March 28, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (2) celebrates in the second half against the Clemson Tigers in the semifinals of the West Regional of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagen Images No. 10 Arizona held two exhibitions to prepare for the season before its season-opening matchup against Canisius on Monday, while the Golden Griffins will head into the meet in Tucson, Arizona, facing an opponent for the first time under a new coach. do.
Canisius did not renew the contract of eight-year coach Reggie Witherspoon, who led his team to a 14–18 mark and 108–130 overall record in his final season.
Head coach Jim Christian, who has a total of 19 years of experience at Kent State, TCU, Ohio and Boston College, was hired after spending the previous two years as an assistant at Kent State.
His career record is 320–286.
Christian said he and his team welcome the challenge of getting together for the first time against a program like Arizona.
“These are sports that kids want to play, which is part of the recruiting,” Christian said. “We’re not going to play a bunch of non-DI schools to create some fake momentum. We’ll see what Arizona can uncover and then learn how we can get better and do what we need to do at the right time. Are.”
Arizona, in its fourth season under Tommy Lloyd, used its exhibitions against Eastern New Mexico (117–54 win) and Point Loma (113–64) to develop chemistry, work on the rotation and off-guard in the preseason. To further improve the skills. -American Caleb Love.
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 COVID-19-impacted season of 2020–21) 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 prompted him to work on his perimeter game in addition to getting into the lane and distributing.
“I can develop my game and improve my game to a level where I feel like I’m ready when my time comes,” Love said of his decision to return to Arizona. “Mainly moving the ball, a lot of catch-and-shoot and playing off the catch.
“I’ve been watching Steph Curry a lot this summer, especially when he was at the Olympics, using things like shot-fakes to create aggression not only for himself but for his teammates.”
Arizona is another traditionally strong team added to the loaded Big 12. The Wildcats, in their first season in the conference, are a preseason pick to finish fifth behind Kansas, Houston, Iowa State and Baylor.
Arizona returns point guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis with Love on the perimeter.
Second-year big man Motijas Krivas is expected to start at center after Omar Ballo transferred to Indiana. Post player Henry Vissar, returning from a medical redshirt, will support Krivas.
Tennessee transfer Tobe Awka, a power forward, and Oakland transfer Trey Townsend, a wing, will also start or figure prominently in the rotation.
“We’re completely respectful of (where) we’re stepping in (with the Big 12) and who we’re playing against,” Lloyd said. “We understand there will be a lot of people out there who want to see us prove it – from fans to other schools, to the media to officials.”
Canisius lost its top six scorers from last season.
Cam Palissy, a redshirt second-year guard, is the top returner. He started 16 games last season and overall averaged 6.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
–Field Level Media