Arizona Basketball: Wildcats non-conference season continues against the 49ers

Arizona Basketball non-conference season continues as they face Long Beach State Sunday evening and look to extend their win streak to six games.

After a surprising first-half performance that led to Arizona Basketball having to claw their way back to victory, they look to get back their punishing ways against Long Beach State. Currently, the Wildcats are 5-0 on the season and will have their first game outside McKale Center this season when they take on Pepperdine in the opening round of Wooden Legacy Tournament. First, they have to take care of business against the 49ers.

The Wildcats learned a lot about themselves against the JackRabbits. They learned how important it is to get Zeke Nnaji the ball, take higher percentage two and three-point shots and to communicate better on defense. Head coach Sean Miller called his team’s performance a “carnival”, that it was. For the Wildcats to be successful and get back to their dominating ways against the 49ers they will need to play smarter basketball.

Their opponent is 2-3 on the season and two of those losses came against Pac-12 schools. Last season the 49ers finished 15-19 overall and 8-8 in Big West conference play. Like the Jackrabbits, they have nothing to lose and a lot to gain as they look to pull off the upset against the Wildcats. It’s an absolute must that the Wildcats get off to a fast start in the beginning, sending a message to the 49ers that there is no hope of an upset.

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The 49ers do have at least 10 players that have averaged at least 10+ minutes per game, but only have two player scoring over 10+ points per game. Freshman guard Chance Hunter leads their team in scoring with 15.8 points per game, followed by junior guard Michael Carter III who has averaged 12.0 points per game.

Overall, the Wildcats have the edge in many categories, point per game, field goal and three-point shooting, rebounding, and turnovers. As before (going to sound like a repeated record), they have the advantage in the frontcourt. They will need to establish themselves in the paint by getting the ball to both bigs, especially Nnaji, forcing the 49ers to double team, which leads to open shots for everyone else.

Knowing that the double team is coming, Nnaji will need to put himself in a good position when receiving the ball to make a quick decision with it. He is that talented that as long as his teammates can get him the ball on a more frequent basis it will open up things on offense. As long as he doesn’t get into foul trouble again, the Wildcats should dominate the frontcourt.

The backcourt for Arizona will need to continue to attack the ball, but take better shot on the run. All of our guards are extremely skilled, but all it takes is that one extra pass to get the better percentage shot. They will though be without one of their key players, Devonaire Doutrive, who has been dismissed from the team. He will be missed for sure. It will be interesting to see how they adjust to their last performance.

If they continue to play how they did in the 2nd half against the Jackrabbits, the Wiildcats should have no problem in getting the W!

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Game Information:
Date: Sunday, November 23rd

Time: 6:30pm MST, 5:30pm PST

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

Television: Pac-12 Network

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

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At Zona Zealots, we feel confident this team can win easily against the 49ers and extend their win streak to six teams. As long as everyone plays as one cohesive unit for 40 minutes on both ends of the floor, they got this! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!

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