TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats return to Tucson and McKale Center following their road sweep of the Los Angeles schools. The victories over USC and UCLA gave the Wildcats their first road sweep of the State of California since the 2002-03 season. UA welcomes the Washington schools this week in a rare Thursday-Sunday home stand, starting first with the Washington State Cougars Thursday night on the Pac-12 Network.

No. 7/9 Arizona vs. Washington State
Thursday, January 26 at 7:30 p.m. (MST)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Roxy Bernstein & Matt Muehlebach)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Scott Thompson)
Stats: www.arizonalivestats.com
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
 

• Arizona begins the week following its marquee 96-85 victory over No. 3 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. Six Wildcats scored in double figures as UA secured its 12^th consecutive win. Kobi Simmons led all UA players with 20 points. The freshman from Atlanta set a new career/season high in points (20), rebounds (five) and assists (five) in Los Angeles. In the win over the No. 3 Bruins, Arizona beat its highest-ranked opponent in a true road game since defeating No. 1 Stanford, 76-75, in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 8, 2001.
• UA returns to the friendly confines of McKale Center to host the Washington schools where it has won 16 consecutive games and 65 of its last 66 games going back to the 2012-13 season. The Wildcats are 118-12 (.908) in Tucson under head coach Sean Miller with a mark of 58-8 (.879) in Pac-12 home games.
• Freshman Lauri Markkanen is the reigning Oscar Robertson National Player and Pac-12 Player of the Week following his team's pair of wins in Los Angeles. Markkanen led the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding at 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the week. Markkanen finished the pair of wins shooting 63.6 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from beyond the arc. He became the first Wildcat to earn the conference's weekly honor this season and the second UA player to earn the national player of the week accolade from the USBWA.
• The Wildcats have won their last ten consecutive games against Washington State and seven of their last eight versus the Cougars at home. The average UA margin of victory in the ten-game winning streak with WSU is 17.1 points. Arizona's all-time record of 61-16 (.802) versus Washington State is the program's highest winning percentage versus any member of the Pac-12 conference. 
• Last weekend was also the return of Allonzo Trier to the active roster. The sophomore tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 27 minutes in the UCLA win. Trier was one rebound shy of his career high and tied his career best for assists.
• Arizona's wins at USC and No. 3 UCLA boosted its ranking the in the Associated Press poll from 14^th to seventh. The seven-spot jump is the program's biggest rise in a single week of the poll since climbing eight spots in one week from 19^th to 11^th in conference play during the 2001-02 season.
• Lauri Markkanen has continued his ever-improving offense as he has solidified himself in numerous offensive statistics in the conference. His statistical rise has been fueled in extreme efficiency in his last six games. Markkanen is averaging 19.8 points per game while averaging 29.5 minutes per game in the six victories. The Finnish forward is shooting 63.5 percent from the field, 69.0 percent from beyond the arc and 86.4 percent at the free throw line.