What to watch in Arizona’s exhibition vs. Chaminade

The Arizona Wildcats are back in action Sunday when they will host the Chaminade Silverswords in their second and final exhibition.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Network. Here are some things to watch for.

Will Jeter play?

Chase Jeter missed the first exhibition with what was believed to be a minor ankle injury and it remains to be seen if he will play Sunday.

On one hand, Arizona will be without Ira Lee for the regular-season opener so it makes sense to be as cautious as possible with Jeter leading up to that point. It would be a dire situation if the Wildcats were without both of them for a game. It’s why staying healthy is a major key for UA’s undermanned frontcourt this year.

Then again, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Jeter to get some real-game action before things start to count on Wednesday.

Chaminade keeping things close

Arizona’s first exhibition was a laugher, but this one might not be. Chaminade made life difficult for San Diego State on Thursday, only losing to the Aztecs by five in Viejas Arena.

What that final score won’t tell you is that the Silverswords led by six at halftime and even held a 37-26 lead at one point.

KenPom projects SDSU as the No. 65 team in the country and Arizona as the No. 76 squad, so don’t be surprised if Chaminade hangs with the Wildcats, too.

It might be a good thing for this Arizona team to get in some dicey situations. Otherwise, its first tense moments could come in the Maui Invitational, which might end poorly.

Plus, a close game would give us a better look at what Arizona’s actual nine-man rotation is.

Will the Brandons continue to ball?

Brandon Randolph is one of the obvious candidates to be Arizona’s leading scorer this season and he made a strong impression against Western New Mexico by dropping 20 points on just eight shots.

He also went 5-for-5 from 3, which will be tough to replicate, but if he is going to be the go-to scorer this year, he should at least be able to score in double figures in this game — and pretty much every game this season. Those kind of expectations come with having such a prominent role.

Same goes for Brandon Williams, who scored 14 points against WNMU and is the team’s most talented player, in my opinion.

The rebounding battle

Rebounding could be an issue for the undersized Wildcats this year and Chaminade will test them in that area, especially if Jeter is out.

The Silverswords outrebounded SDSU 35-32 and even tracked down 13 offensive boards, which led to 17 second-chance points.

Arizona trotted out lineups that featured Emmanuel Akot at the 5 against WNMU, but such configurations might not be tenable against Chaminade.

3-point shooting

Shooting appears to be a strength of this Arizona team, or at least it looked that way in the first exhibition.

Not only did Arizona shoot a lot of 3s (26, to be exact), it made 42 percent of them.

Will the Wildcats continue to shoot a high volume of 3s and make a high percentage? Or will they experience a drop off in one or both categories?

Conversely, Arizona’s perimeter defense will be challenged Sunday. Chaminade launched a whopping 30 3-pointers against San Diego State, making 12 of them (40 percent).

If the Silverswords post another solid shooting night and control the glass, you can see how this game could get interesting.

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