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Arizona Basketball: Wildcats take on Jack Murphy’s former team in opener

By David Rosen

TUCSON, AZ - DECEMBER 16: Head coach Jack Murphy of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks watches from the bench during the first half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center on December 16, 2015 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - DECEMBER 16: Head coach Jack Murphy of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks watches from the bench during the first half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center on December 16, 2015 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Tip-off of the 2019-20 Arizona Basketball season is just right around the corner. Their first opponent is against associate head coach Jack Murphy’s former team, NAU, this Wednesday.

Finally, the time has come! The beginning of the Arizona Basketball 2019-20 season is right around the corner. The tip-off of the first game of the season against Wildcats associate head coach Jack Murphy’s former team, NAU, is this Wednesday, Nov 6th inside McKale Center. This is when the fun begins when every game counts. Especially in the month of November during non-conference play, when each win plays an important role in postseason seeding.

The Wildcats will likely be without Devonaire Doutrive, but are expected to get Zeke Nnaji back from an ankle injury. Getting off to a good start is key this season. They will need all the momentum and confidence they can get heading towards the latter part of non-conference play with a matchup against Gonzaga and then prepare for Pac-12 play.

The Lumberjacks finished tied for 8th in the Big Sky Conference last season and are looking to improve upon that this year. It will be a tough challenge for them as they face a highly skilled and deep Wildcat team. Lumberjacks do return two of their three top scorers but are a little undersized compared to the Wildcats frontline.

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The last time these two teams met was during the 2017-18 season and the Wildcats dominated the Lumberjacks 101-67. They were led in scoring by Allonzo Trier who had 32 points, Dusan Ristic had 20 and Deandre Ayton had 19. The Wildcats have the scoring power this year to match those types of numbers, but the question is who will step into the role as the leading scorer this season.

In the exhibition game, the Wildcats showed a lot of jitters, especially with the freshman which is to be expected. Now that every game counts from here on out, it will important that this team communicates, makes smart decisions with the ball and puts together runs to prevent from playing from behind.

Keys to the game for Arizona

Take advantage of the size down low

Limit turnovers

Knockdown three-point shots

Don’t give NAU any chance to believe they can win the game

Must Read. Arizona Basketball: Wildcats challenged in exhibition game. light

The first six games are at home before Arizona Basketball takes the road to take on Pepperdine in the Wooden Legacy at the end of this month. They have a legit chance to finish the first month of the season undefeated and prove why they are one of the best teams not just out West but in the country. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!

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