Arizona basketball: Chance Comanche will play against Michigan State

After missing two exhibition games for academic reasons, Arizona Wildcats big man Chance Comanche will play against Michigan State in Hawaii on Friday, Sean Miller told ESPN’s Andy Katz.

Comanche’s return isn’t much of a surprise as Miller said the sophomore was on track to play after Sunday’s victory over Chico State.

Nonetheless, the 6-foot-11 big man is an important addition, given the Wildcats used just seven players against Chico State.

“You can get away with (using seven players) for a short period time, maybe in a single game, but just in the Pac-12...it’s hard to play with great effort for that long of a period of time, when you play two games in three days, so I think we’ll welcome back Chance as our eighth guy,” Miller said Sunday.

Comanche is expected to back up both Dusan Ristic and Lauri Markkanen and will help the Wildcats on the glass and as an interior defender — two areas the Wildcats struggled in during the preseason.

“I think Chance Comanche being a part of our team versus him not playing at all affects a lot of things and it’s not the cure all, but believe me, I’m around him everyday in practice, he’s a big part of what we’re doing and that’s really going to help our depth,” Miller said.

Comanche averaged 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds as a freshman last season in limited minutes.

Allonzo Trier, who reportedly did not travel with the team to Hawaii, will likely miss Friday’s game due to unspecified reasons.

Tipoff in Honolulu is set for 5 p.m. MST and the game will be televised on ESPN.

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