TUCSON, Ariz. - The 11th-ranked Wildcats are back in the McKale Center this weekend to play host to the Bay Area schools starting with Cal on Thursday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MST on Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson and Matt Muehlebach on the call. Arizona defeated Cal, 100-81, back on Dec. 29, 2023 with
Caleb Love scoring 22 and
Motiejus Krivas adding 18 points off the bench.  Â
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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.Â
Fans will be able to bid on these shoes with proceeds going to help build the Play Zone at Diamond Children's Medical Center in Tucson. Click here to place your bids now through Feb. 10 at 12:00 p.m. MST.
STARTING FIVE
1) After the win at Oregon, Arizona has not lost back-to-back games since Tommy Lloyd took over as head coach in 2021-22. The Wildcats are 16-0 following a loss.
2) Tommy Lloyd is 42-2 at McKale Center as the head coach of Arizona (10-0 this year). That .955 winning percentage is the best home winning percentage in the country over that span.
3) Oumar Ballo needs 7 more points to become the 54th player in Arizona history to score 1,000 points as a Wildcat and the first score all of them under head coach Tommy Lloyd.
4) Senior Caleb Love went for 36 points Saturday at Oregon. It was the most by a Wildcat in a Pac-12 road game since Ivan Radenovic had 37 at Stanford in 2007. He has also scored 20+ points in all five Pac-12 road games this season.
5) Love was also named to the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award Top 20 Watch Lists and is one of 10 players still in the running for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award.
SERIES VS. CAL
• Arizona leads the all-time series against Cal, 75-31
• The Wildcats have won the last 14 overall meetings with Cal, and the last nine in Tucson
NOTING THE WILDCATS
• In four Pac-12 home games this season, Arizona is outscoring opponents, 87.0 to 65.3 while shooting 41.1% from the 3-point line while holding opponents to 31.0%.
• Pelle Larsson is averaging 14.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 52.6% from the floor over the last four games. He scored a career-high 22 points against UCLA.
• The Wildcats have grabbed 10+ offensive rebounds in 16 of 20 games.
• Arizona has made 20+ free throws in each of the last three games and eight times overall.
• After going 9 of 40 from the 3-point line against UCLA and Oregon State, the Wildcats were 10 of 19 behind the arc at Oregon.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell had 14 points, three assists and two steals at Oregon. In the four games prior to that game, Boswell scored a total of 14 points
• Freshman guard KJ Lewis has 42 assists and just 15 turnovers this year, among the top ratios by a freshman in the country this season. He's second on the team with 26 steals.
• Fifth year forward Keshad Johnson scored 18 points at Oregon State, 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. At Oregon he went 3 of 4 from the 3-point line to tie his single-game career high.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is shooting 39.0% from the 3-point line and is the team leader in assists (74). 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 was 5 of 26 from the floor over the four games prior to the Oregon game before going 5 of 12 against the Ducks.
• Sophomore Jaden Bradley has 13 assists and four turnovers to go with 11 steals over the last six games. He leads the Wildcats with 14 steals in Pac-12 play this season.
• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 7.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and is 12 of 14 at the free throw line in Pac-12 play. He had 18 points at Cal and 15 points against Colorado.
• Arizona ranks second nationally in scoring (89.2) and rebound margin (+12.0). They are fifth in assists per game (18.8) and seventh in fastbreak points (16.60) and scoring margin (16.8).
• The Wildcats have had five or more players score in double figures in 11 of 20 games this season, a total that leads the country.
• The Arizona offense has posted a 10-0 run 21 times this season, tied for fourth-most in the country. Conversely, the Arizona defense has surrendered just four runs of 10-0 or better, per EvanMiya.com.
• The Wildcats have been ranked 50 straight weeks and 50 out of 52 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 76-16, the third-most wins of any team in the country over that span.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 46 out of 92 games to lead the nation.
• Ballo was named to the preseason watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center 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 1,877-982.
