Obstacles: Allen sat out with a knee sprain suffered against Michigan State, while Trier missed his second game and even redshirting guard Dylan Smith was out of practices because he suffered a concussion. Point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright struggled with foul trouble.
What happened: Somewhat tentative in his first game, freshman forward Lauri Markkanen took advantage of the smaller Roadrunner frontcourt to collect 26 points and eight rebounds, though shorthanded Arizona was outscored by six points in the second half.
Final score: Arizona 78, Bakersfield 66
Miller said it: “We’d have much preferred a bigger lead but there were a lot of situations in the game that we were able to learn from, even Parker, who has never been in the game for that long a period of time under that much pressure. He played 34 minutes with two fouls, he played the last 8-10 with four fouls. That was great experience for him to be able to do that. I thought he did a great job. Some of the plays Lauri made were a function of Parker making the right decision to get him the ball.”
