TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona struggled early, missing shots while giving up too many open ones. The Wildcats had trouble finishing, too, allowing more points in the final 4 minutes than the previous 16.
Good thing they played so well in between.
Coming off two disappointing exhibition games, No. 16 Arizona lived up
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“We’re not the 16th-ranked team in the country,” Miller said. “Maybe at some point we can get to that spot, but we still have a ways to go.”
Arizona lost star Derrick Williams to the NBA and has a roster full of young players, including the four heralded freshmen Miller recruited a summer ago.
The mix didn’t work too well in a pair of exhibition games; the Wildcats lost to Seattle-Pacific and didn’t exactly light it up in a win over Humboldt State.
Under the spotlight that comes with playing games that count, Arizona took another step in its progression.
Overcoming some early jitters, the Wildcats turned a close game into what appeared to be a rout by holding Valparaiso without a field goal during a 16-3 run to open the second half.
Kyle Fogg shook off a shaky preseason to score 16 points and fellow senior Jesse Perry picked up where he left off late last season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Two of Arizona’s freshmen chipped in some quality minutes, too. Nick Johnson
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OK, so maybe the Wildcats let off the gas in the closing minutes, but it was a win, their 20th straight at McKale Center.
“I don’t think we’re a No. 16-level team yet, but we’ll reach our ranking,” Fogg said. “We have shown improvement and we can only get better from here.”
Valparaiso got off to a solid start in coach Bryce Drew’s debut, struggled against Arizona’s pressure at the start of the second half, then nearly made a game of it in the closing minutes.
Trailing by as much as 20, the Crusaders put together a string of baskets in the final 3½ minutes to trim the lead under double digits. They didn’t make it all the way back, but it was at least an encouraging sign.
Kevin Van Wijk and Ryan Broekhoff had 18 points each for the Crusaders, who have lost 34 straight games against Top 25 teams since Drew beat Mississippi with a buzzer beater in the 1998 NCAA tournament.
“Overall, we can learn a lot from the game and improve on that,” Van Wijk said. “We fought very well, we kept fighting and fighting. We didn’t put our heads down.”
Arizona completed a quick turnaround last season, coming within a few seconds of reaching the Final Four after missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in a quarter century the year before.
The start of this season will be about filling holes and gaining experience.
Williams, the Pac-10 player of the year, is gone and point guard Lamont Jones transferred to be closer to his family, leaving Arizona without nearly 40 percent of its scoring from last season.
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