PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – As the calendar rolls onto Thanksgiving Day, Arizona will face SMU in the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. It's the second time in three seasons that UA has played on Thanksgiving, following a 75-73 overtime win over Santa Clara in the 2015 Wooden Legacy in Southern California.

No. 2/4 Arizona vs. SMU
Thursday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN3/Watch ESPN App (Kevin Fitzgerald & Paul Biancardi)
Radio: Arizona IMG Radio Network (Brian Jeffries & Ryan Hansen)
Twitter: @APlayersProgram
#BearDown
 
Arizona faces SMU in day two of the Battle 4 Atlantis after dropping an 84-90 decision to NC State on Wednesday night. The Wildcats got 27 points apiece from freshman Deandre Ayton and junior Allonzo Trier in the loss. UA only lead for 90 seconds during the game as it was quiet from beyond the arc, shooting 11.8 percent on 17 shot attempts.

The Wildcats and Mustangs will face each other for the first time in over four decades. The two programs have met three times with all of them coming during the mid-1970's. UA topped SMU 117-85 on Dec. 30, 1976 in the final of trio of meetings. That game took place Arizona's second-to-final season in the Western Athletic Conference before joining the Pac-12 Conference prior to the 1978-79 season.

Deandre Ayton finished the night with 27 points and 14 rebounds, which were both season/career highs for him. He joined Bob Elliott (1973-74) as the only other Arizona player to record four consecutive double-doubles at any point during their freshman season. Ayton also became the first player since A.J. Bramlett in 1998-99 to begin a season with four straight double-doubles.

After scoring just three points in the first half, Allonzo Trier scored 24 in the second half to finish with 27 points. It surpassed his 22 points versus NAU in the first half of the season opener for the junior's highest scoring half of his career.

Deandre Ayton shot 12 of 17 at the free throw line against NC State. His 17 attempts on Wednesday night equaled his total attempted in his first three games combined. They were also the most free throw attempts by an Arizona player in a single game since Ryan Anderson shot 17 free throws at Washington State on Feb. 3, 2016. No Arizona player has attempted 20 free throws in a game since Derrick Williams made 22 trips to the charity stripe versus California (1/6/2011). Furthermore, the 17 attempts were also the fifth-most by a UA freshman with Derrick Williams leading that statistical category with 21 free throw attempts versus Wisconsin on Nov. 23, 2009.

Arizona's record in the month of November under head coach Sean Miller is 45-8 (.849).