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5 takeaways from first week of Arizona men’s basketball season

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5 takeaways from first week of Arizona men’s basketball season


Arizona has opened the 2024-25 season with a pair of lopsided wins, beating Canisius 93-64 and then crushing Old Dominion 102-44.

Things get a lot tougher starting Friday at Wisconsin, with Duke coming to town after that followed by the Battle4Atlantis in the Bahamas.

With two games in the books, here are five takeaways from those wins.

1. The Love, Lewis, and Bradley trio

In the first two wins for the Wildcats, all three starting guards had solid performances. Coach Tommy Lloyd has found a way to put all three on the court and have an efficient offense.

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For Caleb Love, it is a year to prove that not only is he one of the best players in the nation, but he should have a shot at being an NBA draft pick. Against Canisius, he had 17 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Love would follow that performance with 10 more points against Old Dominion.

KJ Lewis is the energy guy out of the three guards. He comes in and makes timely plays. Having 14 points in the season opener, he would add eight more in the second game. Lewis’ playmaking comes on the defensive side. Between the two games, he has three steals and three blocks.

If Lewis is the defensive piece of the trio, and Love is the “do it all” piece, Jaden Bradley has been the offensive piece. He had 15 points against Canisius, and seven against Old Dominion.

Bradley also had seven assists in the two games. However, he is not just an offensive player. In the Canisius win, there was a sequence where he had a steal and score, and followed it with another steal and score off of the next inbounds pass.

2. Things get real now

Starting the season 2-0 is always a great thing to accomplish, but now Arizona is facing a tough stretch in their non-conference schedule. On Friday the Wildcats will make a trip to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Last season Arizona beat Wisconsin in McKale Center.

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A week later, they come back home for one of the biggest non-conference matchups at McKale Center in recent years. The Duke Blue Devils come to Tucson for the first time since 1991.

Last season, Arizona beat Duke in Durham 78-73. The Blue Devils have the potential number one pick in next year’s NBA draft in Cooper Flagg.

Between the two games, there is a good amount of time between each of them which gives the Wildcats needed time to reflect and fix.

“What it allows you to do is kind of go back and clean things up,” Lloyd said. “It allows you to revisit things you installed earlier in the fall. Then it gives you time to game plan your opponent.”

In the following five days, the Wildcats head to the Bahamas for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. They will play Davidson in their first game and two more teams after that.

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“Obviously we have a couple really big single games coming up, you got Wisconsin, you got Duke,” Lloyd said. “Both are going to be incredibly challenging, but what I got to have my eyes on too is, you got three games in three days that are going to be really hard in the Bahamas.

3. Free throw issues?

If there was one thing to critique in Arizona’s first two wins, it would be the performance from the charity stripe.

Going 19 of 27 in the opener may have just been due to first-game jitters. However, going 18 of 29 against Old Dominion is a bit concerning.

Getting to the free throw line has always been part of Lloyd’s offensive philosophy, but the amount of missed free throws has been something that has hindered the Wildcats at times.

Regardless of the percentage from the line, Lloyd is not worried about that aspect for his team.

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“Well, we need to step up and make them,” Lloyd said on the free throw struggles. “We’re not going to make a big deal out of them, I think we’re going to be a really good free throw shooting team in time.”

4. Defensive tenacity

Even with scoring 90-plus points in both wins, one aspect that has been stout has been the defensive performance for Arizona.

The Wildcats combined to force 37 turnovers, which have led to 49 points. Arizona also has nine blocks and 24 steals.

Canisius was held to 43.1 percent from the field and Old Dominion shot 31.6 percent. Arizona is making it tough for teams to score. The Wildcats also held both teams scoreless through the first four minutes in the first half. Lloyd was unaware of just how good of a start the Wildcats usually have to start games.

“It’s great, I didn’t even know that, that’s great news,” Lloyd said. “I’ve really been on these guys to step it up defensively. I want more.”

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5. Strong rebounding

Arizona has controlled the boards in both games this season as it has 102 rebounds. 17 offensive rebounds against Canisius and 24 against Old Dominion.

It’s not just going and getting rebounds, it’s the way the Wildcats are doing it. Grabbing the ball at the highpoint, finding a man and boxing him out, and not letting the ball hit the ground.

Tobe Awaka has been a driving force in that aspect, with nine rebounds in the first game and 15 in the second.

“Just get everything,” Awaka said on his rebounding mindset. “Coach has sort of been harping on us for rebounding with two hands. Making sure you go up with two hands forcefully and bring the ball down.”

If Arizona can continue this trend, it will lead to many more victories.

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Arizona

Houston vs. Arizona Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for College Football Week 12

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Houston vs. Arizona Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for College Football Week 12


Houston looks to resume play out of a BYE week building on its second double digit upset of the season against Kansas State with a road game at Arizona. 

The Cougars are two wins away from a bowl appearance and a win on Friday as a small underdog against a struggling Arizona team can go a long way for first year head coach Willie Fritz, who has found a ton of success with Zeon Chriss at quarterback. 

With two teams apparently trending in opposite directions, will it keep up on Friday night? 

Here’s our betting preview. 

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Moneyline

Total: 46.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Houston

Zeon Chriss: When Chriss is on the field, this Houston team is a different group, winning all three full games that he has played in. Chriss left due to injury in the team’s blowout loss to Kansas in the first quarter, so in three full starts he has passed for 305 yards while adding 217 yards on the ground. A dual-threat quarterback has provided a different dimension to this Cougars offense that has been able to lean on its defense to shorten the game and pull it out late. 

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Arizona 

Tetairoa McMillan: In what appears to be a lost season for Arizona, the team needs to win its last three games to go to a bowl game, McMillan continues to produce at an incredibly high level. Arguably the top wide receiver in the country has 63 catches for 1,066 yards with six touchdowns. 

Houston is better than Arizona, so I’m interested in taking the small road underdog in this Friday night matchup. 

The Cougars will be able to push around the Arizona defensive line that is outside the top 90 in both defensive line yards and EPA/Rush, meaning that Houston can move the ball in its preferred method and stay on the field. 

Meanwhile, this Houston defense should force Arizona into a ton of mistakes. Quarterback Noah Fifita has regressed a ton this season amidst a scheme change under first year head coach Brent Brennahn and his staff, and Houston’s first year head coach Willie Fritz has this defense humming, ranking top 50 in havoc rate. 

This matchup sets up nicely for Chriss and Houston to dictate the terms of engagement and continue its ascent up the Big 12 standings. 

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Arizona has been a nightmare all season for bettors, 1-8 against the spread and 0-4 as a favorite. 

Take the team that is trending up towards the end of the season. 

PICK: Houston +2.5

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Follow Reed on Twitter @ReedWallach and get all his college football bets on betstamp @rw33

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If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.



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How Democrat Ruben Gallego Was Elected Senator in Trump’s Arizona

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How Democrat Ruben Gallego Was Elected Senator in Trump’s Arizona


PHOENIX — Democrat Ruben Gallego has been elected Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator, defeating Republican Kari Lake and preventing Republicans from further padding their Senate majority.

Gallego’s victory continues a string of Democratic successes for the Senate in a state that was reliably Republican for those seats until Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. Arizona voters had rejected Trump-endorsed candidates in every election since, but the president-elect won Arizona this year over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris

“Gracias, Arizona!” Gallego wrote on the social platform X.

With Gallego’s win, the GOP will have 53 seats in the 100-member Senate.

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Gallego is a five-term House member and an Iraq War veteran with an up-by-the-bootstraps life story that he featured prominently in his public appearances and ads. He will replace Kyrsten Sinema, whose 2018 victory as a Democrat created a formula that the party has successfully replicated ever since.

Sinema left the Democratic Party two years ago after she antagonized the party’s left wing. She considered running for a second term as an independent but bowed out when it was clear she had no clear path to victory.

“Yes, he could!” several Gallego supporters shouted in Spanish as he offered his first comments after the race was called.

“I will fight for Arizona in Washington,” Gallego told the cheering supporters, saying that he would fight as much for the people who did not vote for him as the ones who did.

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In his brief remarks, Gallego several times mentioned the single mother who raised him, crediting her with his success. He promised to work to fix what he said was the nation’s broken immigration system, and would continue to fight for veterans and for women’s reproductive rights.

The Associated Press left a voicemail and email message seeking comment from Lake’s campaign Monday night.

With Gallego’s win, there was only one more major race left uncalled in Arizona. The race between Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani and Democrat Kirsten Engel for the 6th Congressional District remained too early to call.

Gallego ran ahead of Harris, suggesting a substantial number of voters supported Trump at the top of the ticket and the Democrat for Senate, a pattern seen in Sinema’s victory and both of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s wins in 2020 and 2022. Ticket-splitters also were decisive in the Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada Senate races this year, which Democrats won even as Trump won their states.

Republicans flipped Democratic-controlled Senate seats in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana. In the latter three cases, defeated Sens. Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey and Jon Tester also ran ahead of Harris but couldn’t overcome their states’ shifts toward the GOP.

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Gallego led comfortably after the first results were released on election night, but his lead narrowed as more ballots were counted. Arizona is notorious for a drawn-out count because most people vote by mail—which takes longer to verify and process—including many who drop off ballots on Election Day.

The son of immigrants from Mexico and Colombia, Gallego was raised in Chicago and eventually accepted to Harvard University. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and fought in Iraq in 2005 in a unit that sustained heavy casualties, including the death of his best friend.

Gallego maintained a significant fundraising advantage throughout the race. He relentlessly attacked Lake’s support for a state law dating to the Civil War that outlawed abortions under nearly all circumstances. Lake tacked to the middle on the issue, infuriating some of her allies on the right by opposing a federal abortion ban.

Gallego portrayed Lake as a liar who will do and say anything to gain power. He downplayed his progressive voting record in Congress and leaned on his personal story and his military service to build an image as a pragmatic moderate.

Lake is a well-known former television news anchor who became a star on the populist right with her 2022 campaign for Arizona governor.

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She has never acknowledged losing that race and called herself the “lawful governor” in her 2023 book. She continued her unsuccessful fight in court to overturn it even after beginning her Senate campaign.

Her dogmatic commitment to the falsehood that consecutive elections were stolen from Trump and from her endeared her to the former president, who considered her for his vice presidential running mate. But it compounded her struggles with the moderate Republicans she alienated during her 2022 campaign, when she disparaged the late Sen. John McCain and then-Gov. Doug Ducey.

She tried to moderate but struggled to keep a consistent message on thorny topics, including election fraud and abortion.

Lake focused instead on border security, a potent issue for Republicans in a border state that saw record border crossings during Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. She promised a tough crackdown on illegal immigration and labeled Gallego a supporter of “open borders.” She also went after his personal life, pointing to his divorce from Kate Gallego shortly before she gave birth. His ex-wife, now the mayor of Phoenix, endorsed Gallego and has campaigned with him.



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Latest Arizona election numbers; Spirit Airlines flight hit by gunfire | Nightly Roundup

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Latest Arizona election numbers; Spirit Airlines flight hit by gunfire | Nightly Roundup


From the latest election results to what prompted a plane from Florida to divert to another Caribbean country, here’s a look at some of the top stories on FOX10Phoenix.com for Monday, November 11, 2024.

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1. Latest election results from Arizona

Votes are still being counted in Arizona, and we have the latest numbers from last week’s elections. Read More

2. What the election results are saying about the state of Arizona politics

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Flag of Arizona (From File)

Overall, Mike Noble with Noble Predictive Insights says this election and its results signal a larger reshuffling in the way Americans vote. Read More

3. Experts weigh in on future of CHIPS and Science Act in Arizona

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As we look ahead to the second Trump administration, comments he made on a podcast about the CHIPS and Science Act caused a huge reaction in the semiconductor industry. Read More

4. 1 critically injured after vehicle crashes into home

The crash happened over the weekend, and police say the victim was decorating a family Christmas tree when she was struck. Read More

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5. Spirit Airlines plane hit by gunfire

A spokesperson for the low-cost carrier said the plane was struck by gunfire while making a landing in Haiti. Read More 

Also, your weather forecast for tonight



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