TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men's basketball program learned Thursday that it will open the 2015 DIRECTV Wooden Legacy against Santa Clara on Thursday, Nov. 26, at 9:30 p.m. MST. The DIRECTV Wooden Legacy bracket was revealed by ESPN along with brackets for a number of its other proprietary tournaments.
UA's game against Santa Clara will be televised on ESPN2. Depending on the result of their opening game against Santa Clara, the Wildcats will face either Providence or Evansville on Friday. Nov. 27. The championship and consolation rounds of the Wooden Legacy are slated for Sunday, Nov. 29.
Arizona is 6-4 all-time against Santa Clara and will enter the Wooden Legacy having won the last three games in the series. UA is 3-2 all-time against Providence, with the last meeting coming in the 1997 NCAA Tournament, and 3-1 against Evansville in a series that has been dormant since 1991.
The other side of the Wooden Legacy bracket will feature Boston College-Michigan State and Boise State-UC Irvine matchups in the opening round.
Led by seniors Kaleb Tarczewski and Gabe York, the Wildcats return seven letterwinners from the 2014-15 team that went 34-4, claimed both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the program's second-consecutive Elite Eight. In addition to gaining the services of Kadeem Allen and Ryan Anderson following a redshirt year for each, Arizona is also welcoming ESPN's fourth-ranked recruiting class to campus this summer.
Tarczewski, York and fellow senior Jacob Hazzard will look to finish their collegiate careers unblemished in multi-team exempt tournaments when they head to the Wooden Legacy. The trio has been part of UA teams that claimed the Diamond Head Classic in 2012, the NIT Season Tip-Off in 2013 and the 2014 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. This year's senior class has an 11-0 career record in multi-team exempt tournaments.
For the latest updates on Arizona men's basketball and an inside look at the program, follow @APlayersProgram on Twitter and @aplayersprogram on Instagram.
