Following an extended break for Thanksgiving, No. 2 Arizona will move back into the spotlight when it takes the floor against Norfolk State on Saturday at Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona (6-0) is in the midst of playing three games at home in a span of 13 days.
The Wildcats last played Monday in a 103-73 win over visiting Denver.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was comfortable with not having his team in the national spotlight around Thanksgiving when many other ranked teams played in various showcase events around the country.
“I don’t care if people are talking about us or not. Business as usual,” Lloyd said. “Steady, steady the ship, help guys get better. That’s our mindset. Figure out the growth areas you want to attack on the team, and also kind of identify our strengths and reinforce those.”
Arizona is coming off a game where its freshmen — including Brayden Burries, Ivan Kharchenkov, Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode — combined for 69 points.
Burries and Kharchenkov each scored 20 points. Burries added six rebounds with five assists and three steals, while Kharchenkov made 9 of 12 shots from the floor.
Aristode had 17 points behind a 4 of 8 performance from 3-point range and Peat finished with 12 points.
“I think our freshmen are really mature,” Lloyd said. “They’ve been highly sought out, sought after, highly-ranked prospects probably for a long time since they played basketball.
“I think being ranked, or whatever, is fleeting for them. I think it’s just like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re ranked, whatever. Let’s go play.'”
After producing a program-record scoring output in a victory Tuesday over Virginia-Lynchburg at home, Norfolk State arrives in the desert.
Norfolk State (4-4) defeated Virginia-Lynchburg 136-79, led by forward Melo Baines making all 15 of his shots from the floor and finishing with a career-high 30 points.
The Spartans will play their next 10 games on the road and will not return to their home court, until Jan. 12 against Maryland Eastern Shore.
Norfolk State calculated it will travel 15,703 miles, including stops at Arizona and Baylor in addition to holiday tournaments at Atlanta and El Paso.
“Some of these trips aren’t as bad as they seem,” Norfolk State coach Robert Jones said. “It’s just the opponents — like Baylor and Arizona — that are potentially bad for us.”
The CP3 HBCU Challenge in Atlanta includes games against Grambling State on Dec. 18 and Jackson State on Dec. 19. The Spartans will play at UTEP on Dec. 21 and either North Dakota State or UC Irvine on Dec. 22 in the Sun Bowl Invitational.
“Four games in five days and two time zones — that’s the tricky one,” Jones said.
Norfolk State played at Wyoming on Sunday, losing 75-67, and two days later, the Spartans blasted Virginia-Lynchburg.
Behind Baines’ flawless shooting performance, Norfolk State shot 69.0% (58 of 84) from the field in the rout. The Spartans also made 14 of 17 (82.4%) of their shots from the free-throw line.
Anthony McComb III added a career-high 26 points, shooting 9 of 14 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
