No. 10 Arizona to face Canisius for first time in almost 71 years in season opener

No. 10 Arizona had two exhibitions to prepare for the season ahead of Monday’s season opener against Canisius, while the Golden Griffins will head into the meeting at McKale Center facing an opponent for the first time under a new coach.

Not much to go on for Tommy Lloyd and Co., especially considering the programs have not played each other for almost 71 years and have never met in Tucson.

The previous affair was on New Year’s Eve in 1953, the last of four meetings all at Canisius’ campus at Buffalo, N.Y. Ted Lazovich and George Rountree each had 21 points for the Wildcats, who finally beat the Golden Griffins after losing the first three games. Hadie Redd, the first African-American letterman in basketball and baseball at Arizona, had 17 points in the 79-58 win that was part of a holiday tournament.

Canisius finally makes a return trip to Tucson, only Lloyd, not Fred Enke Sr., will match wits against a new coach with the Golden Griffins.

Canisius did not renew the contract of eight-year coach Reggie Witherspoon, who was 14-18 in his final year and 108-130 overall.

Jim Christian, a head coach of 19 years at Kent State, TCU, Ohio and Boston College, was hired after spending the last two years as an assistant athletic director 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 game against a program like Arizona.

“Those are the games that kids want to play, which is part of recruiting,” Christian said. “We will not play a bunch of non-D-1 schools to build some fake momentum. We will see what Arizona can expose and then learn how we can get better and do what we need to do at the right time.”

Arizona, in its fourth season under Lloyd, utilized its exhibitions with Eastern New Mexico (117-54 win) and Point Loma (113-64) to develop chemistry, work on a rotation and further hone the off-guard skills of All-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 year with the Wildcats.  

He earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors after he averaged 18 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last season.

He struggled in the Sweet 16 loss to Clemson, shooting 34 percent from the field, prompting him to work on his perimeter game in addition to penetrating the lane and distributing.

“I could develop my game and kind of fine-tune my game to the point where I feel like I’m ready when my time comes,” Love said of his decision to return to Arizona.  “Mainly moving off the ball, a lot of catch-and-shoots and playing off the catch.

“I’ve been watching a lot of Steph Curry, especially when he was in the Olympics, using the shot-fake, things like that to create offense not only for himself but for his teammates as well.”

Arizona is a media preseason pick to finish fifth in its first season in the Big 12 behind Kansas, Houston, Iowa State and Baylor.

The Wildcats return point guard Jaden Bradley and versatile talent K.J. Lewis, alongside Love, on the perimeter.

Second-year big man Motiejus Krivas will start at center with Oumar Ballo now at Indiana. Henri Veesar, a post player returning from a medical redshirt, will back up Krivas.

Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka, a power forward, and Oakland transfer Trey Townsend, a wing, will also start or figure prominently in the rotation.

“We have total respect (for where) we’re stepping into (with the Big 12) and who we’re playing against,” Lloyd said. “We understand there’s going to be a lot of people out there that want to see us prove it — from fans, to other schools, to media, to officials.”

Lloyd is 88-20 (.814) at Arizona. The 88 wins are the second-most wins through his first three seasons in NCAA history.

Canisius lost its top six scorers from last year.

Cam Pelese, a redshirt sophomore guard, is the top returner who started 16 games last year and averaged 6.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

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