No. 10 Arizona had two preseason exhibitions before the start of its season on Monday against Canisius, while the Golden Griffins will enter the meeting in Tucson, Ariz., against an opponent for the first time under a new coach.
Canisius did not renew the contract of eight-year coach Reggie Witherspoon, who guided his team to a 14-18 record in his final season and a 108-130 overall record.
Jim Christian, a head coach with 19 years of experience at Kent State, TCU, Ohio and Boston College, was hired after spending the past two years as an assistant at Kent State.
His career record is 320-286.
Christian said he and his team welcome the challenge of being together for the first time in a tournament against a program like Arizona.
“Those are the games that kids want to play, which is part of recruiting,” said Christian. “We’re not going to play a bunch of non-DI schools to build fake momentum. We’re going to see what Arizona can expose and learn how to get better and do what we need to do at the right time.”
Arizona, in its fourth season under Tommy Lloyd, used its performances against Eastern New Mexico (117-54 win) and Point Loma (113-64) to improve chemistry, work in rotations and continue to hone the unguarded skills of -preseason All. -American Love Caleb.
Love attended the NBA Draft Combine after last season and decided to return for his fifth year of eligibility after three years at North Carolina (including the 2020-21 COVID-19-impacted season) and last season with the Wildcats.
He was named Pac-12 player of the year after averaging 18 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season.
Love struggled in the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 loss to Clemson, scoring 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the field, which forced him to work on his perimeter game in addition to getting into the lane and spreading out.
“I can improve my game and fine tune my game until I feel like I’m ready when my time comes,” Love said of his decision to return to Arizona. “Especially moving the ball, taking a lot of shots and playing without getting denied.
“I was watching a lot of Steph Curry this summer, especially when he was in the Olympics, he was using fakes, things like this to annoy not only himself but also his teammates.”
Arizona is another traditionally strong team added to the loaded Big 12. The Wildcats, in their first season in the conference, were picked in the preseason to finish fifth behind Kansas, Houston, Iowa State and Baylor.
Arizona returns point guard Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis alongside Love on the perimeter.
Second-year player Motiejus Krivas is expected to start at center after Oumar Ballo transferred to Indiana. Henri Veesaar, a post player who is redshirting medically, will back up Krivas.
Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka, a power forward, and Oakland transfer Trey Townsend, a wing, will also start or feature prominently in the rotation.
“We’re totally respectful (of) where we fit in (with the Big 12) and who we’re playing,” Lloyd said. “We understand there’s going to be a lot of people out there who want to see us prove that — from the fans to the other schools to the media to the officials.”
Canisius lost six of its leading scorers from last season.
Cam Palesse, a redshirt sophomore guard, is the top returner. He started 16 games last season and averaged 6.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists overall.
–Field Level Media
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