season, the Wildcats will have the obvious size advantage down low with 6-foot-10, 225 lb Vladimir Pinchuk being the tallest player on the Lobos. Look for DeAndre Ayton to get double and even tripled team when he gets the ball, giving his teammates opportunities for opening looks and three-point shots.

With the confidence this team has right now, would not be surprised to see multiple players, such as Allonzo Trier, Brandon Randolph or even maybe Akins, to have big games and to dominate in multiple categories as a team. Yes, this game is on Saturday, Nov. 16 on CBSS at 6 pm (Larry Scott, CBSS, really??). Another win would propel this team in the right direction heading into conference play.

Coach Sean Miller’s thoughts on the environment his team will be facing Saturday in New Mexico, “Clearly a dangerous team, especially when you throw a hostile crowd, great crow, college basketball environment that favors the home team.”

Keys to winning the game

• Keeping the crowd out of the game as much as possible
• Limiting turnovers that could lead to easy baskets and The Pit getting very loud.
• Rebound, rebound, rebound.
• Continue to believe in your shot. In the Wildcats last outing against Alabama, they were 8-16 from way downtown.
• Communicate on defense. It will be easy in a game like this to get caught up at the moment and lose sight of your defender.

Must Read: Arizona Basketball: 6 things we learned from Ira Lee during his press conference

The Wildcats will face many tough road environments this season, The Pit being one of the toughest. At Zona Zealots, we know the Wildcats don’t back down from anyone, they Bear Down!