The Star's Bruce Pascoe previews all of the game day essentials, from projected starting lineups to storylines and series history, ahead of Arizona's showdown with Cal State Bakersfield.
Game info
Who: Cal State Bakersfield (1-1) at Arizona (3-0)
Where: McKale Center
When: Wednesday, 5 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Follow: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook
PROBABLE STARTERS:
ARIZONA
G James Akinjo (6-0 junior)
G Jemarl Baker (6-5 junior)
F Dalen Terry (6-7 freshman)
F Jordan Brown (6-11 sophomore)
C Christian Koloko (7-0 sophomore)
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
Courtesy Cal State Bakersfield
G Czar Perry (6-2 senior)
G Grehlon Easter (6-3 junior)
F Justin Edler-Davis (6-4 senior)
F Justin McCall (6-6 senior)
C Ronne Readus (6-9 senior)
HOW THEY MATCH UP
The series: Arizona is 3-0 against the Roadrunners of the San Joaquin Valley, beating them twice during the Sean Miller era: 78-66 in 2016-17 and 91-59 in 2017-18, when Allonzo Trier had 28 points on 8-for-9 shooting.
Game agreement: Bakersfield signed a contract for a one-time appearance for Dec. 9 before COVID-19 hit last season.
CSUB overview: The Roadrunners moved from the WAC to the Big West this season, reducing their travel coincidentally at a time when few teams want to travel, and are taking four starters with them. That experience may have helped them put a scare into Santa Clara in a season opener at Santa Cruz, California, on Dec. 2 that the Broncos won 53-47 while CSUB on Monday blew away Bethesda University, an Anaheim, Calif.-based member of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association, by the score of 94-43.
Czar Perry is the Roadrunners’ energetic point guard, while juco transfer Travis Hensen adds shooting and Ronne Readus is a defensive presence inside who will be among the bigger opponents UA post players have faced so far. Guard Taze Moore, Bakersfield’s only returning double-digit scorer, started against Santa Clara but played off the bench on Monday against Bethesda.
All the Roadrunners’ returners came back with something to prove this season: They were one of Division I’s worst teams at defending 3-pointers (37.1%) and sent their opponents to the line often, allowing them to score nearly half of their points there. They also turned the ball over on 20.8% of their possessions, the 57th worst turnover percentage in Division I.
KEY PLAYERS: Cal State Bakersfield
Cal State Bakersfield guard Taze Moore (4) dribbles the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
Taze Moore
The 6-5 wing does a little bit of everything offensively and he’s a disruptive force on the other side of the ball. Moore was named to the WAC’s all-defensive team last season after finishing 10th in blocks and steals. He blocked 4.8% of opponents’ shots when he was on the floor last season, the 176th best rate in Division I.
Key Players: Arizona
Arizona Wildcats forward Jordan Brown (21) shoots the ball over Northern Arizona Lumberjacks guard Isaiah Lewis (14) during the first half of Arizona Wildcats vs NAU Lumberjacks men's basketball game at McKale Center, 1721 E. Enke Dr., in Tucson, Ariz. on Dec. 7, 2020.
Jordan Brown
Lost amid Jemarl Baker’s torrid 3-point shooting Monday against NAU was the fact that the Nevada transfer picked up his second double-double in three games as a Wildcat, with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He had only one double-double on a veteran Nevada team as a freshman in 2018-19.
SIDELINES
“Jet” tests negative
Assistant coach Jason Terry, right, talks to Arizona Wildcats guard Terrell Brown (31) on the bench during the second half of Arizona Wildcats's season opener against the Grambling State Tigers at McKale Center, 1721 E. Enke Rd., in Tucson, Ariz. on Nov. 27, 2020. Arizona won 74-55 against Grambling State.
Arizona confirmed Tuesday that a follow-up COVID-19 test for assistant coach Jason Terry was negative, meaning the Wildcats had no known issues for hosting Cal State Bakersfield as of Tuesday afternoon.
Terry was not on the Wildcats’ bench Monday in their 96-53 win over NAU because of what the school called an “inconclusive” test but UA coach Sean Miller expressed optimism after the game that the Wildcats and Terry would be able to move on without issue.
“It is what it is — it’s inconclusive,” Miller said. “I think we have a lot of positive thoughts that he’s fine.”
Barring any issues in Wednesday morning testing, Terry is expected to be on the bench against Bakersfield. As it turns out, Terry is also the Wildcats’ game scout Wednesday, so he has been breaking down Roadrunner video and helping craft a game plan.
Just as scheduled
Assuming Wednesday’s game isn’t scuttled at the last moment, the UA-CUSB game will be the first one the Wildcats have played this season that was actually on its original schedule, before the NCAA pushed back the start of the season from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25 and before COVID-19 altered just about everyone’s schedules after that.
Arizona’s early-season schedule so far has included a Nov. 27 opener against Grambling State that was added after the NCAA pushed the season back to Nov. 25 and the UA pulled out of the ill-fated NIT Season Tip-Off, while its second game against Eastern Washington was a fill-in for Northern Colorado. Monday’s game against NAU, meanwhile, was moved twice – from Nov. 10 to Nov. 25 and then to Dec. 7 because of a positive test within the NAU program.
The only COVID-related interruptions the Roadrunners and the Wildcats have reported themselves have actually been false alarms.
Bakersfield was forced to miss a week of preseason practices because of what turned out to be a false positive, then scrambled to put together its Dec. 2 season opener against Santa Clara in nearby Santa Cruz, Calif., since a Santa Clara County health order is prohibiting games or practices (that order is also why Stanford is currently based in North Carolina).
Arizona has only had the “inconclusive” test for Terry, keeping him off the bench Monday but affecting no other players in games.
Brown holds his own party
Arizona Wildcats forward Jordan Brown (21) drives the ball to the basket during a game against the Eastern Washington Eagles at the McKale Center, on Dec. 5, 2020.
When the Wildcats committed seven offensive fouls on Saturday against Eastern Washington and forward Jordan Brown fouled out, UA coach Sean Miller went on a classic postgame rant of sorts.
Without dipping into the penalty zone for complaining about officiating, Miller noted that the Wildcats should “kind of join the party and flop,” saying that the sliding underneath an offensive player or simply falling down can pay off by drawing offensive fouls.
On Monday against NAU, Brown had only one offensive foul and only two overall. Then he scored 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Technical issues prevented Brown from hearing a question during a postgame Zoom media conference over what he thought of Miller’s comments and if he made adjustments. But Miller said the reduced offensive fouls helped the Wildcats’ flow against the Lumberjacks and “made the game felt a little bit better.” He then expounded with less frustration about the fouling situation.
“The last game I addressed our turnovers, our offensive fouls, and I didn’t really mean it towards being critical of the officials or college basketball,” Miller said. “In two games before (NAU) we had 12 offensive fouls. That’s a lot — screens off the ball, screens on the ball, catches in the low post where we dipped our shoulder, leaving our feet. Guys would slide under us and draw a charge.
“We tried to adjust and then my other point was we have to include some of that on our defense as well, where we can draw charges.”
Numbers game
12
– Seasons since the UA had shot as well as the 66.7% it did on Monday, dating to a 70.0% effort against Stanford on March 7, 2009.
22
– Arizona’s rank in Kenpom defensive efficiency through three games.
85.0
– Jordan Brown’s field-goal shooting percentage, 20th highest nationally.
