With animated cardboard filling the immediate backdrop, curtains hiding empty seats and recorded crowd noise bouncing off the walls, McKale Center was hardly the same place Friday that Jordan Brown and James Akinjo experienced as polo-shirted redshirt transfers last season.
But neither were they. In Arizona’s 74-55 win over Grambling State, Brown and Akinjo were suddenly central to the new-look Wildcats, with Brown responding by recording a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Akinjo collecting 19 points and three assists.
Their efforts helped gloss over what was a predictably uneven performance against a low-major opponent in Arizona’s season opener.
After all, the Wildcats lost all five starters from last season and were without three possible rotation players: forward Ira Lee (concussion), guard Kerr Kriisa (NCAA clearinghouse issue) and Daniel Batcho (knee injury).
Plus, the two returning players they had on the floor struggled at times: Guard Jemarl Baker fouled out in 16 minutes and center Christian Koloko was 3 for 8 with two turnovers, though he did pull down nine rebounds.
The Wildcats held Grambling to just 32.8% shooting ... but hit only 38.3% themselves. They generated 17 turnovers ... but gave up 15 themselves. They outrebounded Grambling 46-27 ... but allowed the Tigers to make up for their poor shooting by getting more second-chance points from offensive rebounds (9) than UA did (8).
“We obviously have a long way to go,” UA coach Sean Miller said. “I think it’s obvious if you watched us. It is what it is when you have as much turnover from one year to the next. We have so many new and young faces and players that haven’t played college basketball in some time. It’s going to take time.”
For Brown, in fact, it had been exactly 614 days since he last played a college game, for Nevada in 2018-19, while Akinjo stopped playing for Georgetown at nearly this time a year ago.
The Wildcats played three true freshmen, with wing Dalen Terry in the starting lineup while forward Azuolas Tubelis and Bennedict Mathurin played key roles off the bench.
Together, the Wildcats showed some balance, with five players scoring seven points or more, but they leaned hard on Brown and Akinjo. Without Kriisa out and Baker struggling with fouls, they also had some much-needed ballhandling from their third veteran transfer, Terrell Brown, who had only two points but seven assists to just two turnovers.
“He didn’t score but he’ll be fine in that area,” Miller said. “We need him to be an excellent defensive player. Terrell is more than capable of being our point guard. I thought he showed some good things out there tonight.”
But it was Jordan Brown and Akinjo who clearly stood out the most, shaking off months and months of inactivity.
“That’s my roommate right there, so we kind of connect,” Akinjo said of Jordan Brown. “Playing with him is amazing.”
Their performances also helped offset the Wildcats’ personnel losses so far this season. Akinjo took even more of a load at the point without Kriisa, whom Miller said will return soon after playing for Estonia’s national team over the weekend, though there is no telling when his NCAA clearinghouse issue might be ruled on.
Meanwhile, Brown helped the Wildcats get by without Lee, who remains sidelined after suffering a concussion about a month ago. Miller said Lee would be returning immediately to limited practice but that he could not estimate when he would be ready to return to game action, since it depends on how Lee reacts.
Leading 39-23 at halftime, the Wildcats never let the game get too close for the final 20 minutes. But they also did not approach a blowout until Jordan Brown and Akinjo both scored in the final three minutes.
Forward Jordan Brown dunks the ball during the second half of Friday’s season-opening win over Grambling State at McKale Center. Only about 500 fans, staff and media were in attendance.
Arizona had three starters in the game at the end, including Jordan Brown and Akinjo, while reserve freshman wings Tibet Gorener and Tautvilas Tubelis did not play.
Grambling shot just 3 of 22 from 3-point range but shot 42.3% overall in the first 16 minutes of the second half while making a few surges to keep the game from getting out of hand until the very end.
Earlier in the second half, UA took a 47-27 lead after Terry hit all three free throws he took with 15:36 left, but the Tigers went on an 11-2 run from there to cut Arizona’s lead to just 49-38 with 11:38 left.
But Akinjo hit a 3 both times Grambling threatened to cut it to single digits, scoring out of a time- out to make it 52-38 while later hitting another 3 to make it 57-43 after Grambling had pulled within nine on a three-point play.
Grambling’s Cameron Little made a putback with 7:03 left to pull Grambling within 57-47 with 7:03 to go before the Wildcats expanded their lead the rest of the way.
While the Wildcats plowed through in a mostly quiet environment that featured a constant backdrop of recorded fan noise and a low-grade siren, plus about 500 fans, staff and media, Akinjo said the atmosphere wasn’t a problem because players had been used to quieter gyms for years of club-ball events in their youth.
“We’re all just basketball players,” Akinjo said. “Two thousand (fans). Zero. We’re going to come out and take care of business.”
Of course, Akinjo said he was used to seeing UA fans “screaming and going crazy last season,” so he found it new in that sense.
This time, hundreds of cardboard cutouts wrapped around the seats above their bench on the southeast corner of McKale Center, including those of former coach Lute Olson, coach Sean Miller’s dog and a number of former UA standouts.
“Of course that’s different,” Akinjo said. “But for the most part it really doesn’t affect us.”
Also frustrated with a mask he said made it difficult to breathe – he often pulled it down briefly to shout instructions at his team – Miller indicated the lack of crowd hit him pretty hard.
That’s also not a surprise – while Akinjo and players might have been used to empty summertime gyms, Miller coached the Wildcats in front of five-figure crowds for the first 11 seasons of his UA career.
“It feels very, very strange,” Miller said. “You don’t know it until you go through it. Being somebody who’s only watched these types of events on TV, it doesn’t feel as different for the viewer at home. But for the participants, the players, the coaches, the officials, it’s much different.
“It’s surreal. It really is.”
