Arizona men’s basketball is back in McKale Center at ALKEME Arena, and the buzz around Tucson is real. With football sitting at 7-2 for the first time since 2014 and the Wildcats fresh off a Final Four run, the mood around the university is as upbeat as it gets this time of year. But even with all that momentum, Arizona’s basketball program is the one that has me most uneasy.
That may sound strange on the surface. This is a team that reached the Final Four for the first time in 25 years last season, adding another big chapter to a program that already owns a 1997 national title and a long history of deep postseason runs.
The expectations are sky-high again, and for good reason. But the higher the standard gets, the harder it becomes to keep matching it.
Last year’s team didn’t just win a lot. It rewrote the program’s record book.
Arizona finished with a school-record 36 wins and opened the season with 22 straight victories, the best start in program history. The Wildcats were a monster on the glass, ranking second nationally in total rebounds per game at 42.6 and defensive rebounds at 29.7.
They paired that with a 120.3 offensive rating and a 96.9 defensive efficiency rating, both top-10 numbers nationally. Arizona also put up 86.2 points per game while allowing 69.4.
By the numbers, that group was better than the 1997 championship team in almost every statistical and analytical category. Then came the heartbreak: a 91-73 loss to Michigan in the Final Four. After that, Arizona lost seven primary rotation players, a mass departure that changed the shape of the roster in a hurry.
The exits were significant. Brayden Burries and Koa Peat went in the first round of the NBA Draft, while veterans Jaden Bradley and Tobe Awaka signed contracts to secure spots on NBA rosters.
That’s the reality that hangs over this season. Arizona keeps climbing, keeps setting records, keeps pushing deeper into March.
But sustaining that level is a different challenge entirely. College basketball doesn’t let you coast on reputation.
Every year, coaches have to rebuild from scratch.
And that’s where the concern starts.
Through the first few games of the 2026-27 season, Arizona looks like a team that has lost one of the traits that defined its best recent groups: toughness. After a defensive breakdown against UCLA and an unsatisfying 104-84 win over California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Tommy Lloyd didn’t hide his frustration.
“We’re allergic to the loose ball,” head coach Tommy Lloyd said.
He also pointed directly at “fake hustle” and a lack of grit. The box score may not scream disaster, but the effort issues have clearly gotten under the coaching staff’s skin.
Part of the problem is the roster makeup. With enforcer types like Awaka gone, this version of Arizona is younger and more European-finesse in the frontcourt, and it’s still adjusting to the physical grind that comes with high-level college basketball. The Wildcats have leaned on length more than brute force, which is a different identity from the one they had been building.
Arizona had developed a harder edge in recent seasons, especially after moving into the Big 12. Two seasons ago, a roster featuring Trey Townsend, Caleb Love and Carter Bryant earned the “Gritty Boys” label. This group, at least so far, hasn’t matched that same edge.
There are still pieces worth noting. Motiejus Krivas, the 7-foot-2 center, is providing elite rim protection with almost three blocks per game.
But the overall defensive picture is still shaky. Arizona is giving up 84 points per game, and the numbers point to a defense that collapses too hard into the paint and leaves opponents open from deep.
Those opponents are shooting 39.4% from 3-point range.
The rebounding numbers tell another part of the story. Arizona is sitting at a flat -1.0 rebounding margin against early competition, and that has only sharpened Lloyd’s message.
“We can’t rebound or get loose balls,” Lloyd said. “And you can’t win high-level games if you can’t get loose balls.”
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 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 🡒]
Arizona Faces A Road Test That Could Expose One Big Problem
Arizona gets its first real road test of the season Friday night when it heads to Neville Arena to face Auburn, a setting that should tell a lot more about this group than the two home wins that opened the year. The Wildcats are 2-1, while Auburn is 2-0 under second-year coach Steven Pearl, and the Tigers have already shown enough early-season structure and talent to make this a useful measuring stick for a team still trying to settle in away from Tucson.
Auburns roster brings enough firepower and depth to stress Arizona in ways the first three games have not, especially on a night that will be shown on ESPN2. The matchup is less about the standings in November than it is about whether Arizona can handle the pace, the pressure and the atmosphere on the road, and there is at least one roster wrinkle on Auburns side that could shape how the game is played from the opening tip. [Read more 🡒]