Arizona Basketball: No. 21 Wildcats ready for showdown with Illinois

In their first real test of their young season, the Arizona Basketball team (1-0) will square off with the Illinois Fighting Illini (2-0) on Sunday!

The 2019-20 Arizona Basketball season is underway, and even through just one game so far, it looks like the Wildcats might have a strong team this season.

Kicking off their season this past Wednesday, there’s no doubt the Wildcats looked dominant against the NAU Lumberjacks. However, as we should all know, it’s hard to look too much into that game, as it is a game in which Arizona typically dominates, and the outcomes have been rather lopsided in those affair for quite some time now.

Arizona Wildcats

However, the first real test for Arizona will be this weekend against a formidable opponent in the Illinois Fighting Illini.

For those who have been looking for some big-time Wildcat basketball action, well this will be your chance to see the Cats on the big stage again, and moreover, this will preview of what to anticipate from our Wildcats this season!

From the eye test, this looks like a good one. I don’t think I’m alone here in saying that Illinois likely will not be the best team Arizona faces this season. However, with the Fighting Illini being 2-0 to start the season, they have enough talent here to make this a challenging game.

Arizona has a bevvy of talented athletes and scorers, and as we saw Wednesday night, this is going to be a deep team this year, but they can’t overlook this squad.

Illinois has played their first two games close, beating Nichols State 78-70 in overtime, and also beating in-state rival, Grand Canyon 83-71 on the road.

So far, they’ve gotten great production from their senior guard in Andres Feliz, the freshman center Kofi Cockburn has been impressive, average 16.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in his first two collegiate games.

However, the real talent seems to be in potential first round pick, Ayo Dosunmu.

The challenge will be on, but this is certainly a winnable game, so long as Arizona plays to their potential. With that said, here’s our preview!

Keys to the Game:

Play fast, play smart- On Wednesday, the Wildcats played a bit up-tempo, and boy did they look good. I know it’s only one game, and it was just against NAU, but the Wildcats played with a bit up-tempo.

More importantly, they also played smart, not rushing shots, scoring in transition and working good ball movement. If Arizona can continue that style of play, they’re going to be a very dangerous team.

For Sunday, continue to have smart possessions, look for the open man, and find ways to score in transition. If Arizona can continue to do that this Sunday, they will win!

Rebound- Always an important aspect of the game, and I’m sure this will improve as the season goes on, but against NAU, the Wildcats rebounded just okay, outpacing NAU 36-32 on the glass. Against Illinois, that’s going to need to be improved significantly.

Freshmen Christian Koloko and Josh Green led the way among all Wildcats with six a piece the other night. The difference here is that the Fighting Illini have some good length and arguably have more talented rebounders than we will have seen this year so far.

Early on, they are being led by Cockburn and Feliz, and overall they attack the glass well. If Arizona is going to win this game, they’re going to need to dominate the glass, or at least just minimize Illinois’ opportunities at getting second-chance points.

Finding a rhythm- I know it’s early, but this might be one of Arizona’s best shooting teams under Sean Miller. On Wednesday, they finished an impressive 9-23 from beyond the arc, converting on 39 percent of their attempts.

Arizona has talent, and they have some good shooters this year, so they’re going to need to do their best in finding the hot hand(s), and sticking with them. Against the Lumberjacks, their hot shooting was certainly on display, against Illinois, they’re going to need to find a rhythm again.

If Arizona does that, they will definitely win this one!

Game Information:

Date: Sunday, November 10th

Time: 7:00pm MST, 6:00pm PST

Location: Tucson, AZ – McKale Center (14,545)

Line: TBD

Television: Pac-12 Network

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network Arizona Wildcats (Try TuneIn Radio)

Team Records:

• Arizona Wildcats (1-0, 0-0):  Beat NAU to open the season in a lopsided, 91-52 contest in which freshman Zeke Nnaji scored 20 points.
• Illinois Fighting Illini (2-0, 0-0): Illinois is 2-0 to start the year, fresh off a gritty win over GCU on the road.

All-Time Record: Arizona owns a 8-6 record overall versus Illinois, with the Wildcats winning the last match-up by a 84-72 final. That game was held during the 2006-07 season as part of the Hall of Fame Challenge held in Phoenix.

Listen to coach Miller following their win over NAU on Wednesday:

At Zona Zealots we are excited for this match-up and can’t wait to see how the Cats compete against a more formidable opponent. Either way, it should be a good game, and we of course are hoping the Wildcats can come away victorious in this one. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!