Arizona hosts NAU in WBIT: Scout, Wildcats' mindset, defense could be key

WBIT

No. 2 seed Arizona (19-13) vs. NAU (26-7) l 6 p.m. Thursday l McKale Center l ESPN+ l 1400-AM

He said it

UA assistant Salvo Coppa on NAU: “NAU is a very experienced team. They found a way to keep their players together for years, and they are also talented. And when I say talented, they have a good level of athleticism. They are fundamentally sound. They play very good offense, everybody can shoot, everybody can score and they at least have seven players that are high-level players. That’s a very, very good team and they are very disciplined on defense. They don’t foul; they get the rebounds.

Compared to when we played them (early in the season) we are playing better defense. I feel like we made a lot of silly mistakes when we played there — defensive mistakes, but also 50/50 balls, and we were fouling a lot. What we have to do this time, is be much more aggressive in the sense that we have to get every 50/50 ball. We cannot foul. We have to play defense with more discipline. We have to move the ball much better. We had a hard time against their zone. We’ve improved (since then).”

On the sidelines

The 3: Three questions with NAU coach Loree Payne, who has made the postseason for the third consecutive season. It’s the Lumberjacks’ fourth appearance in five years.

Both Arizona and NAU are different teams from when you played each other in November. What do you see in Arizona now?

A: “They’re an incredibly athletic team. Their pressure defense is pretty phenomenal. Fortunately for us, we’ve been preparing for pressure defense because a lot of the teams in our league, a lot of the top teams in our league, play full-court press. That’s going to be a really big key for us to take care of the ball against their pressure defense. They’re playing well right now. Obviously, they have a ton of talent and just a lot of athleticism. Their post players are pretty, pretty darn good and so we’re definitely undersized in that area. We’re excited to get to play them again this year.”

Where do you think you’ve improved most this season?

A: “We’ve definitely improved defensively. We have been teaching a new defensive system this year early on in the year, it was a little more challenging. We’ve been able to get a little bit more consistency with our defensive principles. Obviously, we’re a high powered, high scoring, 3-point shooting team. When we are executing our offense, we’re pretty dangerous. (It’s) really focusing on the details in that way to be able to execute offensively, because that is our biggest strength, heading in.”

You haven’t played at McKale Center this year and this is a postseason game with more on the line, what message did you give to your team about this environment?

A: “We’re super excited. We hear it’s going to be a big crowd. Obviously, Arizona draws really well postseason. There’s going to be a lot of excitement in the air, a lot of intensity. We’re excited to be able to play in that environment and play in front of a lot of people in a very loud and really fun, big-time basketball environment. The kids are excited. They’re looking forward to it and we’re very, very hopeful that we can go down and compete with them and give them a game.”

First timer: Former UA men’s basketball standout Matt Muehlebach is on the ESPN+ call with Chris Harris on Thursday. It’s the first postseason Muehlebach has worked as an analyst on TV or streaming in this case — not counting Pac-12 Tournaments — but he said he approaches every matchup like it’s a championship game.

Another first for Muehlebach is working with Harris. However, as Muehlebach looks back over his nearly 13 years as an analyst, he estimates that majority of games he has called with new partners. A few who he’s worked with a lot are Ted Robinson, J.B. Long and Roxy Bernstein.

When you listen to Muehlebach with these new partners, the chemistry comes quick, almost as if he’s been working with them a long time.

“I do make a point of really talking to that person, maybe grab lunch or whatever, but really talking to that person about just who they are,” Muehlebach said. “I try to find out, ‘Hey, what’s your what’s your story?’ To figure out their story and really listen intently, because a lot of times, we can use our stories as a team as part of the broadcast.

“It’s a little bit like playing basketball, where you’re not just looking for your own shot, it’s a team game.”

Muehlebach went on to share that he worked with Ann Schatz (former longtime Pac-12 play-by-play person), and she was the embodiment of this.

“She was really, really good at listening to me and listening to where I was going, then she just ran with it,” Muehlebach said.

Next best: NAU has racked up 26 wins this year, the most in program history.

The Lumberjacks finished second in the Big Sky to Montana State in the regular season and are one of many teams who were at or near the top of their regular-season standings that didn’t win the league tournament and get the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. It once again raises the question of why the NCAA doesn’t place a higher importance on the regular season.

Once they lost to Montana in the Big Sky Tournament, the Lumberjacks’ thoughts turned toward the WBIT, as the league has never gotten two bids to the NCAAs.

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“It was definitely emotional not winning that semifinal game and putting ourselves in a chance to win a Big Sky championship,” Payne said. “But we felt like our body of work throughout the year put us in a really good spot to, you know, get a WBIT bid. Our kids were very excited (to get into the WBIT). We had two really, really good practices going into this week, two of the best practices we’ve had in a minute.”

Avenging a loss: As a player, Muehlebach faced it all — the ups and the downs of being a college athlete.

He knows exactly how the Wildcats feel about losing earlier in the season to NAU and now getting a shot at avenging the loss Thursday.

One game that still sticks with him was in his junior year. In early December 1989. Arizona played a Gary Payton-led Oregon State team in the third game of the season and “it was probably the biggest loss I ever had at Arizona.”

“We played them up there (Corvallis) and we got smoked and they were a really veteran team and they were kind of waiting for us,” Muehlebach said. “We got embarrassed, biggest loss (84-61) of my career. I think Lute (Olson) tried to kick a ball at halftime because he was so mad and missed it. That was kind of funny.

“We played them again the last game of the season in McKale and there was definitely a redemption factor. We remembered the embarrassment and remembered getting smoked and it was 100%, we were all in.”

That year’s squad knew what was at stake — a Pac-10 conference title. Win, and the Wildcats would tie Oregon State to share the title. Lose and the Beavers won it outright.

The Wildcats came out, punched first and rolled, 87-60.

“Players all the time say, ‘It’s just another game.’ It was not just another game,” Muehlebach added. “We really did internalize all that stuff. We even talked about it like ‘OK, we want to get some payback here.’”

No pressure: NAU’s fifth-year guard Nyah Moran came back for moments like this — playing in a big game with all the marbles on the line.

Well, Moran also came back for one more season of playing with her twin sister, Olivia, her team and her coaches and just having fun.

All of this led to the Lumberjacks having one of their best seasons. Same for Moran.

Moran put up 22 points when NAU beat Arizona in Flagstaff in November. For the year, she averaged 11.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game to go with 80 total assists.

Her biggest improvement was “looking to drive to the basket more.”

Moran added: “Once I do see the ball go in, I’m driving to the basket, people are waiting for me to drive. I can then take a few shots from the perimeter, and I feel like, once I get going — get hot from the 3, then it’s even hard to guard me.”

For Moran and her teammates, they come into McKale knowing it’s going to be a tough game.

The previous meeting is in the past and all that matters is what happens on the court Thursday.

The Lumberjacks are going to come in with the mindset of just “playing as a team, continue playing selfless and knowing that we have just as many threats on our team as they do,” Moran said.

By the numbers

1: NAU has won one postseason game, in the 2020-21 WBI when the Lumberjacks beat FIU. The program has gone to five postseasons, most recently back-to-back berths in the WNIT the last two seasons.

5: NAU is fifth in the country in rebounds per game with 43.15 and has grabbed a total of 1,424 this season. UA averages 34.4 and has pulled down 1,101.

62.8: Arizona only allows 62.8 points per game. NAU’s 92 in November was the most UA gave up all season.

— PJ Brown