TUCSON, Ariz. - The sixth ranked Arizona men's basketball team will close out the home portion of the 2023-24 schedule on Saturday when they play host to the Oregon Ducks. It will be Senior Day for the Wildcats with five student-athletes and four other members of the program being recognized during the pregame ceremony that should start around 11:40 a.m. MST. Former Wildcat great and 17-year MLB veteran Kenny Lofton will be inducted into the Ring of Honor at halftime.Â
The game starts at 12:00 p.m. MST on ESPN with Dave Pasch and former Wildcat Josh Pastner on the call.Â
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STARTING FIVE
1) Senior Oumar Ballo has posted EIGHT consecutive double-doubles, something no Arizona player has done Al Fleming had 10 straight during the 1974-75 season. He needs 1 rebound to become the 13th player in Arizona history with 1,000 points & 750 rebounds.
2) Senior All-American candidate Caleb Love is second in Pac-12 play in scoring (21.1) and leads the league in 3FG made per game (3.18). He's shooting career-bests from the floor, (43.4%) the 3-point line (36.3%) and the free throw line (86.6%).
3) Keshad Johnson needs 18 points to reach 1,000 for his career (SDSU + Arizona) and Pelle Larsson needs 23 points to reach 1,000 in his Arizona career.
4) Arizona is averaging 89.9 points per game, second-most in the country (Alabama - 91.5)Â Â
5) Prior to today's game, Arizona will recognize five senior student-athletes - Oumar Ballo, Keshad Johnson, Pelle Larsson, Caleb Love and Grant Weitman.
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SERIES VS. OREGON
• Arizona leads the all-time series against Oregon, 54-37.
• The Wildcats are 2-0 at home against the Ducks under Tommy Lloyd.
NOTING THE WILDCATS
• According to KenPom.com, Arizona's offense ranks seventh in the country while the defense is ranked 11th. Oregon's are ranked 61st and 71st, respectively.
• Today's game marks the 12th sellout of the season and cements the 39th straight season that Arizona has led the Pac-12 in home attendance.
• Sophomore guard Kylan Boswell is averaging 12.3 points, 3.2 assists over the last six games. He dropped 17 points in the win at Arizona State on Wednesday, his highest scoring game this season since he scored 18 in the season opener against Morgan State.
• The Wildcats have 10+ offensive rebounds in 24 of 28 games, and the last 13 straight.
• Arizona ranks second in the country in total rebounds/game (43.4) and third in the country in rebound margin at +11.1 per game.
• Arizona is one of four teams in the country to have the same starting lineup for every game this season (Purdue, Wisconsin, Princeton).
• Love was also named to the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award Midseason Watch Lists and is one of 10 players still in the running for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award.
• Keshad Johnson is one of 10 players named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award late season watch list. He's averaging 11.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and shooting a career-best 34.3% from the 3-point line. He is 18 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career at San Diego State and Arizona combined.
• Johnson has scored in double figures 19 out of 29 games this season at Arizona. In his four seasons, and 113 games at San Diego State, he scored in double figures 25 times. He has set single-game career highs in points, assists, steals, blocks, FGM, FGA, 3FGM, 3FGA this season with the Wildcats. Against Washington, he scored 16 points and matched his career-high with 3 blocks.
• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is averaging 11.2 points and 3.3 assists over the last 9 games - starting with the first meeting at Oregon on Jan. 27. For comparison, in seven games during the month of January, Boswell averaged 7.6 points, 2.9 assists.
• Sophomore Jaden Bradley had 20 assists and just four turnovers in eight games during the month of February. He recently scored 14 points at Colorado and followed it up with a career-high 21 points against Arizona State in Tucson.
• According to EvanMiya.com, Bradley is the top rated defensive player in the Pac-12 and fifth overall in the COUNTRY. His DPBR is 4.05 suggests that for every 100 possessions on defense when he is on the court, Arizona will allow 4.05 fewer points than an average D1 player.
• Freshman guard KJ Lewis posted a season high 14 points against Cal on Feb. 1 while adding four rebounds and three assists. He added 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists against Stanford. He has 55 assists and just 22 turnovers this year. Lewis scored 7 points at ASU on Feb. 28 after scoring seven total points over the four previous games.
• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and is 22 of 26 at the free throw line in Pac-12 play. He had 18 points at Cal and 15 points against Colorado on Jan. 4. Krivas ranks 10th in the Pac-12 averaging 1.94 offensive rebounds per conference game.
• Tommy Lloyd is 46-3 at McKale Center as the head coach of Arizona (14-1 this year).
• Arizona has 238 steals this season, marking the third straight season with 200+ steals. The last time Arizona did that in three seasons in a row was 2013-15. To reach the top 10 in Arizona single-season steals, the Wildcats would need to get to 275.
• The Arizona offense has posted a 10-0 run 26 times this season, the second-most in the country. Conversely, the Arizona defense has surrendered just eight runs of 10-0 or better, per EvanMiya.com.
• The Wildcats have been ranked 54 straight weeks and 54 out of 55 weeks under head coach Tommy Lloyd. They have been in Top 10 for 43 weeks and in the Top 5 for 23 weeks.
• Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 83-17, the second-most wins of any team in the country over that span. Lloyd is the first coach in Arizona history and the seventh in the history of the Pac-12 to win 20 or more games in each of his first three seasons.
• Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 51 out of 100 games to lead the nation.
• 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 1,884-983.
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