Arizona Basketball opened up the regular season with a blowout win over NAU 91-52.
This team is good. After a not so pretty exhibition game against Chico State, Arizona Basketball showed up to play against NAU and dominated 91-52. After starting out slow, the Wildcats couldn’t miss and took command of this game. They have now beaten NAU 33 times in a row and are now 55-1 in non-conference play at home.
Zeke Nnaji, wow. He showed why he was Mr. Minnesota. He missed the game against Chico St due to an ankle injury but showed no signs of being hurt. Nnaji got the start and was impressive right from the beginning. NAU had no answer for him down low. He finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.
For a freshman, that’s quite the debut. Talk about sending a message to the rest of the conference. All I have to say is good luck in guarding him. Everyone might need to start implementing double and triple teams. Just a suggestion.
Nnaji. wasn’t the only freshman to have a great game. Nico Mannion, Josh Greenn and even Christian Koloko played really well. These four add a whole new dimesion to this team that the Wildcats did not have last season.
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Mannion overall took real good care of the ball. He only had one turnover to four assists. He finished with nine points as well. His presence on the court is going to make this team a contender this season. Mannion has this swag about him that he can back up with his play.
Green filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, and two assists. He stepped on the defensive end and has a legit chance to be one of the best defenders in the Pac-12 and in the country.
Last, but not least is Koloko. For a 7 footer, the upside he has is incredible. He saw limited playing time, but when he was on the floor he showed why he is ready now. A little more muscle and repetitions and Koloko is going to be scary good.
As a team, everyone played and scored (minus the walk-ons). Yes, Miller went 10 deep and that’s without Doutrive. Wow. Dylan Smith had 10 points, took really good care of the ball. A whole new Smith that fans hopefully get to see more of.
Kentucky transfer Jemarl Baker filled in nicely for Nico. Passing, shooting and even dunking, he did it all. He finished with nine points and three assists.
Stone Gettings put on a show as well. He was second in scoring with 13 points, three rebounds and one assist. Having someone like Gettings come off the bench is crazy. He is that good and could easily be a starter. Ira Lee and Chase Jeter both contributed down low, making their size and strength a factor on both ends of the floor.
Arizona led 44-22 at half and never gave NAU any sort of chance in this one. They shot 9-23 from beyond the arc, 54.1% from the field, had the edge on the glass 36-32, only had 7 turnovers and 35 bench points. Stats like those will win this team many games!
9 3️⃣'s 💦 #NAUvsAZ #APlayersProgram | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/NNF09tMNWg
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 7, 2019
No.21 in the country. Picked to finish 4th in the Pac-12. Projected No.6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. So many doubters. This team is going to prove many people wrong this season. At Zona Zealots, we believe in this team and tonight showed why they can not be slept on. As always, Bear Down Arizona!