TUCSON, Arizona—The Chico State men's basketball team flew home from Tucson on cloud nine last season, having nearly pulled off an upset in its exhibition game at the University of Arizona. Their surprising success may have resulted in some reticence to hear Head Coach Greg Clink's calls for improvement in a number of areas until he pointed them out in the film room.
This season, the Wildcats won't have to wait to see the film to know that they have work to do. Third-ranked Arizona made sure it didn't have a repeat of last season's scare with a 91–53 exhibition victory in front of 13,865 at Olson Court in the McKale Center Sunday afternoon.
That is not to say that the Wildcats finished their preseason Pac-12 Tour without some things to be proud of. They hung tough at Stanford before losing 91–81 Thursday. And Sunday was not without its bright spots either.
Chico State, ranked No. 7 in Division II, righted the ship after falling behind 13–0 and hung with the Division I Wildcats until midway through the second half.
Justin Briggs, making his first collegiate start, scored six points in the first half, including a highlight-reel reverse dunk. Corey Silverstrom scored eight in the opening stanza. All 12 Wildcats in uniform played and scored. The Wildcats also took good care of the ball, turning it over just 10 times.
But Chico State was outrebounded 39–22, and Arizona hit 65 percent of its shots. And when it became clear that this game would not be close, the Wildcats were a little sloppier at times than Clink would have hoped.
Silverstrom and Briggs finished with 10 points apiece to lead Chico State. Calvin Geraci finished with five.
Isaiah Ellis and Marvin Timothy led the team with four rebounds apiece. Jalen McFerren had a team-high three assists.
2017 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player Allonzo Trier led Arizona with 22 points. Freshman forward Deandre Ayton, a 7-foot-1 forward who was ESPN's No. 1 overall prospect at the time of his commitment to Arizona, scored 21 and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Chico State will open its regular season next weekend at the CCAA/PacWest Conference Challenge at Cal State San Marcos, taking on Concordia-Irvine Friday at 5 p.m. and Biola Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats will open conference play in an ESPN3 game Nov. 18 at Humboldt State before playing their home opener on Nov. 22 against Dominican.
