No. 12 Arizona heads to Auburn on Friday night with a simple goal in front of it: get its first road win of the season.
The Wildcats, now 2-1, will tip off at 7 p.m. MST against an Auburn team that is 2-0.
Arizona is coming off its first loss of the year, a defeat in Las Vegas to No. 9 UCLA, and now gets its first crack at a road test away from home in Alabama.
This matchup is still a rare one in the program’s record book. Arizona and Auburn have met only three times before, with the first coming in the 1985-86 season in Long Beach, California.
They didn’t see each other again until 2018-19, when Auburn beat Arizona on a neutral floor in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Tigers also won both of those earlier meetings.
The Wildcats, though, did get the upper hand in the most recent matchup. Last December at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena, Arizona rolled past Auburn 97-68 for its first program win over the Tigers. Friday will be the first time Arizona has played in Alabama.
Arizona enters the game after consecutive home wins over California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo and NAU. In the most recent of those, a 90-59 victory over NAU, Ivan Kharchenkov powered the Wildcats with 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
The shooting numbers were uneven for Arizona in that game. The Wildcats went just 8-for-25 from three-point range, though transfer JJ Mandaquit was sharp from deep, hitting 3 of 4 attempts. Arizona shot 41% in the first half before dropping to 23% in the second.
The work on the glass helped balance things out. Motiejus Krivas and Kharchenkov each grabbed seven rebounds, and Arizona turned that into 11 second-chance points.
Auburn, meanwhile, comes in unbeaten after beating Appalachian State University on Monday, Nov. 9. Junior guard Tahaad Pettiford led the way with 26 points, going 7-for-7 at the free-throw line and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Kolby King and Adam Olsen added 9 points apiece. King also finished with four rebounds, while Olsen had three.
Auburn’s roster has changed since the last meeting with Arizona, though some familiar names remain. Pettiford and Kevin Overton are back, and King is one of the newer faces after transferring from Utah State University as a fifth-year guard.
In Other News...
Auburn Faces An Early Proving Ground Against Arizona
Arizona has steadied itself a bit since dropping its season opener to UCLA, following that loss with wins over Cal Poly and Northern Arizona. Now comes a much stiffer test. Auburn arrives unbeaten, and the matchup gives Arizona an early chance to measure itself against a team that has looked sharp through the first stretch of the season. For the Wildcats, it is the kind of game that can reveal a lot about where they stand before the schedule gets deeper.
The spotlight will be on how Arizona handles the physical and tactical demands of a high-level opponent, with Derek Dixon and Motiejus Krivas among the players whose impact could help shape the night. Arizona also needs more from its supporting cast, especially in the scoring department, if it wants to keep pace. JJ Mandaquit and Cameron Holmes are part of that equation, and how the Wildcats balance those contributions against Auburns depth will go a long way toward determining whether this becomes a statement opportunity or just another early-season lesson. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Title Hopes Already Face A Toughness Problem
Coming off a record-setting 2025-2026 run, Arizona entered the new season with the kind of expectations that usually come with a deep, talented roster and a coach who has built a contender. But the Wildcats also had to replace key players who moved on to the NBA, and the early returns have raised a different kind of concern than talent alone. Tommy Lloyd has already been talking about effort, defensive discipline and a team that looks a little less physical than the one that just finished making history.
The numbers have backed up the eye test, with Arizona giving up too many points and too many clean looks from beyond the arc. For a program that wants to stay in the title conversation, the issue is not just whether the Wildcats can score enough to keep pace. It is whether they can rediscover the edge, grit and toughness that tend to separate a good team from one that can survive the grind of a long season. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Faces An Early Gut Check In Its First True Road Test
Friday night brings Arizona its first real road exam of the season, and it comes against an Auburn team that has already made itself a difficult place to visit. Tommy Lloyds group has put together two home wins since the earlier loss to UCLA, but this trip will say more about where the Wildcats stand than anything they have done at McKale so far. It is also a useful measuring stick for Auburn in Steven Pearls second season, with the Tigers getting a major early opportunity against a ranked-style opponent in their own building.
For Arizona, the challenge starts with travel and quickly turns into matchups. The Wildcats will have to handle Auburns pace and pressure without losing the defensive edge that has steadied them after that UCLA setback, and they will need some help beyond the usual front-line production if they want to leave with a result. Bench minutes matter on nights like this, especially when a game starts to tighten and every possession feels like part of the test. [Read more 🡒]