The NAU men’s basketball team wants to be referred to as “Arizona’s team” this year and that journey continued Saturday night in Tucson against the UA Wildcats. But they were greeted by a loss against another big-time opponent, falling to the Wildcats 53–39.
“We were able to impose our will on a very good team and 13,000 people right with them,” said head coach Mike Adras. “I didn’t want to have them [Arizona] dictate how this game was going to be played.”
Freshman guard Colin Gruber carried over his strong game against Brigham Young to the match-up with UA, leading the Jacks with 13 points, including a stretch of 10 consecutive during the second half. Gruber was efficient from deep, nailing three of his six tries from beyond the arc.
“It’s mostly just getting to the open spots and my teammates finding me,” Gruber said about his play. “Being in a good rhythm doesn’t hurt either.”
The low-scoring affair was a product of a zone defense employed by the Jacks in an attempt to slow down the Wildcat big men, forcing UA into low-quality shots and early mistakes. On the other end, a deliberate NAU offense worked the shot clock and waited for their opportunity on every possession. The slow pace was drawn up to counter an Arizona offense that likes to push the pace.
“We slowed the game down,” said junior point-guard Stallon Saldivar. “Playing our tempo gave us an edge and didn’t allow them to get up-and-down.”
The Jacks led by as many as seven in the early going with five different NAU players accounting for buckets. A 10–2 run by the Wildcats overtook the Jacks but a long 3-pointer by Saldivar with the shot clock winding down kept the Jacks in the contest. They were down just six at halftime, 25–19. Despite trailing, the Jacks were within striking distance and felt good about their chances.
“It [the confidence level] was high,” Gruber said. “We were pumped and knew there were some things we needed to work on. But we just had to stay strong and stick to the game plan.”
But a quick barrage of 3-pointers in the opening of the second half, including three consecutive from guard Kyle Fogg, pushed the Wildcat advantage to 14, forcing a timeout from Adras. Gruber then went on his streak of 10 straight points to bring the Jacks within 10. A lay-up by sophomore guard Michael Dunn trimmed the deficit to eight with about eight minutes to play, but that was as close as the Jacks would get.
“I said to the guys ‘Did Arizona play their game today or did we play our game today’ and they said ‘we played our game today’ and we did,” Adras said. “Except for that stretch to start the second half, I thought we played very good basketball today.”
Saldivar and Dunn finished with seven points apiece while the Jacks committed only eight turnovers, nine less than their season average, compared to the 24 they surrendered against BYU.
Fogg recorded 11 points for the Wildcats while Solomon Hill led all scorers with 15.
The Jacks now return to Flagstaff for a Dec. 7 match-up with Pepperdine, looking to break their three-game losing streak. Tipoff is slated for 6:35 p.m. in the Rolle Activity Center.
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