No. 3 Arizona prepares for Cal State Bakersfield (Nov 16, 2017)
Amid the chaos of an FBI investigation, suspensions and injuries, Arizona (2-0) still has one of the top basketball teams in the country.
The third-ranked Wildcats had to fight off pesky Maryland-Baltimore County on Sunday evening, but eventually Sean Miller's team ran away with the 103-78 victory, ending the opening weekend of the season by scoring more than 100 points in each game.
A big part of both wins was the play of junior guard Allonzo Trier, who is averaging 31 points. The Seattle native received the Pac-12 Conference's first player of the week award this week, backing up his spot on the preseason Associated Press All-America first team.
The Wildcats are rolling, but there will be one more home game before the team heads to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis event, where the competition level will be raised and the games a bit more challenging.
Arizona will open with North Carolina State and potentially face Villanova, Purdue, SMU and others -- but the team first has a game against what Miller called a "very gritty, tough-minded" Cal State Bakersfield squad.
The Roadrunners (1-1) pushed the Wildcats a season ago and had it down to a two-point game in the final minutes before Arizona took the lead back up to 12 by the finish.
For Miller, there are plenty of things to fix before the team takes on the challenge in the Bahamas next week.
"There isn't anything we're doing right now we can't get better at," Miller said. "We've only played two games, but the competitive spirit in practice -- that's something we're able to have right now because there's a lot of competition for playing time. Guys really have to earn it right now.
"So the more competitive our practice is I think the more improvement we'll have across the board and the more ready we'll be. Because when we get down to the Bahamas, we're going to be playing some of the best teams in the country, the best coaches in the country and players like ours that have been in the winner's circle. Playing three games in three nights really challenges your depth."
A slow start hurt Bakersfield against Georgia Southern on Monday night, eventually leading to a 77-53 loss for coach Rod Barnes' team. The Roadrunners are looking to make a return to the NCAA Tournament after getting there in 2016 and not getting there in 2017 despite winning the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.
Freshman guard Jarkel Joiner leads the Roadrunners in scoring this season, averaging 12.5 points per game, and redshirt junior Damiyne Durham sits at 11.5 points.
"Arizona is a tough team," Barnes said. "They are going to try to get after us from the very beginning. We had some good shots early that didn't go down. This is still the same team I was excited about before we got on the plane. It's a marathon, a process, and I was prepared for it.
"We know our schedule and what our opponents have done."
Tipoff for Thursday night's game is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET at Arizona's McKale Center in Tucson.
