The Arizona Wildcats look to remain unbeaten when they host Northern Arizona on Monday night.
The Wildcats (2-0) were originally scheduled to host the Lumberjacks on Nov. 25 before the game was postponed after a positive COVID-19 test within Northern Arizona’s program.
The Lumberjacks have yet to open their first season with Shane Burcar as their full-time coach.
Burcar was installed as the team’s interim coach after former head coach Jack Murphy left to become the associated head coach under Sean Miller at Arizona. Burcar had the interim tag dropped from his title with the Lumberjacks in March.
The Wildcats, who have also had three games postponed or cancelled, finally returned to the court on Saturday and defeated Eastern Washington 70-67.
Arizona’s perimeter defense was effective against the Eagles, who made just 2 of 15 3-point shots in the second half after they made seven in a row before halftime.
James Akinjo is averaging 17 points and three assists over two games, while freshman Azuolas Tubelis finished with 13 points and nine rebounds against Eastern Washington.
Arizona is missing three of its top players — Kerr Kriisa (awaiting NCAA clearance), Daniel Batcho (knee injury) and Ira Lee (concussion) — as they progress through the early part of the season.
But Tubelis, at 6-foot-11, forms a tall frontcourt along with 7-1 Christian Koloko and 6-11 Jordan Brown, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Grambling State on Nov. 27.
“I think we have a hungry group of players,” Miller said. “We have some returners but for the most part, everybody is out to prove their worth as a basketball player.”
Northern Arizona is coming off a 16-14 season in which they went 10-10 in the Big Sky Conference before losing to Idaho State in the conference tournament.
That frustration has continued into the early portion of the 2020-21 campaign, as even just playing games has been a challenge.
“Full disclosure, it is very frustrating,” Burcar told the Arizona Daily Sun. “It’s something you don’t see coming…It happens suddenly and you try to communicate with your guys as best as you can. … I like to think our guys are handling it well and our coaching staff is doing a good job with it.”
Cameron Shelton is the Lumberjacks’ top returning scorer (14.8 ppg), and is the team’s returning leader in assists (4.4) and steals (1.5) as well.
Shelton, who also averaged 6.2 rebounds per game, will have to hold up against Arizona’s sizable paint presence along with 6-7 Carson Towt and 6-9 Nik Mains.
–Field Level Media
