EUGENE, Ore. - Coming off a tough last-second loss at Oregon State on Thursday, No. 9 Arizona will take on Oregon at Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday. Oregon is sitting at the top of the Pac-12 standings with the Wildcats one game behind. The game will be televised nationally on FOX starting at 3:30 p.m. MST with Aaron Goldsmith and Casey Jacobsen on the call.
COACHES VS. CANCER
Arizona coaching and support staff will be wearing specially designed versions of Nike Air Force 1 shoes this week in support of the NABC Coaches vs. Cancer and "Suits & Sneakers" week. The shoes were colored and painted by patients at the Diamond Children's Medical Center, which is part of Banner Health in Tucson.
STARTING FIVE
1) Under Tommy Lloyd, Arizona has not lost back-to-back games (15-0). Excluding the game following the two NCAA Tournament losses, Arizona has followed those 13 losses with wins by an average of 17.2 points. (more on page 7)
2) In four Pac-12 road games this season, Arizona is shooting 29.9% from the 3-point line while opponents are shooting 46.1%.
3) Oumar Ballo needs 17 more points to become the 54th player in Arizona history to score 1,000 points as a Wildcat. In three career games vs. Oregon, he's averaged 7.7 pts. & 6.3 reb.
4) Senior Caleb Love had 23 points at Oregon State on Thursday to become the first Pac-12 player since Jahii Carson (ASU) in 2012-13 to score 20+ points in his first four Pac-12 games.
5) The Wildcats have had five or more players score in double figures in 11 of 19 games this season, a total that leads the country.
SERIES VS. OREGON
• Arizona leads the all-time series against Oregon, 53-37
• The Wildcats have lost the last six and 8 of the last 9 games in Eugene (lone win 2015).
NOTING THE WILDCATS
• Pelle Larsson is averaging 17.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 58.1% from the floor over the last three games. He scored a career-high 22 points against UCLA last weekend and is averaging a career-best 13.1 points per game this season.
• Freshman guard KJ Lewis scored a season-high 13 points against UCLA and was 6 of 6 at the free throw line. The El Paso native has 40 assists and just 15 turnovers this year, which ranks among the top ratios by a freshman in the country this season.
• Sophomore Jaden Bradley has 11 assists and three turnovers to go with 11 steals over the last five games. He leads the Wildcats with 14 steals in Pac-12 play this season.
• Fifth year forward Keshad Johnson scored 18 points at Oregon State on Thursday, giving him four games with 17 or more points this season. In 113 games over four years at San Diego State, he never scored more than 16 points in a game. He had his second double-double of the year (sixth career) with 10 point, 13 rebounds vs. USC.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is shooting 39.1% from the 3-point line and is the team leader in assists (71). He has already made more FG, 3FG, assists and points this year than he did all of last season. Although his shooting percentages have gone down in January, his assist-to-turnover ratio is still 2.0. He is 5 of 26 from the floor over the last four games.
• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 7.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and is 9 of 10 at the free throw line in Pac-12 play. He had 18 points at Cal and 15 points against Colorado.
• The Arizona offense has post a 10-0 run 20 times this season, second-most in the country. Conversely, the Arizona defense has surrendered just three runs of 10-0 or better, also the third-best total in the country per EvanMiya.com.
• The Wildcats have been ranked 49 straight weeks and 49 out of 51 weeks under head coach Tommy Lloyd. They have been in Top 10 for 39 weeks and in the Top 5 for 21 weeks.
• Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 75-16, the third-most wins of any team in the country over that span.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 46 out of 91 games to lead the nation.
• Tommy Lloyd is 42-2 at McKale Center as the head coach of Arizona (10-0 this year).
• Caleb Love has been named to the Wooden Award midseason watch list
• Ballo was named to the preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, Love is on the preseason list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award and Keshad Johnson is on the preseason list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.
• The 2023-24 season marks the 119th year of men's basketball for the University of Arizona, and the Wildcats have an all-time record of 1,876-982.
THIS AND THAT
The 85 FGA against Florida Atlantic were the most by an Arizona team since attempting 91 shots against Northern Arizona on 11/24/2003
Kylan Boswell had five steals in back-to-back games against Alabama and FAU, becoming the first Wildcat since Jason Terry in 1999 to do that.
Oumar Ballo had 21 rebounds against FAU, the most by a Wildcat since Jordan Hill grabbed 22 in 2008.
Ballo and Larsson both reached 1,000 career points in their overall college careers in the Jan. 6 game vs. Utah.
The 19-point comeback win against UCLA on Jan. 20 was the largest comeback win for Arizona since defeating Drexel in 2013 after trailing by 19.
MAGIC NUMBER: 90
Arizona is 29-1 under Tommy Lloyd when scoring at least 90 points in a game. The lone loss was a 96-95 double overtime defeat against FAU on Dec. 23, 2023.
