TUCSON, Ariz. – With the Fall semester in the rearview mirror and the holidays fast approaching, Arizona will turn and burn its way through the remainder of the non-conference schedule. The Wildcats will host North Dakota State on Monday night in McKale Center two days after defeating New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday evening.   

No. 23/23 Arizona vs. North Dakota State
Monday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 p.m. (MST)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein & Don MacLean)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
 
Arizona will host North Dakota State on Monday evening inside McKale Center where UA has won 45 consecutive non-conference games. The 45-game non-conference winning streak is the longest in program history. The Wildcats have won 75 of their last 77 home games going back to the 2012-13 season and have a home record of 128-13 (.907) under head coach Sean Miller.

The Wildcats won their only game of last week with an 89-73 victory at New Mexico in The Pit. Rawle Alkins led UA with his career-high 26 points in just his second game back from a foot injury. The sophomore from Brooklyn scored with devastating accuracy of 9-of-11 shooting (.818) from the field, including connecting on all three attempts from deep and all five attempts at the free throw line. Allonzo Trier scored 22 points versus the Lobos for his eighth game of 20 or more points this season.

Monday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Arizona is 65-2 when playing an opponent for the first time in program history over the last 25 years. The Wildcats are 23-1 when facing a first-time opponent under head coach Sean Miller.

UA shot a ridiculous 70.8 percent from the floor (on 24 shot attempts) in the first half in the win in Albuquerque. It was the program's best shooting first half of a game since connecting on 72.7 percent of its shots in the first 20 minutes versus Oregon on Jan. 28, 2016.

Freshman Deandre Ayton continues to rack up the double-doubles, which now includes nine in his first 11 games this season. Ayton already ranks third nationally in double-doubles this season and fourth in UA freshman history just two behind Bob Elliott and three behind Michael Wright and Al Fleming.

Arizona will face the Bison after just one day of rest following the Wildcats' win at UNM on Saturday. UA is 5-0 in non-conference games with just one day of rest under head coach Sean Miller.
The match-up with North Dakota State will be just the 12^th time Arizona has played on a Monday since Sean Miller took over the program in 2009. The 11 previous Monday games make it the least played day of the week with Tuesday coming in second with 19 games played. The Wildcats are 9-2 on Mondays under Miller heading into this week.

Heading into the final week of non-conference play, Deandre Ayton is one of just six players in the nation to average at least 15 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting 60 percent or greater from the field. Ayton joins Duke's Marvin Bagley III and UNLV's Brandon McCoy as the only freshmen in the nation with that distinction.