Arizona doesn’t do the soft non-conference thing, and this year’s schedule is another loud statement from Tommy Lloyd. The Wildcats are set up with a mix of high-profile showdowns, tricky neutral-site tests and a handful of buy games that still carry more bite than the usual November filler. From opening night in Las Vegas to a December clash in Phoenix, there’s no shortage of heavyweight basketball on deck.
The season starts with a bang on Monday, Nov. 2, when Arizona meets UCLA in Las Vegas as part of a double-header that also features Gonzaga and Purdue. The Wildcats and Bruins have kept their rivalry alive since the Pac-12 split, and this one brings the usual physical style from UCLA plus plenty of attention on 17-year-old Serbian star Nikola Kusturica.
One of Arizona’s biggest roadblocks comes almost immediately after that. On Nov. 13, the Wildcats head to Auburn for their only official road game of the non-conference slate.
Steven Pearl’s group has real size and depth in the frontcourt, with Creighton transfer Owen Freeman, Troy transfer Thomas Dowd, and Santa Clara big man Bukky Oboye all in the mix. Add in returning guards Kevin Overton and Tahaad Pettiford, and Auburn looks like a team built to be better in Pearl’s second season.
Mid-November also brings a huge test at home against UConn, a program that has reached the national championship game three of the last four seasons and won it twice under Dan Hurley. Arizona beat the Huskies 71-67 at Gampel Pavilion last year, and UConn comes to Tucson with revenge on its mind. Silas Demary and Braylon Mullins are back in the backcourt, freshman Colben Landrew is part of the mix, and the Huskies added Nik Khamenia from Duke and Najai Hines from Seton Hall.
The Maui Invitational gives Arizona another loaded stretch. The Wildcats open against Colorado State, a team that returned four key starters from last season in Carey Booth, Kyle Jorgensen, Jase Butler, and Josh Pascarelli. Under Ali Farokhmanesh, the Rams are trying to make noise in the new-look Pac-12, and this matchup has all the ingredients of a trap game.
From there, Arizona will get either Providence or VCU, then one of BYU, Washington, Clemson, or Ole Miss in a third game on Nov. 25. That’s a brutal island run no matter how the bracket shakes out.
Back home in early December, the Wildcats host New Orleans, a Southland team that went 15-18 last season and added Nick Jones from Wagner and Kahlil Singleton from Canisius to help the backcourt.
Not long after that comes another dangerous home game against Cal Poly. Hamad Mousa, who put up 20.4 points per game last year, passed on a look at the defending champion Michigan Wolverines and returned to SLO. The Mustangs also bring back Cayden Ward, Guzman Vasilic, and Jake Davis, giving Mike DeGeorge a group with real continuity.
Arizona also gets St. John’s in what technically won’t count as a road game, though Madison Square Garden is about as close to a true home court as the Johnnies ever get.
Rick Pitino’s team has star wing Tounde Yessoufou, guard Ian Jackson, and possibly European point guard Quinn Ellis, who is still waiting on NCAA clearance. The issue for St.
John’s is depth in the frontcourt, and that’s the spot Arizona has to attack.
The Hall of Fame series sends Arizona to Phoenix on Dec. 19 to face Arkansas, with Gonzaga and Michigan State also part of the event in Palm Springs. John Calipari’s roster is loaded with freshmen Jordan Smith Jr., JJ Andrews, and Miikka Muurinen, while Billy Richmond and Georgia transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson give the Hogs more firepower. Arizona is tough to beat in its home state, but Arkansas has the talent to make this one a problem.
A few days after Christmas, Arizona gets Incarnate Word, a Southland team that added Ismail Habib from Southern Indiana and Godswill Erheriene from Seton Hall after finishing 12-19 last season. It should be a tuneup, but it’s still part of a schedule that doesn’t offer much breathing room.
Arizona’s northern neighbor, NAU, is also on the list. The Lumberjacks kept a lot from last year’s team, including Ryan Abelman, Chris Komin and Brennan Peterson, but they’re coming off a 10-22 season and a 4-14 mark in the Big Sky, with little roster help to suggest a major jump is coming.
There’s also a matchup with Washington, though the source places that game in Arizona’s Maui bracket possibilities, not as a separate standalone test. Still, the Huskies are part of a loaded set of possible opponents if the Wildcats advance deep enough in Maui.
At the easier end of the slate, Arizona will also face Tennessee Tech, where Tobin Anderson takes over after a 13-18 season and an eighth-place finish in the Ohio Valley. The Golden Eagles brought in De’Ante Green from South Florida, Trent Mosquera from Le Moyne, and Davante Hackett from Stonehill, but this is still one of the more manageable games on the schedule.
Northern Arizona and Incarnate Word sit in that same lower tier of opponents, though even those games come with some roster changes worth watching. NAU kept its core but still has to prove it can move past a 10-22 season, while Incarnate Word is trying to build off modest transfer additions after a 12-19 year.
That’s the full picture: a non-conference slate that asks Arizona to deal with UCLA, Auburn, UConn, a loaded Maui field, Arkansas, St. John’s and a string of other teams that won’t be handing anything over. Lloyd clearly isn’t interested in taking the easy route.
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