Arizona Basketball is back, as the Wildcats face Grambling State

Finally, after much anticipation entering the year, the Arizona Basketball team will kick-off the 2020-21 season on Friday against Grambling State!

It has been a long time since the Arizona Basketball team took to the court, and after much ado about whether the Wildcats would even have a season, and the NAU game being canceled, finally we will have basketball come Friday.

When the season kicks-off, a lot has been built on what this Wildcat roster will look like, and this is a group with a lot of fresh faces. Replacing their entire starting lineup from the year prior, we will finally get our first look at this team on Friday.

Arizona Wildcats

It also goes without saying, that this year will also be a bit of an unprecedented and unorthodox one, to say the least.

Typically Arizona has about 12-13 games in their non-conference slate to start the season. This year, only five are scheduled (not including the NAU cancellation). So meaning, that’s only five games to clean up some things before the schedule and opponents get tougher.

Additionally, Arizona is blessed to have such a loyal and passionate fan base that helps provide an extra boost at home. This year, no fans. Well, at least not until January.

So with their conference season looming, at least Arizona will get an opportunity to use their match-up against Grambling State to fix some things and prepare before diving into their conference games.

In their first-ever match-up with the Tigers, this is a game that Arizona should win, however, nothing will be guaranteed this year. This is at least a competent group that came off a 17-15 season, and as I’ve said prior, the Wildcats are breaking in a brand new roster practically.

Hopefully, the long off-season has given these guys a chance to focus on the little things, and prepare for an abbreviated season that will have little margin for error.

Without having seen any action yet, these are difficult to come up with, nonetheless, these are in my opinion the Keys to the Game:

Start Fast: It’s hard to say just how good this team will be from Day One, but starting fast I think will be an important factor in this one. Arizona needs to bring the energy, build confidence early, and try to settle those first game jitters as quickly as possible.

With no fans, don’t let a team let Grambling State hang around for too long. The longer they hang around, the more confidence they gain, and the more difficult it becomes to win.

So start fast, put the Tigers away, and get a lot of valuable minutes to your deeper rotation players.

Lean on Akinjo and follow his lead: Heading into the season, a lot has been built on the play and ability of incoming transfer, James Akinjo. A feisty and fiery competitor from Georgetown, he will now take over for the Cats, and in a lot of ways, I see him as being the vocal and emotional leader for this team.

Coming into this match-up, he has the most experience out of any of the Wildcats, and his production while at Georgetown speaks for itself. Let him take the lead and help guide this group, and let the others follow his lead and follow suit.

Maintain defensive responsibilities: In the 12 seasons we have seen Sean Miller in Tucson, it is that his defense can be hard to learn for young and new players. Well, nothing says a challenge like bringing in practically a whole new roster.

Hopefully, Miller has had enough time to implement his defense this year and get guys to know and understand their responsibilities early on.

Granted there will be kinks and things to work on in game one, however, hopefully, the Wildcats bring the intensity and maintain their defensive responsibilities enough that they have a good first performance that they can continue to build off of.

Game Information:

Date: Friday, November 27th, 2020

Time: 3:00pm MST (Arizona Time), 2:00pm PST

Location: Tucson, AZ – McKale Center – Tucson, AZ (14,545… 0)

Line: -27.5 Arizona

Television: Pac-12 Network

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

Team Records:

• Arizona Wildcats (0-0, 0-0):  It is hard to say just who the Cats will be led by this year, however, it’s a brand new year, and that brings a lot of excitement to fans, especially with the Football team currently struggling.
• Grambling State Tigers (0-0, 0-0): Beginning their season against the Wildcats, this will be a group that will be replacing a lot of production, however, they will be an experienced group that will lean on Prince Moss, Kelton Edwards, and Cam Christon most likely.

All-Time Record: This will be the first time these two teams meet come Friday.

At Zona Zealots we are anxious for this match-up. It should be a good game, and we of course are hoping the Wildcats can come away victorious in this one. Bear Down, Arizona!