Kerr Kriisa breaks nose; Arizona could play non-conference game Monday

As if Kerr Kriisa couldn’t have any more bad luck this season, head coach Sean Miller revealed Thursday that he broke his nose in practice this week and did not make the trip to Oregon State.

The freshman guard already has to wait until Feb. 6 to suit up because of eligibility issues. Could his facial fracture delay his return even further?

“I don’t know,” Miller said after the 98-64 win. “He broke his nose, Jemarl (Baker) broke his thumb, Matt Weyand had an illness. We kept him at home. It’s what happens during the course of the season, especially in the month of January. You have to be able to kind of play through it, and that’s why it’s such a team sport. You’re counting on players to step up.”

Since Saturday’s game at Oregon was cancelled due to the Ducks’ COVID issues, Arizona is off until next Thursday when it’s supposed to travel to Tempe to face ASU.

That time could be used for rest, but the Wildcats seem likely to add a non-conference game for Monday.

“We’ll probably know maybe as soon as tomorrow,” Miller said late Thursday night. “If we knew now I would tell you. It’s just, I think we’re dealing with a number of things, talking to the Pac-12 office, talking to our administration, making sure that we don’t get in the way of anything that the Pac-12 would try to do in terms of scheduling a Pac-12 game with another team, etc. So we’re not in total control of that, but as I’ve explained all along, we want to play our full allotment of non-conference games. It’s not easy to do because travel. We are going to only play a game if it’s local or at home. So we have a couple windows and both Arizona State weeks offer us that window. So, we might take advantage of it. But we should know I would say at some point tomorrow, at the latest Saturday.”